Microsoft Outlook, the email and calendar service used by millions worldwide, is facing a massive global outage, leaving users unable to access their accounts via web, desktop, or mobile platforms. The disruption began around 10:20 PM UTC on July 9 (3:50 AM IST on July 10), and more than 11 hours later, services remain unstable.
According to outage-tracking platform DownDetector, over 62% of users are reporting login issues, 33% are facing server connectivity errors, and 5% are unable to send emails. The outage appears to be affecting major cities across the United States, including Washington, New York, and Dallas, but reports have come in from users across the globe.
Frustrated users have taken to social media to report being locked out of their Outlook accounts, often receiving generic “Something went wrong” error messages or notifications about “invalid licenses.”
Microsoft has acknowledged the issue via its official Microsoft 365 Status page, attributing the disruption to a failure within the mailbox infrastructure. Preliminary investigations suggest the root cause may be tied to a malfunctioning authentication component, which is impairing users’ ability to log in and access email services.
In a statement, Microsoft said it is actively deploying a fix, adding that the rollout is “progressing quicker than anticipated.” The company expects the disruption to “gradually mitigate as it progresses,” but no timeline for complete resolution has been provided.
The lack of communication during the early hours of the outage has sparked criticism. One user on X (formerly Twitter) wrote, “Seems Outlook has been down globally for multiple hours. Can’t log in on desktop, web, or app. And no word yet from @Outlook or @Microsoft.”
As businesses and individuals continue to deal with the service disruption, the incident highlights the growing dependence on digital communication tools—and the chaos that ensues when they unexpectedly go dark.
