Microsoft Teams is currently down worldwide. Microsoft says it is trying to bring the service back online after a recent change to an ‘authentication system’ undermined some Microsoft 365 services. “We are resetting the update to reduce the impact,” says Microsoft’s 365 Status Account, but the return takes “longer than expected.”
The issues started around 15:30 ET, and Microsoft quickly confirmed that it was affecting users worldwide. This is the first major Microsoft Teams outage since the service went down in September, along with other Microsoft 365 services such as Office 365 and Outlook. Microsoft also blames its previous outage due to a configuration change.
Azure Active Directory also seems to be experiencing issues as part of this interruption, and Microsoft’s prepaid codes are not currently working either.
The process of resetting the change is taking longer than expected. We will provide an ETA as soon as one is available. Additional information can be found at https://t.co/AEUj8uAGXl or under MO244568 if available.
– Microsoft 365 status (@ MSFT365Status) 15 March 2021
Microsoft now has 115 million people using its Microsoft Teams communication app every day. The service grew rapidly during the pandemic as students and businesses moved online to work and learn remotely. As a result, a global outage will now affect millions of people trying to use Microsoft Teams to communicate with collaborators, teachers, or fellow students.
Update, 15 March 16:50 ET: Article updated with the latest information from Microsoft.