Microsoft 365 Services were down affecting over 20,000 users; admins unable to log in to Microsoft 365 centers

On September 12, Microsoft 365 services faced a downtime, affecting thousands of users. At least over 20,000 users reported the issue through various channels. The outage mainly impacted Outlook and other services.

Users took to social media to express their frustration, with some suggesting it could be an excellent excuse to take the day off. On Reddit, for instance, some argued that Microsoft hit another low point.

Well, looks like all of Microsoft took a crap
byu/Bane8080 insysadmin

As of this writing, Microsoft has resolved the incident, “We’ve monitored our systems and confirmed that impact has been remediated. Please look for MO888473 in the admin centre for more details,” the company said in an update on X via the Microsoft 365 Status handle.

We've monitored our systems and confirmed that impact has been remediated.
Please look for MO888473 in the admin center for more details.

— Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) September 12, 2024

The downtime report started at around 04:30 AM PDT and continued to spike up, mainly affecting Outlook. Ookla’s Downdetector recorded a spike in down reporting from over 20,000 users, “possibly related to issues in Microsoft Azure.”

Microsoft Issues this AM
byu/eraser1320 insysadmin

However, even if the Microsoft services are up and running, admins seem to be unable to sign into the Microsoft 365 Admin centers.

We're investigating reports of an issue in which admins are unable to access the Microsoft 365 admin center. We're reviewing details provided by affected admins, and we'll provide an update shortly.

— Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) September 13, 2024

Per Microsoft, the company has found out why, but it hasn’t provided a fix yet.

We identified and repaired an issue within the authentication flow for the Microsoft 365 admin center. We confirmed through monitoring service telemetry and via admin reports that the impact is resolved. See MO889001 in the admin center for more information.

— Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) September 13, 2024

The Redmond-based tech giant has been constantly hit with outages in 2024. Earlier this summer, the company was also the subject of one of the most significant tech blackouts in recent history. A Crowdstrike error affected millions of Windows PCs simultaneously, rendering airports, healthcare institutions, and educational organizations helpless for a few days.

This is a developing story.