"Microsoft Outages: Outlook and Teams Users Begin to Recover as Company Implements Fix"

Microsoft has implemented a fix to restore email and calendar services for thousands of users who experienced outages, resulting in "incremental recovery" by Monday evening. However, the exact timeline for full restoration of the programs remains uncertain.

Key Facts

As of 12 p.m. EST on Monday, more than 5,300 users reported issues with Microsoft 365 on Down Detector, though this number dropped below 500 by 6 p.m. The majority of complaints (85%) were related to Outlook, with smaller percentages affecting Exchange (9%) and Sharepoint (6%).

Microsoft confirmed that most users were struggling with access to Exchange Online, a cloud-based email service, and Microsoft Teams calendars.

The company began deploying a fix at 9 a.m., shortly after the issue reports spiked. The fix involved “manual restarts on a subset of machines in an unhealthy state,” but no estimated time for full restoration was provided.

By late Monday morning, the fix had reached approximately 98% of affected users, but Microsoft later reported that the machine restarts were progressing slower than expected for many users.

By 6 p.m., the company noted "incremental recovery" for some users, and stated that a "recent change" was likely the cause of the outage, which had been reverted.

Though Microsoft did not specify the change, Monday also saw the rollout of a new AI tool called Recall for Windows Insiders. This tool takes regular snapshots of computer activity, effectively giving PCs a "photographic memory" to help users search through past actions. The feature, initially launched in May but postponed due to privacy concerns, was part of the rollout.

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Key Background

Outlook and Teams are integral parts of Microsoft 365, a suite of software and cloud-based services widely used by businesses around the globe. Microsoft Teams is a collaborative tool designed for messaging, scheduling, and video calls among employees.

Forbes Valuation

Microsoft ranks No. 8 on Forbes' list of the world's most valuable companies. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company reached a $3 trillion valuation in January, becoming the second company in history to achieve this milestone. As of Monday morning, shares were trading just above $415, marking a slight 0.3% decline, even as the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose by nearly 0.5%. Gates, with a net worth of $106.5 billion, is the 15th-richest person globally.