A disruption to Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure has interrupted access to workplace applications used by businesses, government organisations and individuals across several countries, including the UAE.
The problems began on Thursday, November 12, and continued into Friday, November 13. Outlook, Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365 services were among the platforms affected, leaving some users unable to access email accounts, exchange messages or use connected workplace features.
For UAE residents, the disruption became particularly visible on Friday morning. Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft 365 and Teams were among the most reported services on Downdetector’s UAE platform, according to the latest local reporting available in the morning.
The incident has also affected users in India, the United States, Australia, Japan and other markets. Downdetector recorded reports from 74 countries and territories as the disruption spread.
Exchange Online infrastructure at the centre of the disruption
Microsoft identified connectivity problems affecting part of its Exchange Online infrastructure, the cloud-based platform responsible for handling email and related services.
The company initially reported elevated infrastructure load across multiple regions. Its subsequent investigation found that some servers had become unexpectedly unavailable, placing additional pressure on the remaining infrastructure.
This created a difficult recovery process. When Microsoft attempted to restore affected servers, some became unresponsive again after receiving incoming traffic.
Microsoft therefore began exploring several recovery measures, including adjusting traffic distribution, isolating affected infrastructure, restarting servers and testing alternative configurations.
The company has not yet published a definitive technical root cause. It has also said it has no indication that malicious activity or a cyberattack caused the incident.
Which Microsoft services have been affected?
The disruption extended beyond conventional email access. Services that depend on Exchange Online experienced connectivity or performance problems.
Reportedly affected services included:
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Microsoft Outlook: Users experienced problems accessing inboxes, sending and receiving messages and connecting through different devices.
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Microsoft Teams: Some users experienced problems with workplace communication and features connected to Exchange Online.
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Microsoft 365: Parts of the productivity suite experienced service degradation.
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Microsoft Copilot: Users reported problems with the AI assistant and connected workplace functions.
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Other connected services: Some Microsoft 365 integrations and related applications also experienced disruption.
Not every Microsoft application or feature was necessarily unavailable. Microsoft indicated that services and functions not dependent on the affected Exchange Online infrastructure could continue operating.
Businesses and organisations face communication delays
The outage demonstrated how heavily organisations rely on cloud-based email and collaboration platforms for routine operations.
In India, airlines including IndiGo, Akasa Air and Air India reported disruptions involving their email support services. Air India said its flight operations were unaffected and that it had redirected email services to maintain customer communication. IndiGo also said its other customer-support channels remained operational.
Elsewhere, government agencies in Australia and Japan and organisations in Singapore and the Philippines reported problems involving email or internal systems.
Financial and business organisations also experienced difficulties with electronic communications, while some companies adjusted scheduled announcements and operational procedures.
For companies in the UAE, the incident is a reminder that relying on one cloud-based communication platform can create operational challenges when the provider experiences a widespread technical failure.
Email delays can affect customer enquiries, internal approvals, supplier communication, document sharing and time-sensitive business coordination.
Microsoft’s recovery efforts and latest update
Microsoft’s initial recovery measures did not deliver the expected improvement. Engineers subsequently explored alternative approaches to restore capacity and prevent recovered servers from becoming unresponsive again.
The company paused certain deployments, redirected traffic away from affected infrastructure and worked on server recovery and configuration changes.
There were signs of improvement later on November 13. The Associated Press reported Microsoft’s update describing early stabilisation and capacity improvements as recovery actions continued. However, that did not establish that all services had returned to normal.
Users should therefore distinguish between partial service restoration and full recovery. Access may improve at different times depending on the affected service, region and infrastructure.
What UAE users can do while services recover
People experiencing Outlook or Teams connectivity problems can take a few practical steps while Microsoft works on the issue.
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Check Microsoft’s service status: Visit the official Microsoft Service Health page for the latest information.
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Try accessing Outlook through a browser: If the desktop application is not responding, users can test the web version.
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Avoid repeatedly resending emails: Delayed messages may eventually be delivered, so check the sent folder before sending the same message again.
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Use alternative communication channels: Phone calls, SMS or other available communication tools can help with urgent matters.
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Contact workplace IT support: Business users should follow their organisation’s instructions and check with their IT administrators before changing account settings.
The disruption originates from Microsoft’s infrastructure, so repeatedly reinstalling applications or changing passwords is unlikely to resolve a server-side outage.
For organisations, the incident also reinforces the value of maintaining alternative communication channels and business continuity procedures.
As Microsoft’s engineers continue working on the affected systems, UAE users and businesses will be watching for confirmation that Outlook, Teams and the wider Microsoft 365 environment have returned to stable operation.
Q1. What happened during the Microsoft outage on November 13, 2026?
Microsoft experienced a global service disruption affecting Outlook, Teams and other Microsoft 365 applications. Users in the UAE and several other countries reported connectivity and communication problems.
Q2. Why was Microsoft Outlook not working?
Microsoft identified connectivity errors affecting part of its Exchange Online infrastructure. Some servers became unexpectedly unavailable, affecting the remaining infrastructure’s capacity.
Q3. Was Microsoft hacked during the outage?
Microsoft said it had no indication that malicious activity or a cyberattack caused the disruption. The company had not yet published its definitive technical root cause.
Q4. Were UAE users affected by the Microsoft outage?
Yes. Outlook, Microsoft 365 and Teams were among the most reported services on Downdetector’s UAE platform on Friday morning, November 13.
Q5. Which Microsoft services experienced problems?
Reportedly affected services included Outlook, Teams, Microsoft 365 and Copilot, along with certain connected applications and features.
Q6. Has Microsoft fixed the Outlook and Teams outage?
Microsoft reported early stabilisation and capacity improvements on November 13. However, partial recovery did not mean that all affected services had returned to normal.
Q7. How can UAE users check Microsoft’s service status?
Users can visit Microsoft’s official service health page at https://status.cloud.microsoft/ for updates about Microsoft 365 services.
Q8. What should users do if Outlook is still not working?
Users can try the web version, use alternative communication channels for urgent matters and follow guidance from their workplace IT teams.
