Thousands of Users Face Outlook Outage, Reporting Issues with Sending Emails

Microsoft Outlook Experiences a Major Outage in the US and Other Countries

On Monday morning, Microsoft Outlook suffered a severe outage across the United States and numerous other countries, leaving countless people unable to use the platform as they returned to work.

DownDetector, a site that monitors online outages, indicated that issues began around 10:15 am ET, predominantly impacting Microsoft’s emailing service. Users reported seeing black screens and receiving an error message that reads ‘Service Unavailable. HTTP Error 503. The service is unavailable.’

Microsoft has experienced three outages this year, with this most recent occurrence disrupting the plans of countless individuals relying on Outlook‘s services for professional purposes.

Users React to the Outage via Social Media

Many took to social media to express their frustration with the sudden outage. Twitter user, Mae Kellert, tweeted, “Being a professor is great! …until Outlook breaks down in the middle of a midterm day…,” while another user posted, “Awesome, Microsoft Outlook went down. Happy freaking Monday.”

Despite the fact that the total number of users affected by the outage is unknown, Microsoft’s service status portal shows issues have arisen within Outlook. Nonetheless, the company has yet to acknowledge the incident on its official Twitter account.

Other Microsoft Services Impacted by Outage

Reports also surfaced of issues with the Microsoft Store, formerly known as the Windows Store, that arose shortly after customers experienced trouble with Microsoft 365. The Microsoft Store serves as an online marketplace for consumers to purchase and download applications for desktops.

Advice for Handling Tech Outages

Despite technical outages’ inevitable nature, the frustration experienced by individuals whose daily routine is disrupted is understandable. As we become increasingly reliant on technology, it is essential to have backup plans and alternative methods of accomplishing day-to-day tasks. Whether it’s a physical planner, another email service, or utilizing one’s smartphone to access important information, it’s wise to have some form of redundancy in place to cope with unexpected service disruptions.>