Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform is gradually recovering from a significant outage that temporarily disrupted several of its key services, including Microsoft 365, Xbox, and Minecraft. The downtime, which began around 12 PM ET, led to a surge in outage reports across platforms like DownDetector, as users experienced difficulties accessing enterprise and gaming services.
According to Microsoft’s official Azure Status page, the company detected technical problems shortly after noon and began investigating the root cause. In its most recent update, posted at 3:57 PM ET, Microsoft confirmed that it had started deploying its “last known good configuration” — a step typically taken to restore system stability after a configuration-related failure.
The company added that customers “may have begun to see initial signs of recovery” as engineers worked to reroute network traffic through “healthy nodes.” Microsoft expects full restoration of Azure services by 23:20 UTC (6:20 PM ET), indicating a relatively swift recovery compared to major outages in the past.
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Widespread Disruptions Across Microsoft Ecosystem
During the height of the outage, users took to social platforms like Reddit to report connectivity issues across several Microsoft services. Gamers mentioned being unable to load Game Pass on Xbox consoles, while business users faced difficulties accessing Microsoft 365 apps such as Outlook, Teams, and SharePoint. Some users also reported that Microsoft’s own support websites and select airline portals relying on Azure were intermittently inaccessible.
These disruptions highlight the widespread dependency on Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure, which supports not only its internal services but also countless third-party applications and enterprise systems. While the company has not yet detailed the specific cause of the outage, the deployment of a prior stable configuration suggests the issue may have stemmed from a recent update or network configuration change.
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Comparing to Recent Cloud Outages
This Azure incident follows a broader pattern of cloud service disruptions in recent weeks. Just days earlier, Amazon Web Services (AWS) experienced a major outage that rendered several popular apps and business tools unusable for hours. By comparison, the Azure disruption, while impactful, appears to have been contained more quickly and affected fewer regions.
Cloud outages like these serve as a reminder of the inherent vulnerabilities in the digital infrastructure that powers much of today’s global connectivity. As organizations increasingly rely on cloud-based systems for operations, communication, and entertainment, even brief service interruptions can have widespread ripple effects.
Microsoft has assured customers that it will continue to monitor performance closely and provide updates as the service returns to full stability. For now, early signs indicate that Azure is on track for a complete recovery later in the evening.
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