Is Outlook down? Thousands of Brits report issues with Microsoft email app

| Senior science and technology reporter Published November 12, 2026 5:55pm Updated November 12, 2026 6:17pm The app fails to load or, if it does, refuses to send emails (Picture: Photothek) Microsoft Outlook, one of the world’s most popular email software programs, is down for thousands of Brits. The issue began just after 5.20pm before rising to more than 3,300 within 20 minutes, according to outage tracker Downdetector. Hundreds of other Brits are struggling to use videoconferencing app Microsoft Teams and Copilot, the computer company’s AI chatbot. Some 60,000 people in the US are also experiencing issues with Outlook, with issues first springing up earlier at 4pm. Users loading Outlook are being met with a ‘Failed to fetch’ error, when a browser sends a request to a server and fails to hear back. The error screen If the Microsoft website does load, inboxes may appear blank and emails refuse to send. Microsoft initially said the outage was impacting ‘mailboxes through multiple connection methods in the Americas’. But a post on its 365 Status account said: ‘The issue may affect Microsoft 365 service connectivity for users in any region’. While we're working to mitigate impact, we've confirmed the issue may affect Microsoft 365 service connectivity for users in any region, more information will be provided in the Microsoft 365 admin center under EX1550543.— Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) November 12, 2026 Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here. For more stories like this, check our news page. Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here. Arrow MORE: What happens if a ‘Black Sky’ attack hits the UK? News Updates Stay on top of the headlines with daily email updates.