In short: Microsoft opened incident MO1550821 at 11:26 a.m. Pacific Time on November 12, 2026, with the status "Service degradation". Users may be unable to connect to several Microsoft 365 services. Do not reset passwords or reinstall Outlook. Wait for Microsoft to confirm recovery, use the phone for urgent matters, and be careful with any email that asks you to sign in again.

What is happening

Microsoft reports that part of its infrastructure is under elevated load in several regions, which is likely causing the connection errors. Microsoft says it is restarting and repairing the affected infrastructure to restore capacity, reviewing an unexpected increase in one type of service traffic, and looking at moving traffic to other infrastructure to speed up recovery.

Update, 12:31 p.m.: Microsoft now says the load did not come from an increase in traffic. A number of its servers became unavailable unexpectedly, which put a strain on the remaining ones. Microsoft is working to return those servers to service safely.

Update, 12:50 p.m.: Microsoft is testing a configuration change to fix a problem that causes servers to fail automated health checks and drop out of service. It has also started a restart of all affected servers and is monitoring them as they come back.

Update, 1:19 p.m.: Microsoft has not found a recent change that lines up with the start of the problem. Its investigation points to one component that processes server health as the possible source of the failed health checks, and it has taken steps to keep more servers from being affected.

Update, 2:00 p.m.: the first signs of recovery. Microsoft validated a different way of checking server health, which brought some of the affected servers back into service. It is now applying that change more widely, and it is preparing automatic systems that find and restart servers that stop responding. Service may improve gradually and unevenly while this continues.

Update, 2:40 p.m.: Microsoft continues to restart and check the affected servers. It has also identified a small number of recent configuration updates and is assessing whether undoing them would speed up recovery.

Update, 3:58 p.m.: Microsoft has started returning some of the affected servers to service, and they are staying stable so far. It has also moved traffic to other routes where it can and sees limited recovery in some regions. Service may still be uneven until the remaining servers are back.

Update, 5:00 p.m.: recovery is slower than hoped. Microsoft says the servers it returned to service stay healthy at first, but can stop responding again once they begin to receive traffic. At 5:45 p.m. it also revised its list of affected services and features. Expect service to remain uneven this evening.

Earlier in the day, Microsoft also reported a separate Exchange Online incident, EX1550543, about users having trouble reaching their mailboxes.

Who is affected

Microsoft says the issue may affect any user trying to reach the affected Microsoft 365 services. Some people may see Outlook stay disconnected, Teams fail to load, or SharePoint and shared files time out, while others may see no problem at all.

Is everything else down too?

Posts on social media listed many other services as down, including Amazon Web Services, Gmail, Google, Microsoft Azure, Slack and Zoom, based on spikes in user reports on Downdetector. Downdetector counts reports from users. It does not confirm an outage. During a large outage, people often report other services when the real problem is the one they use to sign in or read email.

We checked the official status pages of the services named in those posts at 12:35 p.m. Pacific Time:

  • Confirmed, and caused by the Microsoft incident: several business apps report problems only in the parts that connect to Microsoft 365. These include Microsoft sign-in and calendar sync in video meeting, scheduling and business phone systems, Microsoft 365 connectors in AI assistants, and Microsoft 365 email sold through web hosting companies. Their own status pages point to an issue at a third-party provider.
  • No matching incident: Amazon Web Services, Google Workspace (including Gmail), Microsoft Azure, Slack and Meta business products showed no incident for November 12.

The confirmed outage is Microsoft 365. If another app stops working only where it uses your Microsoft account, calendar or mailbox, the cause is this incident, and it should recover when Microsoft 365 does. If a service fails in other ways, check that service's own status page before changing anything.

What to do now

  1. Do not change anything on your side. Resetting passwords, removing the Outlook account or reinstalling Office will not fix a Microsoft service issue and can create new problems once service returns.
  2. Check the status in one place. Your Microsoft 365 administrator can see incident MO1550821 in the Microsoft 365 admin center under Health, then Service health. If the admin center does not load, Microsoft posts updates on its Microsoft 365 Status account on X (@MSFT365Status). Microsoft also names status.cloud.microsoft, but that page was not loading during the incident.
  3. Use the phone for anything urgent. Email and Teams messages may arrive late while the issue continues. Call clients and suppliers when a message cannot wait.
  4. Save your work on your computer. If a document is open from SharePoint or OneDrive, save a copy on your computer until the connection is stable.
  5. Be careful with sign-in requests. Attackers often send fake "your mailbox is disabled" or "sign in again" emails during a well-known outage. Do not enter your password from a link in an email. Open Outlook or the Microsoft 365 portal yourself instead.
Prepare for the next one: our Microsoft 365 continuity checklist covers the first 15 minutes of an outage, how to keep working, and a one-page plan.

Common questions

Does the outage mean my account was hacked?
No. Microsoft reports a load problem on its own infrastructure. Connection errors during the incident come from Microsoft's side, not from a problem with your account.
When will it be fixed?
Microsoft has not given a time for full recovery. We will update this page when Microsoft confirms that service has returned.
Will we lose emails?
Microsoft has not reported any data loss. Messages may be delayed while the issue continues. Check important messages once service returns.
Hexafusion clients: we are following incident MO1550821 and will contact you if your organization needs to take any action. Please call 604-332-1500 if something urgent cannot wait.

Sources

Need a hand? Contact Hexafusion, or read how we look after Microsoft 365 for businesses in Vancouver.