Thousands of Microsoft Outlook users faced service disruptions on Saturday afternoon, with widespread reports of issues accessing emails and other Microsoft 365 applications.
At 5:01 p.m. ET, Microsoft 365 acknowledged the problem in an update on X, stating that they had “identified a potential cause” and rolled back the suspected code to mitigate the impact. While Outlook was the most affected service, Microsoft confirmed that various Microsoft 365 applications were also experiencing disruptions.
Users on X also reported difficulties accessing Xbox services, which Microsoft owns. According to DownDetector, outage reports began around 3:30 p.m. ET, peaking at over 37,000 cases by 4:00 p.m.
Some users noted that even the Microsoft Authenticator app was affected, preventing them from signing into Outlook.
This is not the first time Microsoft services have faced significant technical issues. In recent weeks, users have experienced intermittent Outlook disruptions. The company has also dealt with major global outages in both 2023 and 2024, some lasting for several hours. On November 26, Microsoft restored Outlook and Teams services after more than 24 hours of downtime.
Microsoft has yet to respond to CNN’s request for comment.
