Global Microsoft 365 outage disrupts email services for governments, schools and businesses

Microsoft confirmed that a global outage of its 365 suite, including Outlook, Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive, is linked to a recent update and not to a cyber-attack. The company said servers brought back online have become unresponsive again as traffic returns, and it is rolling back to an earlier software configuration while limiting traffic to isolate the problem.

Down Detector recorded nearly 130,000 reports of access problems worldwide, with users unable to send or receive email and to open documents in Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

In Australia, the outage has affected federal police, security services and state government email systems. A Tasmanian government spokesperson said critical frontline services remain operational, while a Western Australian spokesperson noted that senior officials are working with Microsoft to restore services. Digital NSW said an investigation into the impact on state systems is under way.

The Australian Medical Association reported no impact on hospitals or clinics, and major retailers Coles and Woolworths continued normal operations, although Coles’ internal email was disrupted. The National Broadband Network said it is monitoring the situation but remains unaffected.

RMIT University associate professor Mark Gregory described the issue as a network-layer misconfiguration that forces customers onto a reduced pool of servers, leading to overload and cascading failures. He advised organisations to maintain backup communication options, such as alternative email providers.

Federal Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Microsoft’s Australian head indicated the outage resembles the 2023 CrowdStrike incident, where an update caused widespread disruption, and reiterated that no cyber event is suspected.