On 12 November, a widespread outage disrupted Microsoft 365 services, leaving millions of users across the Americas, Europe, Africa, and beyond unable to access Outlook, Teams, and Copilot. According to Downdetector, the impact was particularly severe in the Americas, but European users also reported significant disruptions. Microsoft acknowledged the issue on X, stating that some users could not reach their Exchange Online mailboxes through various connection methods. The company later attributed the problem to an unusually high load on part of its infrastructure and said it was redistributing traffic to mitigate the errors.
While Teams appeared to be recovering by Friday, Outlook remained problematic for many. For those in Europe—where businesses, public institutions, and individuals rely heavily on Microsoft's ecosystem—the outage raised practical questions about how to stay productive when the tools we depend on fail.
How to keep working during the outage
First, confirm whether the problem is still ongoing. Microsoft posts updates on its X account, @MSFT365Status, and maintains a status page at status.cloud.microsoft. If you are an administrator, the Microsoft 365 admin centre includes a service status section showing open and resolved incidents, accessible to those with the appropriate admin roles.
Switching between the desktop app, web version, or mobile app may not help, as the outage affects access to Exchange Online mailboxes through all connection methods. As TechRadar noted during a similar outage in July 2025, all versions failed simultaneously.
If you use desktop Outlook with a Microsoft 365 or Exchange account, there is a useful option: Exchange cached mode. This feature lets you work with mailbox items even when the network connection is slow or unavailable. It does not work with POP or IMAP accounts. Additionally, the Send/Receive tab includes a Work Offline button, available in Outlook for Microsoft 365 and versions 2021, 2019, and 2016. This allows you to read and draft messages using content already stored on your computer.
For broader collaboration, consider switching to channels that do not depend on Microsoft. Internal messaging tools like Slack or Google Chat can help coordinate teams, and large files can be uploaded to WeTransfer or Google Drive, with links shared via alternative routes. Teams itself experienced incidents on Thursday, so it is not the safest option for coordination during this period.
Email alternatives to Outlook
If the outage prompts you to explore other options, it is important to distinguish between email providers and email programs. Changing the program you use to read email does not change where your mailbox is hosted. For example, Thunderbird can connect to a Microsoft 365 account via IMAP, but that account remains on Microsoft's servers. To rely on a different provider, you need to open an account with them.
Among providers, Gmail offers a free service with gmail.com accounts, apps for Android and iOS, and integration with Drive, Google Calendar, and Google Meet. However, storage is shared with other Google services, and using your own domain requires a paid Google Workspace subscription.
For those prioritizing privacy, Proton Mail is an open-source service based in Switzerland that provides end-to-end encryption, web access, and apps for Android and iOS. It has a free plan, though custom domains are only available on paid plans.
This outage is a reminder of how dependent European businesses and individuals have become on a few cloud providers. As Microsoft's services faltered across the continent, many were left scrambling for alternatives. While the immediate focus is on restoring service, the incident may prompt a broader conversation about resilience and diversification in digital infrastructure.
For now, the practical advice is to use cached mode, work offline, and coordinate through non-Microsoft channels. If you are considering a permanent switch, weigh the trade-offs between convenience, cost, and control. The choice of email provider is not just a technical decision—it is a matter of digital sovereignty.
