Is Microsoft 365 Down? How to Check and What to Do

If Outlook, Teams, Word or OneDrive suddenly stops loading, first find out whether Microsoft is having a problem or whether it's your device. Check the official Microsoft 365 status page and, if you're an admin, Service health in the admin center. If Microsoft has a live incident, resetting your password or reinstalling Office won't help.

• Check Microsoft's own status page first, not just user-report sites.
• Try the web or mobile version of Outlook and Teams while you wait.
• Don't reinstall Office, delete your profile or reset passwords during a confirmed outage.
• If only you are affected, it's usually sign-in, network or a cached profile.

Microsoft 365 had a disruption to Outlook, Teams and other services on 12 November 2026, according to a New York Times headline listed in Google Trends that day. This guide doesn't cover the details of that incident, which we couldn't confirm in two independent sources. It's a practical checklist you can use for any outage.

How to check if Microsoft 365 is really down

Start with sources that Microsoft itself runs. Third-party trackers help, but they only count user reports, so a spike can come from a local ISP problem as easily as a Microsoft fault.

1. Microsoft 365 status page: open status.cloud.microsoft. It lists current incidents for the main services.
2. The @MSFT365Status account on X: Microsoft uses it to post short updates during larger incidents.
3. Admin center (admins only): go to admin.microsoft.com, then Health, then Service health. It shows incident IDs, affected services and the latest update for your tenant.
4. A second person on a different network: if a colleague on mobile data has the same error, the problem isn't your Wi-Fi.

Signs it's a Microsoft outage and not your device

Outages tend to hit many people at once and across more than one app. A problem on your side usually affects one person or one app.

What to do while you wait

You often can't fix a Microsoft-side outage, but you can keep working around it.

• Switch client: if desktop Outlook fails, try Outlook on the web. If the Teams desktop app fails, try Teams in your browser or on your phone. Sometimes one access path is hit while another still works.
• Use offline mode: desktop Outlook in cached mode lets you read already-downloaded mail and draft replies, which send when the connection returns.
• Move urgent chat elsewhere: for time-critical messages, use a phone call or another messaging tool your team already uses.
• Save work locally: if Word, Excel or OneDrive won't sync, keep a local copy and upload it later.
• Re-check the status page every 15 to 30 minutes rather than refreshing constantly.

Fixes to skip during a confirmed outage

People often make things worse by trying everything at once. During an active incident, avoid these.

• Resetting your password or removing your account, which can lock you out when service returns.
• Uninstalling Office or deleting your Outlook profile. Cached mail may be lost if it wasn't synced.
• Repeatedly signing in and out, which can trigger extra security prompts.

Microsoft has described causes of past large outages as service-side changes, not user error. For example, in November 2024 BleepingComputer reported that Microsoft blamed a recent change that caused an influx of retry requests, and fixed it by deploying a patch and restarting affected systems. In September 2020, a platform change also caused sign-in trouble, as WSVN reported. Neither case was caused by users.

If only you are affected

When the status page is clear and colleagues are fine, work through these in order.

1. Restart the app and your device, then test on the web version.
2. Check your internet connection and, if you use one, switch VPN off briefly to test.
3. Sign out of the app and sign in again with the right work or personal account.
4. Update Office and Windows. Our guide to the Windows 11 26H2 update explains how to check for updates.
5. Disable recently added Outlook add-ins and restart Outlook.
6. If sign-in keeps failing, ask your admin to check your licence and MFA status.

It also helps to secure your account properly, since account lockouts are a common non-outage cause. See our guide to setting up passkeys, which covers the same idea for Google accounts.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Microsoft 365 not working today?

Either Microsoft has a service incident or something on your side is failing. Check status.cloud.microsoft first. If it shows nothing, test on another network and with another person's account.

How long do Microsoft 365 outages last?

It varies a lot. Some are fixed in under an hour, while larger incidents can take several hours with updates posted along the way. Microsoft doesn't always give an estimate at the start.

Is a Microsoft 365 outage a cyber attack?

Usually not. Microsoft has attributed past large outages to service changes or networking faults, and said in 2020 there was no sign of malicious activity. Treat claims of an attack with caution unless Microsoft says so.

Will I lose emails during an outage?

Mail sent to you is normally queued and delivered once service returns, though delays are possible. Drafts in desktop Outlook's offline mode send when you reconnect.