- Microsoft 365 services experienced a major outage on Friday, 19 July 2024, affecting login, server connections, and SharePoint access.
- Users reported issues with PowerBI, Microsoft Teams, and the Microsoft 365 admin centre.
- Microsoft is actively mitigating the impact, with some services already showing signs of recovery.
A major outage affected Microsoft 365 services on Friday, 19 July 2024, leaving users unable to access various apps and services due to a configuration change.
Scope and impact of the Microsoft outage
The outage started on Thursday, 18 July 2024. Coincidentally, while in their status report, Microsoft did not mention CyberStrike, it’s believed the global outage is linked to the security firm’s ongoing worldwide systems failure.
Preliminary investigations revealed that a configuration change in a portion of Microsoft’s Azure backend workloads caused an interruption between storage and compute resources.
This interruption led to connectivity failures affecting downstream Microsoft 365 services dependent on these connections.
User reports indicated significant problems accessing Microsoft 365 services, with 69% experiencing login issues, 17% facing server connection problems, and 14% encountering difficulties with SharePoint, according to Down Detector tracking.
The outage impacted numerous services, including PowerBI, Microsoft Fabric, Microsoft Teams, and the Microsoft 365 admin centre.
Users experienced varied issues such as being unable to leverage Teams functions, read-only modes for PowerBI and Microsoft Fabric, and delays in the Microsoft Purview events processing.
Administrators also faced challenges accessing the Microsoft 365 admin centre, with actions being intermittently delayed or inaccessible.
Users of Microsoft Purview saw delays in event processing, further complicating the overall functionality of Microsoft 365 services during the outage.
PowerBI and Microsoft Fabric users reported that their services were restricted to read-only mode while Microsoft worked to address the impact.
Microsoft Teams users were unable to access key functions, including presence, group chats, and user registration.
The Microsoft 365 admin centre was intermittently accessible, delaying administrative actions.
Despite the widespread issues, some services began to show signs of recovery as Microsoft continued to mitigate the outage’s impact.
Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Intune, and OneDrive for Business were among the services gradually coming back online.
However, users still faced intermittent issues such as delays in syncing OneNote content, accessing OneDrive for Business, and managing Windows 365 Cloud PCs.
Mitigation efforts and progress
Microsoft’s internal telemetry and customer signals indicated progress in mitigating the outage’s effects.
Services like Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, and Microsoft Defender Experts showed improvement, though users still experienced delays and intermittent access issues.
Microsoft Intune users reported failures with device check-in, syncing, and enrollment, while OneNote and OneDrive for Business users faced content access and syncing delays.
Microsoft SharePoint Online users were unable to access sites, and Windows 365 admins struggled to manage Cloud PCs. Viva Engage users also reported access issues.
Microsoft assured users that they were actively working on mitigation efforts and expected continued remediation as they addressed the residual impact of the outage.