Workers resort to using fax machines during the ‘Great Microsoft Outage 2026’

Detailed summary

In its latest update, Microsoft said Outlook systems were gradually recovering, but earlier admitted that attempted fixes were not working as anticipated (Picture: 2020 Photothek)…

With emails down for millions across the globe, many workers are now resorting to more low-tech methods to connect with colleagues.

Employees in more than 70 countries are currently affected by the ongoing Microsoft Outlook outage, as the software giant says it is working to get systems back online.

Some major firms are now falling back on fax machines, which largely faded out of use in the 2000s, although they continue to be used in some industries.

One country that was prepared to get the 80s machines back out was Japan, where markets are using the outdated technology as backup.

Elsewhere major international companies including BNP Paribas have defaulted to manual processes to continue trading during the outage.

Several humorous internet memes depicted the return to analog systems which have been dormant for years, including one showing a man waking up from a coffin.

In its latest update, Microsoft said it was seeing ‘encouraging recovery progress’, with more and more 365 systems having been restored across several regions, but warned that many customers would continue to experience intermittent issues.

‘Some users may still experience intermittent issues as recovery actions continue. We’re focused on recovery for the remaining affected environments while prioritising email queue and backlog reduction’, it said.

Overnight the tech giant admitted that fixes had not gone as anticipated.

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