Breaking: Microsoft platforms suffering widespread outages, including Outlook

A widespread outage has hit Microsoft platforms including Outlook, with many users encountering trouble using their email accounts and other errors across the tech giant's suite of apps.

As of about 4:30am AEST, more than 120,000 users on outage tracker Downdetector reported problems accessing Outlook — with many saying they couldn't send and receive emails or were encountering delays.

Thousands also reported issues with Microsoft's workplace messaging app Teams, as well as its AI assistant Copilot and wider Microsoft 365 services.

Microsoft says it is investigating the issue.

In updates posted on social media, Microsoft said it was aware of users "experiencing issues accessing Exchange Online mailboxes through multiple connection methods in the Americas".

Microsoft later added that a portion of its infrastructure was "experiencing elevated load" — which it said was "likely contributing to the connectivity errors".

The company said it would begin "redistributing" traffic to help balance the load.