Confirmed – Outlook is down. As of 09:15 AM PKT today, Microsoft is reporting an active outage impacting Exchange Online, which is the backend that powers Outlook. Outlook on the web, desktop, and mobile are unable to connect for many users. Microsoft has acknowledged the incident under an active service ID in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. We verified this outage live in our own tenant at 09:12 AM PKT. Your mail is queued and not lost.
Live Incident Summary
Status: Active outage, fix in progress
Affected: Outlook on the web, Outlook desktop, Outlook mobile, Exchange Online
Also Affected: Outlook.com / Hotmail / Live.com consumer accounts and Teams calendar
Source: Microsoft 365 Service Health Dashboard + @MSFT365Status
Next Expected Update: Posted in Admin Center Service health
Is Microsoft Outlook Down Right Now? – Current Status
Yes, Outlook is down right now for a large number of users worldwide.
We started seeing failures across both our work and consumer test accounts just before 09:00 AM PKT. Outlook on the web returned a continuous loading loop, while the desktop client flipped to Disconnected. Within minutes, Downdetector showed a sharp spike and Microsoft posted an active incident.
This is a server-side failure. That matters because it means restarting your computer or router will not fix it. When the same account fails on Wi-Fi and on mobile data, and fails on both the app and the browser, the problem is at Microsoft’s end. That is exactly what is happening today.
Official Statement from Microsoft – Latest Update
Microsoft has confirmed the issue and is posting updates in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
Incident ID and Timeline of Events
Your Incident ID is in your own Admin Center under Health > Service health > Exchange Online. It will look like EX1024567. Use that ID when you report impact internally – it is more accurate than a screenshot of Downdetector.
Here is what Microsoft has confirmed so far. We are updating this log live, newest first. 09:10 AM PKT – Microsoft says it has identified a recent change to mail connectivity infrastructure as the likely cause and is preparing a rollback. 08:45 AM PKT – Microsoft confirms user impact to Outlook connectivity and says it is investigating telemetry. Initial reports from users began shortly before this window.
If you are an admin, stay in the Admin Center. The public posts on X are delayed summaries. Your Service health view is tenant-specific and will tell you when your users are actually recovering.
What Microsoft Says is the Cause
A faulty configuration change, not an attack. That is what Microsoft is reporting so far.
Exchange Online is a massive global system. To keep it running, Microsoft pushes small configuration updates constantly. Sometimes one of those updates introduces throttling or breaks token validation between the client and the mailbox. When that happens, Outlook cannot prove you are you, so it refuses to connect. The fix is almost always to revert that specific change and then watch mail flow recover.
We will update this section with Microsoft’s final root cause once they publish their Post Incident Report, which usually arrives 48 to 72 hours after resolution.
What Services Are Actually Affected?
Exchange Online is the only service that is actually down, but that one service powers everything else.
Because Outlook on the web, Outlook for Windows and Mac, and Outlook for iOS and Android all connect to Exchange Online to get your mail, all of them fail when Exchange does. Outlook.com, Hotmail, and Live.com are affected too because Microsoft hosts those consumer mailboxes on the same infrastructure.
Teams calendar and meeting join buttons are also failing for many people right now. That is not a separate Teams outage. Teams does not store your calendar. It pulls your calendar from Exchange Online. So when Exchange goes down, Teams calendar goes blank.
Is It Just You or a Global Outage? How to Check
It is global, and you can confirm it in 30 seconds without changing any settings.
First, check an official source: admin.microsoft.com/servicestatus if you have a work account, or @MSFT365Status on X if you have a personal account. If they list an active incident, stop troubleshooting locally.
Second, do a quick cross-check. Open Outlook in a private browsing window and on your phone using mobile data instead of Wi-Fi. If both fail, it is not your cache or your network.
Do not keep hitting sign-in. During these events Microsoft throttles logins. Repeated attempts can temporarily lock your account and that lock can persist for 15 minutes after service is back, which makes it look like the outage is still ongoing for you.
Workarounds to Access Your Email While Outlook Is Down
Your email is not lost. Incoming mail is queued on Microsoft servers and will deliver after the fix. If you need to get in right now, try a different endpoint.
Outlook Lite for Android and the installed web app version of Outlook often continue to work because they use a different connection route. We have seen cases where the main desktop client says Disconnected while Lite still syncs. The built-in mail app on iPhone and the new Outlook for Windows in its basic configuration can also sometimes connect via Exchange ActiveSync when MAPI, which is the protocol the full Outlook client uses, is throttled.
What not to do is more important. Do not remove and re-add your account, do not create a new Outlook profile, and do not delete your OST file during an active outage. Those actions force a full resync of your entire mailbox, which will take hours and can create duplicate drafts or lose a locally saved draft you were composing.
If you must send an urgent message, use an approved alternative channel your company has designated for exactly this scenario.
When Will Outlook Be Back Online?
There is no official ETA yet. Microsoft has said mitigation is in progress and that it is monitoring telemetry after starting a rollback.
For context, the last five major Exchange Online incidents that looked like this were largely mitigated within two to three hours of acknowledgment, with full global recovery taking up to six hours. That is not a promise for today – it is historical context to help you plan. Recovery is usually gradual. You may see mail start trickling in, then pausing, then flowing normally.
We are not speculating on a time. We will post Microsoft’s stated ETA here the moment they publish it in Service health.
History of Recent Microsoft Outlook Outages
Recent outages have followed a similar pattern.
In June 2024, an Azure Active Directory token validation problem prevented Outlook desktop clients from authenticating. Users could see the web version but not the app. In March 2025, a change to anti-spam transport rules throttled legitimate mail flow, which looked like a complete outage. Both were resolved by reverting the change and Microsoft published detailed root cause analyses.
The takeaway is not that Outlook is fragile. It is that a single misconfigured rule in a system serving over 400 million mailboxes can have outsized impact. For IT teams, the lesson from each incident is the same: have a secondary communication plan that does not rely on Exchange.
What to Do After Outlook Is Restored
Give it a few minutes after Microsoft says “Service is restored” for your tenant.
Close Outlook once and reopen it once. That forces a fresh connection. Check your Outbox – messages composed during the outage often get stuck there and need to be manually sent. If you use cached Exchange mode, allow 15 to 20 minutes for search and your recent emails to fully catch up, especially if you have a large mailbox.
For IT admins, this is when you should document. Note the Incident ID, your observed start and end times, number of users affected, and any business impact. If you are considering an SLA credit request, you will need that documentation. Also verify that your backup communication channel actually worked – many teams discover during the outage that it didn’t.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there an Outlook outage today?
Yes. As of today, Microsoft has confirmed an active outage affecting Exchange Online and Outlook. We verified it live in our tenant and are tracking official updates from the Microsoft 365 Service Health Dashboard at the top of this page.
Is Outlook.com down for Hotmail and Live users too?
Yes. Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, and Live.com share the same consumer mailbox platform. When Exchange Online has a consumer impact, all three domains are typically affected together.
How long do Microsoft Outlook outages usually last?
Based on the last five major incidents, initial mitigation usually appears within 2-3 hours, with full global delivery taking up to 6 hours. Microsoft posts a final duration in its Post Incident Report.
Will I lose my emails because of this outage?
No. Microsoft queues incoming mail during an outage. Your existing mailbox, folders, and drafts are preserved. Mail will deliver once the service recovers and your client resyncs.
Where can I get official updates on the Outlook outage?
The most reliable source is your Microsoft 365 Admin Center > Health > Service health for work accounts. For personal accounts, use the public Service Health status page and the @MSFT365Status account on X.
What we know, what we don’t know:
We know Exchange Online is confirmed down with an active incident ID and a rollback is in progress. We don’t know Microsoft’s final ETA or final root cause yet. We are tracking the Service Health Dashboard and will update this article the moment the status flips to restored.
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