My Outlook /Hotmail is not working

Gayle Roane 0 Reputation points
2026-11-12T22:28:54.0066667+00:00

How do I report a Microsoft Outlook/Hotmail outage? Mine has been out 4 1/2 hours.

Thanks.

Outlook | Web | Outlook.com | Email

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  1. AI answer

    2026-11-12T22:30:25.94+00:00

    A widespread Outlook/Outlook.com outage is being reported today, November 12, 2026, so check Microsoft’s service status and report your impact through Outlook.com’s Help pane if you can sign in.^1^

    Check the outage status

    Open Microsoft’s Service Health Status site. Microsoft directs Outlook.com users there when they have trouble accessing the service; if its status is not green, wait until normal service is restored before trying again.^2^

    Reports indicate that today’s incident is affecting Outlook email access and related Microsoft 365 services, so a 4½-hour interruption may be part of the current outage rather than an isolated account problem.^3^

    Avoid repeatedly changing your password while the service reports an outage; a password change will not resolve a service-side interruption.

    Report it to Outlook.com support

    If you can sign in:

    1. In Outlook.com, select Help on the top menu, then Help.
    2. Enter a description such as “Unable to send, receive, or open Outlook.com email since [time]” and press Return.
    3. If the suggested answers do not resolve it, scroll to Still need help?
    4. Select Yes to submit the issue to Outlook.com support by email.^4^

    Include the approximate start time, your region, the exact error message, and whether the problem occurs in both a browser and the Outlook app. Do not post your password or verification codes.

    If you cannot sign in, use Microsoft’s customer-support page and its Microsoft account sign-in helper. Support representatives cannot access or change account details or send password-reset links.^5^

    For a work or school Microsoft 365 account

    A Microsoft 365 administrator can open the Microsoft 365 admin center → Health → Service health. If the problem is not already listed, select Report an issue, complete the form, and then track it under Reported issues.^6^

    That administrator reporting option applies to organizational Microsoft 365 tenants; personal Hotmail/Outlook.com users should use the Outlook.com Help → Still need help? route above.

    References

    1. Microsoft Outlook outage affects thousands: What to know about the November 12 incident
    2. How to sign in to Hotmail | Microsoft Support
    3. Microsoft's Outlook email hit by new outage | TechCrunch
    4. How to get support for Outlook.com | Microsoft Support
    5. Contact Microsoft customer support | Microsoft Support
    6. How to check Microsoft 365 service health
    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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  2. Marcin Policht 112.8K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2026-11-13T00:55:03.6933333+00:00

    Unfortunately that's likely due to the ongoing service-side outage - Microsoft is well aware of it. You can monitor the latest updates via https://status.cloud.microsoft/

    Here is the latest available information:

    User's image

    The next update is scheduled for Friday, November 13, 2026, at 5:30 AM (GMT+7).

    If the above response helps answer your question, remember to "Accept Answer" so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.

    hth

    Marcin

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