Business/Alive News: A major technical outage at Microsoft disrupted email and online services across several countries, affecting businesses, airlines and millions of users. The problem began on Thursday and continued for several hours, leaving many people unable to access Outlook and other Microsoft services.
According to Downdetector, Outlook-related complaints increased sharply during the outage, with reports reaching around 1.30 lakh at one point. Users faced problems sending, receiving and opening emails.
The outage also affected air services in India. SpiceJet cancelled three flights from Delhi on Friday morning, while two flights to Darbhanga and Mumbai were delayed. Delhi Airport advised passengers to check their flight status before leaving home. IndiGo and Akasa Air also issued passenger advisories.
IndiGo said its email support service was affected and passengers might not receive responses to their emails. For urgent assistance, the airline advised customers to use 6E Skai through its website or mobile app.
Which Microsoft Services Were Affected?
Several Microsoft services faced disruptions, including Outlook, Teams, SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Planner and Defender.
Users reported difficulties with emails, online meetings, file sharing and other office-related activities. The disruption also affected businesses and organisations relying on Microsoft’s online platforms.
What Caused the Outage?
Microsoft said some servers experienced unusually heavy traffic and stopped responding. The company began testing technical fixes, including isolating and restarting affected server systems before gradually restoring services.
The company also warned that services could face further problems as user traffic increased.
How Did It Affect Users?
The outage disrupted office work, online communication and business operations. Cybersecurity expert Troy Hunt said the incident highlighted how heavily organisations depend on a small number of technology platforms.
Microsoft 365 has more than 430 million users worldwide, making the disruption significant for businesses and individuals.
The incident has once again raised questions about the need for backup systems and alternative communication platforms.
