Microsoft experienced one of its largest outages to date, affecting services including Outlook, Teams, 365 and more. Now, it appears the impact has been "resolved."
Multiple Microsoft services suddenly went down on January 22, which left multiple users without access to emails, apps and even Microsoft Defender. Over the course of around nine hours, Microsoft tried to fix the issue, resulting in a mixed bag of services returning and being out again.
Before that, on January 21, Microsoft 365 and Teams also suffered a brief outage that left users unable to log in or access various Office apps. However, that outage was resolved fairly quickly. This time, it left users without access for hours longer.
As of now, with Downdetector showing a huge drop in reports and Microsoft confirming the "impact has been resolved" on X, it appears services are now back to normal.
Here's a brief recap of events and how the outage happened.
- Microsoft services saw a massive spike in outage reports at around 11.40 a.m. PST / 2.40 p.m. EST / 7.40 p.m. GMT on January 22.
- Multiple services across Microsoft were impacted, with users unable to access Microsoft 365, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft Store, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Defender.
- The outage appeared to be caused by a service load elevation during maintenance of a North America server: "we’ve identified elevated service load combined with temporary capacity constraints during maintenance resulted in impact," Microsoft states.
- Microsoft also indicated that a possible third-party networking issue may be affecting access to Microsoft 365 services.
- As of around 1.30 a.m. EST / 6.30 a.m. GMT / 10.30 p.m. PST (Jan 21.), Microsoft confirms that the impact has now been resolved.
Microsoft's outage follows many other multi-hour impacts over the past few months, including Verizon going down earlier this month, and the AWS outage that effectively broke the internet in October 2025.
Follow Tom's Guide for the latest updates on the major Microsoft outage and everything as it happened below.
Microsoft was down again: here's what happened
Sudden spike
The new outage kicked off around noon Pacific with Outlook hitting just over 6,750 reports on Down Detector.
Microsoft 365, the office apps suite, is less but still sitting closer to 4,000 reports.
Other services affected
While they haven't received the same number of reports we are seeing other Microsoft services interrupted as well.
These include Azure, Defender, and Teams.
Microsoft acknowledges outage
We're investigating a potential issue impacting multiple Microsoft 365 services, including Outlook, Microsoft Defender and Microsoft Purview. Further information can be found in the admin center under MO1221364.January 22, 2026
The official Microsoft status page hasn't been updated yet, but the official Microsoft 365 X account posted that the company is investigating.
"We're investigating a potential issue impacting multiple Microsoft 365 services, including Outlook, Microsoft Defender and Microsoft Purview. Further information can be found in the admin center under MO1221364."
Similar to previous outage?
During the outage on Jan 21, Microsoft blamed the interruption on an issue related to a third-party. It's believed that an unnamed ISP caused connections between Microsoft's services and the apps.
This led to user unable to login to 365 or Teams or in some cases even open the app.
Mixed bag for Microsoft apps
Over on Down Detector, Outlook, 365, Teams and Microsoft Store are seeing a growing number of reports.
On the other hand, Azure and Defender XDR spiked but have quickly started to decline. It's possible these services aren't as affected compared to the big apps like 365.
Status page update
The official Microsoft status page has finally updated. It specifically notes service degradation for Microsoft 365 (Business or Enterprise).
Surprisingly, the page reads, "Users may be seeing degraded service functionality across multiple Microsoft 365 services."
That message would normally appear in the admin center, but apparently the outage may affect some people's ability to even access the admin center.
The message says people may have issues with sending and receiving emails.
Cause identified
We've identified a portion of service infrastructure in North America that is not processing traffic as expected. We're working to restore the infrastructure to a healthy state to achieve recovery. More information can be found at https://t.co/uSHwRmXFJZ or under MO1221364 if…January 22, 2026
Microsoft says it has identified a cause for the outage.
"We've identified a portion of service infrastructure in North America that is not processing traffic as expected. We're working to restore the infrastructure to a healthy state to achieve recovery," the company posted in a tweet.
On the status page, it provided a little more a details saying that the infrastructure is impacting load balancing and service availability.
Status page crashes!
Either because of the infrastructure issues or due to a fix Microsoft is attempting to implement, the Status page is also now down.
When I try to access it I keep getting the above error message.
An HTTP 429 Error refers to a site receiving too many requests. I'm sure it's not just me trying to access the page.
Intermittent interruption
I was able to load the status page again, but it won't stay up. Refreshing causes the 429 error to hit.
There is some new information, including this message:
"Users may be receiving a "451 4.3.2 temporary server issue" error message when attempting to send or receive email through Outlook."
The update does say that users may experience intermittent impact.
365 seems to work but not Outlook
I'm seeing comments on Down Detector and social media that some people are able to login to the admin center for Microsoft 365.
Outlook appears to be having more problems with claims of emails not sending or receiving. I've seen some comments from users who can send emails but aren't receiving any new ones.
Where we stand after just over an hour
This outage kicked off around 11 a.m. Pacific but didn't really hit until closer to 11:40 am.
Right now, reports on Down Detector have started to dip a little across every Microsoft service. However, we are still seeing a high numbers including over 12,000 reports for Outlook, close 16,000 reports for 365, and 2,700 reports for Store.
The status page hasn't changed, and Microsoft hasn't tweeted in about 35 minutes.
However, the company says it is continuing to review the incident to determine what actions it needs to restore service.
Microsoft update
We're continuing to review what actions are required to restore the affected infrastructure to a heathy state and rebalance the service traffic to achieve recovery. More information can be found at https://t.co/uFnnN6T3jN or under MO1221364 if accessible.January 22, 2026
Another tweet from Microsoft just went up. Unfortunately, there isn't anything new here.
"We're continuing to review what actions are required to restore the affected infrastructure to a heathy state and rebalance the service traffic to achieve recovery."
It's similar to the message we've seen on the status page. However, access to the status page is intermittent due to the 429 errors, so sharing this message in multiple places is getting people some information.
Up and down reports
Reports for Outlook have plateaued but other services are a mixed bag. Some services like Azure went down but are spiking again.
365 is dipping a bit and Store is going up. Teams meanwhile is going down.
Infrastructure restored says Microsoft
While we've restored the affected infrastructure to a heathy state, further load balancing is required to mitigate impact. We're directing traffic to alternate infrastructure to achieve recovery. More information can be found at https://t.co/uFnnN6T3jN or under MO1221364 if…January 22, 2026
Microsoft says it has restored the infrastructure to a "healthy state" with a caveat.
The company says it still needs "further load balancing" to mitigate the impact from the outage. Traffic is being redirected while the fix goes into effect.
Near immediate drop in reports
Since Microsoft announced that it was redirecting traffic and implemented a repair reports have quickly dropped on Down Detector.
That doesn't mean the outage is over since thousands of reports are still coming in, they've just lessened.
Outlook, the most affected service, is still above 10,000 reports though it is in decline.
Status page still crashing
Microsoft is telling people to go to its status page for updates but it continues to be affected by the 429 error, which means too many are trying to access the page.
Several Tom's Guide readers have commented that they can't access the status page.
I've been able to access it through brute force persistent refreshing.
Slow recovery
As mentioned previously, reports have been in decline but it's slow, suggesting that recovery is happening but not everyone has been able to access their Outlook emails or 365 services.
Consumer products should be working
According to Microsoft's Service Health Status page, its consumer-focused products are now operational, which lines up with the dip in outage reports we're currently seeing on Downdetector. The same can't be said for Microsoft 365 though, which is still experiencing issues.
The storm before the storm
Microsoft 365 going down on a Thursday afternoon means that tomorrow is going to be a rough day at work. Hopefully the service is fully restored by then, which it should be, but either way, you're looking at an inbox full of replies and missed emails to go through. Then there's a historic winter storm set to bring snow and ice across the U.S. all weekend. Your time might be better spent preparing for the storm instead of waiting for Microsoft to fully resolve this outage.
'Proceeding as quickly as possible'
We're rebalancing traffic across all affected infrastructure to ensure the environment enters into a balanced state. We’re proceeding as quickly as possible and this approach will help us identify any additional actions needed for recovery. More info can be found at…January 22, 2026
Here's the latest statement from the Microsoft 365 account.
"We're rebalancing traffic across all affected infrastructure to ensure the environment enters into a balanced state. We’re proceeding as quickly as possible and this approach will help us identify any additional actions needed for recovery."
Microsoft hasn't provided an ETA for service return anywhere, and I'm not sure the company has an idea of when the apps will be fully functional again.
Despite drop in reports services may still be down
Across Down Detector reports have dropped significantly in the last 45 minutes and Microsoft appears to be on the road to recovery.
However, tweets and comments from Tom's Guide readers reveal that the recovery isn't hitting everyone.
"We are still 100% down," one reader said.
To be fair, it's about 6 pm on the East Coast, so perhaps people have given up on the day and moved on with their lives. So, people actively reporting may have been reduced.
But! we're still partying on the West Coast and in the Midwest, except Indiana, which I assume is still shut down after the CFB National Championship win.
New update from Microsoft
For the most part Microsoft has been updating its 365 X account with similar information that you can find on the Status page. Largely because the official status page has been intermittenly inaccessible.
However, a new note just went up on the status page.
"During our ongoing efforts to rebalance traffic across the region, we introduced a targeted load balancing configuration change intended to expedite the recovery process, which incidentally introduced additional traffic imbalances associated with persistent impact for a portion of the affected infrastructure. We're remedying our load balancing configurations while, in parallel, reviewing the viability of expediting our ongoing incremental rebalancing and recovery efforts."
So, it looks like Microsoft's attempts to fix the original problem worsened things in other areas. A problem with software recovery sometimes, one bug breaks another.
Where we stand after more than 4 hours
Sadly, the outage is ongoing, and I can't tell when it will end.
As mentioned in the last post, Microsoft indicated that an intended fix to mitigate the "load balancing" issue caused other problems. So it is now trying to fix that and continue the recovery of the system.
The official status page was down for a while with 429 errors, but I've been able to access it continually for the last hour.
Over on Down Detector, reports have declined to just under 5,000 reports for Outlook and 3,200 reports for 365. I am seeing comments from users that they still can't access their email or aren't seeing emails come through.
An update from Microsoft
We're continuing to refine our load balancing configurations to address residual imbalances across the environment. More info can be found at https://t.co/Htn4qQDPCR or under MO1221364 if accessible.January 23, 2026
Microsoft has provided another update. Simply, they continue.
"We're continuing to refine our load balancing configurations to address residual imbalances across the environment."
No sign of stopping anytime soon
This outage does not appear to be stopping anytime soon. So enjoy this from reader 'Losing All Hope':
"Is now the appropriate time to send thoughts and prayers to Outlook, or we're not quite there yet?"
Another joke for you
One of those days I'm glad I'm on Google Workspace :-) pic.twitter.com/SSZUi6PjdXJanuary 22, 2026
It is now 5 pm Pacific, meaning it's clocking off time for most of the continental United States. I expect, as people leave work, if they haven't already, we'll see reports take another nose-dive.
With that in mind, have a drink on us and enjoy a little joke from Tom's Guide global editor Mark Spoonauer. Got a laugh from me, and now I plan on watching 'Airplane!' tonight.
I will be keeping an eye on things to see if we all have to come back to work tomorrow, despite the snowstorm and/or Outlook outage.
So, keep us in your tabs for any updates as they happen.
As expected, reports drop
Despite no updates from Microsoft and an apparent continued interruption of service, reports on Down Detector are dropping.
Outlook and 365 are hovering around 1,000 reports after sitting closer to 3,500 before 5 pm Pacific. At their peak, the two services hit a high of closer to 15,000 reports. That was hours ago, around 12:30 pm Pacific.
This isn't surprising since, as we said in our previous post, people on the West Coast are starting to clock off.
Update may slow down now, but I will be keeping an eye on things in case it changes.
The latest Microsoft update
We’re refining our load balancing efforts to optimize performance and reduce potential impact. In parallel, we’re assessing alternative solutions to reinforce recovery and enhance long term stability. More info can be found at https://t.co/Htn4qQDPCR or under MO1221364 if…January 23, 2026
"We’re refining our load balancing efforts to optimize performance and reduce potential impact. In parallel, we’re assessing alternative solutions to reinforce recovery and enhance long term stability."
Maybe things are getting better but we're not out of the woods yet.
Status page hasn't crashed in hours though, so that's good. And it reads:
Users may be seeing degraded service functionality or be unable to access multiple Microsoft 365 services
Microsoft claims it's seeing improvements
We’re seeing continued improvements in service availability and functionality as a result of our load-balancing efforts. We’re actively monitoring performance and making targeted adjustments to further improve stability and availability, while continuing recovery actions to…January 23, 2026
Latest update:
'We’re seeing continued improvements in service availability and functionality as a result of our load-balancing efforts. We’re actively monitoring performance and making targeted adjustments to further improve stability and availability, while continuing recovery actions to ensure a reliable service experience.'
Of course, the immediate tweets underneath are people calling this lies and saying that Outlook is still down.
Steady decline
I honestly can't tell if the outage is petering out or not. Microsoft did say that its team is seeing improvement on their end.
However, we've reached a point where most Americans are home, off work and not actively checking emails or trying to access 365 services.
On Down Detector, 365 reports are still hovering around 750. Outlook is finally under 500 reports and the other impacted services have basically 0.
Still, that does mean reports are still steadily rolling in, just not at the rate or amount that spiked earlier in the day when the country was actually online.
I won't call it just yet, but I will save any updates for anything more significant or if Microsoft says that its systems have fully recovered.
You're email might work now?
On the official status page, Microsoft updated with a current status that now reads:
" We’ve identified elevated service load combined with temporary capacity constraints during maintenance resulted in impact. We’re seeing positive signs of recovery in mail delivery, and mitigation actions are in place to better manage service load. While some connectivity impact remains between Microsoft Defender for Office, Microsoft Purview, and Exchange Online, and DNS lookup failures, engineers are actively working to restore full functionality."
I don't believe Outlook is fully back on line based on this information but if you're still trying to send emails, you might be able to get a few through the queue now.
What happened?
We've confirmed that impact has been resolved. Full details can be found under MO1221364 within your Microsoft 365 admin center.January 23, 2026
After hours of users not being able to access services, Microsoft has now confirmed the issue has been resolved. But what was the issue that kicked it all off?
Well, according to Microsoft, it was due to a service load issue during maintenance. Here's what the company has to say:
"We’ve identified elevated service load combined with temporary capacity constraints during maintenance resulted in impact. We’re seeing positive signs of recovery in mail delivery, and mitigation actions are in place to better manage service load. While some connectivity impact remains between Microsoft Defender for Office, Microsoft Purview, and Exchange Online, and DNS lookup failures, engineers are actively working to restore full functionality."
Essentially, this means that too many servers hosted in North America were shut down during maintenance. This caused too much load, and all services were impacted across the globe as a result. It isn't too dissimilar from the AWS outage that happened in October 2025, which saw several services go dark for hours.
Last year saw many internet outages due to major cloud computing platforms seeing issues, making it into our biggest tech fails of 2025. Here's hoping Microsoft's outage isn't the start of another year of problems.
Do companies need better backup plans?
Along with the AWS outage last year, it's becoming clear that companies like Microsoft and Amazon need more of a plan in place when these outages happen, as Managing Editor of Computing Jason England has recently explained.
While the Microsoft outage was caused by a failure in North American service infrastructure that stopped processing traffic correctly, the problems go further. With the "brains" all in one place (multiple servers in one region), rather than building in external redundancies (separate brains across multiple regions), it becomes harder to fix these issues.
For more, you can find out why yesterday’s outage proves these companies don’t yet have a backup plan for the internet.
Back to normal?
Over on Downdetector, Microsoft services including 365 and the Microsoft Store have now seen a huge dip in outage reports. So, as the company has stated, the issue does seem to be resolved. However, there are still over 300 reports, so there may still be a few tweaks to iron out for a few.
Considering it reached a high of 15,889 reports during the outage, this is a hugely more welcome sight.
Affected by the Microsoft outage? Let us know!
With how long the Microsoft outage lasted (essentially half a day), there's bound to be many users who were unable to carry on with their usual workload, considering it took out services including Teams, Outlook, 365 and more.
So, over to you. Let us know if your usual day has been disrupted by Microsoft being down!
My own Microsoft outage story... share yours
I was trying to buy tickets for snow tubing yesterday and needed to create an account, which required email verification with a code. Apparently, they used Microsoft for the service that emailed said code, and I couldn't register. I had to call the ski mountain to get a ticket, like it was 1999.
As I pulled into the parking lot, my phone started blowing up with around 20 emails from all my attempts when things came back online. Thankfully, I managed to get in through the phone before tickets sold out (there were 12 left when I spoke to the mountain), but I could have ended up with a very disappointed 9-year-old.
"Outages are expected conditions"
When these major events pop up PR tend to reach out with quotes that often aren't relevant or are promoting their business in the wake of an outage.
However, one rep sent us an argument from Cockroach Labs CEO Spencer Kimball who argues that companies like Microsoft, AWS and Verizon are not prepared for the current always-on internet that we live in.
"When a widely used service like Microsoft 365 experiences a cascade of failures across Outlook, Teams, and other apps, it highlights a core truth: most cloud systems are still designed around steady‑state assumptions. In today’s always‑on world, outages aren’t rare edge cases — they’re expected conditions. Resilience must be intentionally engineered, because single‑region dependencies, tightly coupled services, and monoculture infrastructure are exactly what turn localized problems into mass disruptions."
We will need to do more research but this may be true and something that leads to more structural outages.
One last communique from Microsoft
As mentioned in the closure communication of MO1221364, if users are experiencing any residual issues, clearing local DNS caches or temporarily lowering DNS TTL values may help ensure a quicker remediation.January 23, 2026
I missed this one earlier, but Microsoft says if you're still experiencing any "residual issues" try clearing your local caches or "temporarily lowering DNS TTL values."
Often when it comes to resetting your system beyond a restart, a cache clear is always a good idea.
Poll results: Outage hit hard
Earlier today, we ran a poll asking Tom's Guide readers if the Microsoft outage affected their days.
I can tell you that about 500 readers responded and 96% of you said that the outage affected them.
It means most of you were unable to carry on with your usual workload especially when it came to emails. We received plenty of comments about Outlook being unavailable.
Thank you for responding!
That's all for today folks
I have no new information to share with you regarding the outage.
But, it is supposed to get cold and snowy this weekend across a large swath of the United States. So stay safe, stay warm and take care of your neighbors Be good people!
