Microsoft investigating ongoing Outlook.com search issue and 401 errors, promises updates

As reported by BleepingComputer, Microsoft is having a bit of a meltdown; they are investigating an ongoing problem preventing Outlook.com users from running email searches and causing 401 exception errors. Lately, Microsoft also acknowledged the Outlook calendar shortcut widget bug on Android 13.

When users attempt to search, they encounter an error message stating, “Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again later.”

On the service health portal, Microsoft has provided information regarding their initial analysis of Outlook.com server logs and HTTP Archive format (HAR) logs captured during an internal reproduction of the issue. These logs indicate that the 401 errors occur due to an exception when users try to perform searches.

The investigation is still underway, and Microsoft aims to identify the source responsible for generating these exception errors and determine appropriate measures to resolve the impact. The outage began approximately at 12:30 AM UTC. Microsoft will share additional details regarding the situation within the next few hours.

According to user reports, the web version’s search functionality is currently unavailable, while the mobile version seems unaffected. Some users have also encountered problems when contacting Microsoft 365 personal support, experiencing a loop of sign-in prompts and Office 365 service selection.

One of the users tweeted:

@MicrosoftHelps https://t.co/d1vYZQKBBm web cannot perform any search atm. Mobile version search works fine. Also have issue to get help from Microsoft 365 personal support. Dead loop of sign in and choose O365 service.

— Felix (@Fe1iiix) July 6, 2023

The company has not disclosed the regions affected by the ongoing search outage.

On June 27, Microsoft addressed a separate issue that prevented customers in the Americas from accessing their Exchange Online mailbox through Outlook on the web.

In earlier incidents in June, Microsoft confirmed that certain services, including Outlook.com, the Azure Portal, and OneDrive, experienced disruptions due to Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks. These attacks were claimed by a threat actor known as Anonymous Sudan, believed to have connections to Russia.

What we can make from this story is that technical issues and security threats can occur even with well-established platforms like Microsoft. It’s vital for companies to promptly address and resolve these issues while keeping their users informed about the progress. Such incidents serve as a reminder of the complexities involved in maintaining reliable online services and the need for constant vigilance in safeguarding user data and system stability.