Microsoft Outlook Outage: Causes, Impact, and Recovery Insights

On March 1, 2025, Microsoft Outlook experienced a significant outage, affecting thousands of users globally. Reports indicate that the disruption began around 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, with peak outage reports exceeding 37,000 by 4:00 p.m. (cnn.com)

Microsoft attributed the outage to a recent code update that inadvertently impacted the Outlook on the web infrastructure. The company promptly reverted the problematic code change, leading to the restoration of services. (theregister.com)

During the outage, users were unable to access their Outlook emails, with many reporting issues connecting to the server. The disruption also affected other Microsoft 365 services, including Teams and PowerPoint. (upi.com)

Microsoft's swift response involved identifying the cause, reverting the code change, and monitoring systems to confirm service restoration. By 5:30 p.m., the majority of users reported regained access to their accounts. (darientimes.com)

This incident underscores the importance of robust testing and change management processes in cloud services. Windows users should remain vigilant for any service disruptions and stay informed through official Microsoft channels for updates and best practices.

• Thousands report outage affecting Microsoft services like Outlook
• Microsoft Outlook outage leaves thousands of users without access to email and apps
• Microsoft Outlook service restored following widespread outage

These sources provide further insights into the outage, its causes, and Microsoft's response.