Microsoft announced on Tuesday that several of its 365 services are experiencing issues, preventing customers from accessing cloud-based applications such as Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook. The company has identified a potential networking issue and is actively working on resolving the problem.

Identifying the Issue

Reports of outages surged on DownDetector on Tuesday morning, with many users reporting difficulties with Outlook and other Microsoft 365 apps. This disruption comes on the heels of a significant outage less than two weeks ago, which was caused by a bug in a program update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. That incident resulted in global chaos, disrupting thousands of flights and train services, and affecting industries such as healthcare and banking. Microsoft has stated that it is working diligently to address the current issue. “We have identified a potential networking issue and are actively investigating,” the company said. The exact cause of the problem remains unclear, but Microsoft is committed to resolving the issue as quickly as possible to restore full functionality to its services.

Recent History of Outages

This latest outage follows a major crash of Microsoft 365 services just two weeks ago, caused by a bug in a CrowdStrike program update. The previous glitch had widespread effects, crippling computers globally and causing massive disruptions. Thousands of flights and train services were canceled, and various sectors, including healthcare and banking, experienced significant impacts.

Impacted and Unaffected Services

In a recent update, Microsoft listed the services currently experiencing problems, including the Microsoft 365 admin center, Intune, Entra, and Power Platform. Despite these issues, some services remain unaffected. “Initial indications are that the following services are not impacted: SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, Microsoft Teams, Exchange Online,” the company noted.

Microsoft also warned that users of the affected services might experience latency or degraded performance. The company is focused on resolving the issue promptly to minimize disruption to its users. The recurring outages highlight the challenges of maintaining reliable cloud services and the significant impact such disruptions can have on various sectors globally. Microsoft continues to investigate the underlying causes of these outages and is working on long-term solutions to prevent future occurrences.