Microsoft has issued an apology after reports of issues with its products, including email service Outlook and the popular game Minecraft. The company is investigating widespread outages that have affected access to some Microsoft 365 and Azure services.
An alert on the company’s website confirmed that a network infrastructure issue was causing difficulties accessing Microsoft services. This follows two weeks after a major IT outage caused by CrowdStrike, which caused widespread chaos and travel cancellations globally.
In a statement on social media, Microsoft asserted, “We are currently investigating access problems and degraded performance for multiple Microsoft 365 services and features.” For more information, visit MO842351 in the admin centre.
DownDetector, which monitors IT outages globally, has confirmed that Minecraft, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft Azure are among the services affected. Despite thousands of reports submitted since 1PM today, the problem remains unresolved. Users also cannot access Minecraft, with more than 2,000 reports coming from across the UK alone. There is also bad news for caffeine lovers, as the world’s largest coffee chain seems to be experiencing some technical difficulties. The company’s mobile app is currently unavailable, preventing customers from placing orders or accessing their loyalty points for free coffee, according to reports from DownDetector. It is not yet clear whether this is related to the ongoing issues with Microsoft, but it is affecting customers worldwide. In fact, approximately 80% are unable to access the app and another 20% are having trouble logging in. The app rarely crashes, so there are normally few reports of issues. However, the app does occasionally malfunction.
Furthermore, banks, supermarkets and other major organisations have confirmed that computer problems are disrupting their services. Airlines have warned of delays, and certain airports have grounded flights. Train passengers should also be aware of potential disruptions. Microsoft has confirmed that an outage has affected the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, Intune, Entra, and Power Platform services. The company has confirmed that SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, Microsoft Teams, and Exchange Online are not affected.
Users who are able to access the affected Microsoft 365 services will experience latency or reduced functionality. Microsoft has stated on its service health status page that it is analysing traffic patterns within a specific section of its networking infrastructure to aid in its investigation. Furthermore, the company is examining potential solutions, including failover options, to provide assistance.
Later in the day, Microsoft will release its latest financial reports at approximately 22:30 BST (British Summer Time). This latest outage occurred following a software update from the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike that affected approximately 8.5 million Windows computers worldwide less than two weeks ago, causing business and global infrastructure disruptions.