Outlook outage disrupts email as Microsoft investigates widespread problems

Microsoft Outlook users across the United States reported trouble accessing email Thursday as Microsoft investigated a widespread disruption affecting its online services.Microsoft initially reported problems accessing Exchange Online mailboxes across the Americas, then warned that Microsoft 365 connectivity could be affected in any region, according to ABC News.Thousands report Outlook problemsOutage-tracking website Downdetector recorded more than 97,000 reports of Outlook problems at 2:07 p.m. Eastern, Reuters reported.The tracker also recorded more than 38,000 reports involving Microsoft 365 and about 4,500 involving Teams. Those figures represent reports submitted to the tracking service, rather than a confirmed count of affected customers.What Microsoft is doingMicrosoft said unexpectedly unavailable servers were putting additional strain on its remaining infrastructure, ABC News reported.The company said it had paused deployments, shifted traffic away from affected infrastructur