Is Outlook down for everyone today — and what should you do while Microsoft 365 is out?

Yes — a Microsoft 365 outage on Thursday, November 12 is hitting Outlook, Teams, SharePoint Online, Copilot and more, and it is on Microsoft’s side, not yours. Here is how to confirm it, what to do for urgent mail, and why you should not reset your password or delete your account while you wait.

It is just after lunch, your inbox freezes mid-send, and the whole office is suddenly asking the same question: is it just us?Short answer: No, it is not just you — Outlook really is down for a lot of people today, Thursday, November 12, and the problem is on Microsoft’s side. A Microsoft 365 outage is affecting Outlook and Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint Online, Microsoft 365 Copilot and Defender XDR, with Planner added later. The smart move: confirm the outage, work around it, and change nothing on your account.Why it matters: Microsoft says many of its servers failed their automated health checks and dropped out, straining the ones still standing — the load was not caused by extra user traffic.

The trouble began with an Exchange Online incident (EX1550543) at 11:17 a.m. ET; Microsoft opened a wider Microsoft 365 advisory (MO1550821) at 1:26 p.m. ET, and Downdetector reports for Outlook passed 130,000 around the 1:27 p.m.

ET peak. By 5 p.m. ET, Microsoft said its fixes had not brought the expected relief, a core process was overwhelmed, and it gave no root cause and no repair estimate.

It has disclosed no evidence of a cyberattack.What to do while you wait:1. Check the status before you change anything. Look at the Microsoft 365 service status or Downdetector first, to confirm it is not your computer.2.

Do NOT reset your password or delete and re-add your account. Your sign-in is fine; changing it only creates a second problem to untangle later.3. Use a phone app or a personal email address for anything urgent.

A short note from your phone keeps things moving while your mailbox is stuck.4. Draft important messages locally. Write them in a notes app so nothing is lost, then send once Outlook is back.5.

Restart Outlook after recovery. Servers come back one by one, so reopening Outlook helps your copy connect to a healthy one.Pro tip: Keep one thing separate — the November Patch Tuesday fix for an Outlook spoofing flaw (CVE-2026-124194) is a different issue and did not cause this outage. Still install your Windows and Office updates — they just will not fix today’s outage.Ad’s take: “An outage like this tests your patience, not your password.

Sit tight, work around it, and let Microsoft fix its own servers — that is what we pay them for.”