November 13, 2026 6:04AM SAST
INVESTIGATING
🔗 Live status from Microsoft
https://status.cloud.microsoft
For Microsoft 365 admins (sign in to your own tenant):
Outlook/email: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home#/servicehealth/:/alerts/EX1550543
Other Microsoft 365 services: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home#/servicehealth/:/alerts/MO1550821
Microsoft is having a worldwide outage of Exchange Online (Outlook and email), which started at about 16:15 UTC on 12 Nov. At Microsoft's latest update (02:54 UTC, 13 Nov) it is not yet fixed and no time has been given for a fix.
Affected
* Outlook on desktop, web and phone may not connect, or may freeze and make your PC feel slow
* Incoming email may be delayed (not lost)
* Teams calendars, meeting invites and scheduling
* Some printing and clicking links in emails may fail
Still working
* Teams calls, meetings and chats
* Opening files in SharePoint and OneDrive
Please don't restart, reinstall Outlook or reset passwords. Nothing is wrong with your computer or account, and it won't help.
We're following Microsoft's updates and will let you know as soon as service is back.November 13, 2026 6:39AM SAST
MONITORING
*Microsoft 365 outage – 04:40 UTC update*
🔗 https://status.cloud.microsoft
Microsoft is still working on the outage. Some areas are partly recovering, but it isn't holding yet, so Outlook may connect and then drop again. Microsoft has confirmed this is *not* a cyber-attack.
Links inside emails may not open at the moment. This is part of the outage, not a sign that anything is wrong with your account.
Teams calls, meetings and chats still work. We'll update you as soon as service is back.
November 13, 2026 8:00AM SAST
MONITORING
Microsoft 365 outage – 06:00 UTC update
🔗 https://status.cloud.microsoft
Microsoft is still working on the outage and has not yet given a time for a fix. Outlook and email may still fail to connect, and incoming email may be delayed. Teams calls, meetings and chats still work.
Microsoft has again confirmed there is no sign of a cyber-attack, and will publish a full report on the cause once it is fixed. Their next update is due at 07:00 UTC (09:00 South African time).November 13, 2026 9:30AM SAST
MONITORING
Microsoft 365 outage – 07:30 UTC update
🔗 https://status.cloud.microsoft
Good news: Microsoft has found a fix that is working. It has been applied to part of their servers with positive results and is now being rolled out more widely.
Some people may find Outlook and email start working again, while others may still have problems until the fix reaches them. Teams calls, meetings and chats still work.
Microsoft's next update is due at 08:30 UTC (10:30 South African time).November 13, 2026 10:30AM SAST
MONITORING
*Microsoft 365 outage – 08:30 UTC update*
🔗 https://status.cloud.microsoft
Microsoft confirms the fix is holding on the servers where it has been applied, and is now rolling it out, starting with regions in their working day. Outlook and email may start working again for more people, but it is not fully fixed yet.
Teams calls, meetings and chats still work. Microsoft's next update is due at 09:00 UTC (11:00 South African time).
November 13, 2026 11:30AM SAST
MONITORING
*Microsoft 365 outage – 09:30 UTC update*
🔗 https://status.cloud.microsoft
Microsoft reports early signs of recovery, but service is not back to normal yet. Outlook and email may work for a while and then drop again as Microsoft carefully brings traffic back.
Emails sent to you during the outage are being held, not lost. Microsoft has extended how long delayed messages are kept to 48 hours, and they will be delivered as service recovers.
Teams calls, meetings and chats still work. Microsoft's next update is due at 10:00 UTC (12:00 South African time).
November 13, 2026 1:00PM SAST
MONITORING
*Microsoft 365 outage – 11:00 UTC update*
🔗 https://status.cloud.microsoft
Microsoft has completed recovery work in parts of the Asia Pacific region, where mailbox access and delayed email are now improving. They are extending the same recovery to other regions.
Until it reaches everyone, some people may still find Outlook and email working on and off. Delayed emails are still being held for up to 48 hours and are being delivered as service catches up.
Teams calls, meetings, and chats still work. Microsoft's next update is due at 12:00 UTC (14:00 South African time).November 13, 2026 2:00PM SAST
MONITORING
*Microsoft 365 outage – 12:00 UTC update*
🔗 https://status.cloud.microsoft
Recovery is spreading. Microsoft reports encouraging progress in Europe, with mailbox access and email delivery improving for a growing number of users. North America is also improving and Japan is stable.
Some people may still find Outlook and email working on and off while Microsoft finishes the remaining areas. Delayed emails are still being held for up to 48 hours and are being delivered as service catches up.
Microsoft's next update is due at 13:00 UTC (15:00 South African time).
November 13, 2026 4:00PM SAST
MONITORING
*Microsoft 365 outage – 14:00 UTC update*
🔗 https://status.cloud.microsoft
Microsoft reports that service continues to improve, and the backlog of delayed email is significantly reduced and approaching normal levels. They are now restoring the remaining affected servers.
Some people may still see occasional access problems or late emails while this finishes. Microsoft has still not mentioned South Africa specifically, but access continues to return for our South African customers.
Microsoft's next update is due at 15:00 UTC (17:00 South African time).
November 13, 2026 5:00PM SAST
MONITORING
*Microsoft 365 outage – 15:00 UTC update*
🔗 https://status.cloud.microsoft
Microsoft reports sustained improvement across Microsoft 365 and is now working on the remaining issues for the users still affected. A few people may still see occasional connection problems or late emails.
Microsoft has not yet declared the incident resolved. Their next update is due at 16:00 UTC (18:00 South African time).
November 13, 2026 6:00PM SAST
MONITORING
*Microsoft 365 outage – 16:00 UTC update*
🔗 https://status.cloud.microsoft
Microsoft says it is now dealing with the remaining issues and checking that service stays stable, so most people should have Outlook and email back. If Outlook is still not working for you, close and reopen it.
Microsoft has not yet closed the incident. Their next update is due at 18:00 UTC (20:00 South African time).
November 13, 2026 8:00PM SAST
MONITORING
*Microsoft 365 outage – 18:00 UTC update: the cause*
🔗 https://status.cloud.microsoft
Microsoft incident references: EX1550543 (Exchange Online) and MO1550821 (Microsoft 365)
*What Microsoft says caused it* (13 Nov, 17:57 UTC)
_"The incident was introduced by an issue during an earlier network capacity upgrade that surfaced following a recent network change. We have addressed the underlying issue and continue to restore service to remaining customers and regions."_
_"This was a technical issue not related to cyber or AI / agents."_
*How it unfolded, in Microsoft's words*
• 12 Nov, 19:18 UTC: _"the elevated load isn't driven by an overall increase in traffic, but by a large number of servers being unexpectedly unavailable, which is shifting load onto the remaining infrastructure."_
• 13 Nov, 01:06 UTC: _"a process on the affected servers responsible for establishing secure connections becomes overwhelmed, causing the servers to stop processing requests."_ Microsoft began _"reverting a recent network configuration change that correlates with the start of impact."_
• 13 Nov, 07:25 UTC: _"positive results for server stability after applying an upstream authentication/routing configuration component patch"_
• 13 Nov, 17:57 UTC: _"Given the scale of demand, we restored services gradually, validating stability at each stage."_
*Where things stand*
Microsoft reports _"broad recovery and stability across our services"_ but has not yet closed the incident. Delayed email is protected: Microsoft extended _"the email timeout window to 48 hours to help protect delayed messages."_
Microsoft said: _"We are deeply sorry for the disruption this incident has caused you and your business."_ It has not yet given more detail on the upgrade itself: _"We will provide a full post-incident report once our review is complete."_
Microsoft's next update is due at 20:00 UTC (22:00 South African time).
