In short: check whether Outlook on the web also fails and whether colleagues have the same problem. If so, it is a service issue: keep working from the email already on your computer, use the phone for urgent matters, and do not reset passwords, rebuild the Outlook profile or reinstall Office.

Outage or local fault? Three quick checks

1. Colleagues

Do several people have the same problem at the same time?

2. Outlook on the web

Does outlook.office.com fail in a browser as well?

3. Service health

Does your administrator see an incident in the Microsoft 365 admin center?

Three yes answers point to a Microsoft service issue, not your computer. Hexafusion IT Solutions.

Is it an outage or your computer?

  • Ask a colleague. If several people lose Outlook at the same moment, the cause is rarely one computer.
  • Try Outlook on the web. Open outlook.office.com in a browser. If it also fails, the problem is with the service. If it works there but the Outlook app does not, the problem is local: the app, an add-in or the network connection.
  • Check Service health. Your Microsoft 365 administrator can see current incidents in the Microsoft 365 admin center under Health, then Service health. Microsoft also posts updates on its Microsoft 365 Status account on X.

Keep working with the email you already have

  • Read what is already there. The Outlook app on a computer normally keeps a copy of recent email on the computer, so you can still open and search it. Outlook on a phone keeps recent messages too.
  • Write replies now. Messages you send wait in the Outbox and go out by themselves when the connection returns. Tell the recipient by phone if the timing matters.
  • Use the phone for anything urgent. Email sent during an outage can arrive late in both directions.
  • Keep business email in business accounts. Moving a client conversation to a personal email account creates a privacy problem that lasts longer than the outage. If staff need a second channel, agree on it in advance.

What not to change

  • Do not reset your password. It will not fix a service issue, and every device then has to sign in again once service returns.
  • Do not remove the account or rebuild the Outlook profile. A new profile has to download the whole mailbox again, which is slow even on a good day.
  • Do not reinstall Office. The app is not the cause.
  • Do not sign in from a link in an email. Fake "your mailbox is disabled" messages are common during a well-known outage. Open Outlook or the Microsoft 365 portal yourself.

When Outlook reconnects

  • Check that the Outbox is empty and that waiting messages went out once, not twice.
  • Look for messages that arrived late and answer the time-sensitive ones first.
  • Confirm that meeting invitations sent during the outage reached the calendar.

See also: our incident report on the Microsoft 365 outage of November 12, 2026, the Microsoft 365 continuity checklist, and Microsoft 365 support in Vancouver.

Common questions

How do I know if Outlook is down or it is only my computer?
Ask a colleague and try Outlook on the web at outlook.office.com. If several people are affected and the web version also fails, it is a Microsoft service issue.
Can I still read my email when Outlook is down?
Usually, yes. The Outlook app on a computer normally keeps a copy of recent email on the computer, and Outlook on a phone keeps recent messages too. New messages arrive when service returns.
What happens to emails I send during an outage?
They wait in the Outbox and go out by themselves when the connection returns.
Should I reset my password or reinstall Outlook?
No. Neither fixes a Microsoft service issue, and both create extra work once service returns.

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