Microsoft Outage Latest Update: Is Outlook Back Yet? Full Timeline in Singapore Time
Last checked: about 12 noon SGT, Friday 13 November 2026.
The question in every office chat this morning has been the same three words: is it back? Here is the latest on the Microsoft 365 and Outlook outage, with every time converted to Singapore time so nobody has to do Eastern Time arithmetic before lunch.
The quick answer: partly. Microsoft has been bringing servers back and many users can reach their mail again, but in the latest updates we found, Microsoft had not declared the incident resolved and had not published a root cause. If Outlook works for you, good. If it does not yet, the fault is still on Microsoft's side.
Is Outlook back yet? What is the latest update?
These are Microsoft's most recent statements that we could find, paraphrased, newest first:
| Singapore time (13 Nov) | What Microsoft said, as reported | Reported by |
|---|---|---|
| About 10:00am | Restarting affected infrastructure in an isolated manner was showing positive results. Microsoft was monitoring stability before expanding those actions more broadly | ABC News |
| 8:50am | Affected servers can become unresponsive again once they receive traffic. In some locations Microsoft was limiting which types of traffic could reach the affected infrastructure | Tom's Guide |
| About 7:00am | A portion of affected servers had been returned to service and remained stable so far | ABC News |
User reports on Downdetector had fallen a long way from the peak but were still above 25,000 at about 11:04am SGT, according to Tom's Guide. Downdetector counts are user reports, not a measure of how many customers are affected.
The authoritative status is in your own Microsoft 365 admin center under Health, then Service health, against incident references EX1550543 and MO1550821. See how to check whether Outlook is down.
When did the Microsoft outage start?
Microsoft's status account first reported the problem at about 12:54pm US Eastern Time on Thursday 12 November, which is about 1:54am on Friday 13 November in Singapore. Most of Singapore slept through the worst of it and met the tail end at the office door.
What is the full timeline in Singapore time?
| Singapore time (Fri 13 Nov) | US Eastern (Thu 12 Nov) | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| About 1:54am | 12:54pm | Microsoft says it is investigating reports of users unable to access Exchange Online mailboxes in the Americas (EX1550543) |
| About 2:00am | About 1:00pm | Outlook problem reports on Downdetector peak at roughly 130,000 |
| 2:07am | 1:07pm | Microsoft confirms the issue may affect Microsoft 365 connectivity for users in any region |
| About 3:00am | About 2:00pm | Microsoft begins redistributing connection traffic across its wider infrastructure |
| 4:56am | 3:56pm | An alternative health check method lets some servers return to service; Microsoft starts applying it more broadly |
| About 6:00am | About 5:00pm | More services are added to the affected list, including Planner, To Do, Intune and Purview |
| About 7:00am | About 6:00pm | A portion of servers is back and stable so far |
| 8:50am | 7:50pm | Microsoft warns that servers can become unresponsive again under traffic |
| About 10:00am | About 9:00pm | Microsoft reports positive results from restarting infrastructure in an isolated manner |
| About 11:00am | About 10:00pm | Reports still elevated; no all-clear from Microsoft |
Sources for the timeline: Microsoft's updates as reported by StatusStack, HollywoodLife, WebProNews, Engadget, ABC News and Tom's Guide. Times marked "about" are approximate. Microsoft's own posts are on its Microsoft 365 Status account.
What caused the Microsoft outage?
Microsoft has not published a root cause. What it has said, in order:
- The extra load was not caused by more traffic. A number of servers became unexpectedly unavailable, straining the rest.
- Affected servers were failing automated health checks.
- It had not identified a recent change that lined up with the start of the problem, and the failed checks may come from a component that processes server health.
- A core process on affected servers was becoming overwhelmed, causing capacity loss.
We are not going to guess beyond that. Microsoft's post-incident report will appear in Service health.
Was the Microsoft outage a cyberattack?
Microsoft has disclosed no evidence of a cyberattack, and its service advisories did not mention malicious activity, according to SecurityWeek.
When will Outlook be fully back?
Microsoft has not given a completion time. Its updates describe a staged recovery, with servers restarted in groups and watched for stability before the next group. In practice that means Outlook may work for one colleague and not the next for a while.
"Is it back?" has two honest answers today: "for some people" and "ask again in an hour".
What should you do now?
- If Outlook works: check your Outbox and confirm anything important was delivered. See how to fix Outlook after the outage and are emails lost during an outage?
- If it does not: leave your settings alone and retry later. See what to do during the outage, with an IT manager checklist.
- If Teams is the problem: see which Microsoft 365 services were affected.
- If customers are asking: see how to complain to Microsoft and how to claim a service credit.
- If the boss asks how often this happens: see Microsoft outage history.
Related products and solutions from SourceIT
To be straight about it: nothing on this list would have prevented a Microsoft-side outage. These are for the parts you do control once the dust settles.
| If you want to | Look at |
|---|---|
| Keep your own copy of company mailboxes and files | Synology backup and data protection for business, including the ActiveProtect DP320 backup appliance |
| Add a small office NAS for backup and file sharing | Synology DS925+ 4-bay NAS or the wider Synology NAS range |
| Review which Microsoft 365 plan you are on | Microsoft 365 for Business plans |
For help choosing, call (65) 6978 3502, email Sales@sourceit.com.sg or use our contact page.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Microsoft outage fixed? As of about noon SGT on 13 November 2026, Microsoft reported progress restoring servers but had not declared the incident resolved in the updates we found.
What time did the Microsoft outage start in Singapore? Microsoft's first report was at about 1:54am SGT on Friday 13 November 2026.
What caused the Microsoft outage? Microsoft has not published a root cause. It has said servers became unexpectedly unavailable and were failing automated health checks.
Was it a cyberattack? Microsoft has disclosed no evidence of one.
This article is general information compiled from the sources above as at the time shown. It is not a statement by or on behalf of Microsoft. Microsoft, Microsoft 365 and Outlook are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. Refer to Microsoft's official channels for the current status.
