Outlook 365 down? We can help.

Outlook won’t connect? We’ve built a temporary workaround that’s working in our tests. Request assistance below and we’ll check your setup before sending you the download link.

By Tash Bhairo | RandTech IT | 13 November 2026

Friday morning. Coffee ready. Work waiting. Outlook… still trying to connect.

If that’s how your day started, you’re not alone. Widespread Microsoft 365 disruption has left businesses struggling to access their emails—and for most of us, waiting around for an inbox to come back isn’t much of a business continuity plan.

At RandTech IT, we’ve been testing a way to help affected users reconnect. And during the same outage, we noticed something interesting: clients using our SHaiRO system were still accessing their emails through it while their Outlook connections were affected.

Why is Outlook down?

Reporting on the disruption has pointed to elevated load on Microsoft’s infrastructure, with recovery efforts continuing into the morning of 13 November.

The full technical explanation is still developing. What matters for affected businesses is that Outlook may struggle to connect even when some Microsoft 365 services or access methods remain available.

That also means two people can have different experiences during the same incident. One person’s Outlook might be disconnected while another application can still reach their mailbox.

For the latest information affecting your organisation, your Microsoft 365 administrator should check Microsoft’s Service health dashboard.

We’ve built a temporary Outlook workaround

We quickly put together a Windows utility designed to help Outlook find a working connection.

In our implementation, it refreshes its list of candidate Microsoft 365 connection endpoints every 10 minutes, checks reachability and attempts to direct Outlook towards an available endpoint.

It has restored Outlook connectivity in our tests.

This is a temporary, independent RandTech IT workaround. Results depend on your Outlook version, your company’s configuration and Microsoft’s service availability. It cannot repair Microsoft’s underlying infrastructure, and it isn’t a Microsoft-issued patch.

How do you get it?

Complete the request form below. We’ll review your setup and, where suitable, email you the download link with the relevant instructions.

We’ll need:

• Your affected Microsoft 365 email address.
• Your organisation’s Microsoft 365 domain.
• A separate, working email address where you can receive the download link and communications.
• Your Outlook version, if you know it.

We’re handling requests directly rather than offering a public download so we can check suitability before you install anything.

If you’re using a company-managed computer, please get your IT administrator’s approval first. We will never ask for your Microsoft 365 password through this form.

Meanwhile, our SHaiRO clients were still accessing email

While we were dealing with the Outlook disruption, clients using SHaiRO continued accessing and working with their emails through our system.

SHaiRO is our AI assistant for Microsoft 365 email and SharePoint, built to give businesses another way to find and work with their information.

Its continued access during this incident was something we observed in our client environments. SHaiRO still depends on Microsoft services, so this isn’t a promise that it will remain available through every outage.

But it gave those clients another useful way to keep working that morning—and that’s worth a conversation.

If you’d like to see SHaiRO in action, select the demo option in the form below. You can also choose to receive product updates and early-adopter invitations.

Need your Outlook working again?

Tell us what’s affected and where we can reach you.

We’ll review your request and help you take the next step. If you’re interested in SHaiRO too, let us know.

This article describes the incident and our observations on the morning of 13 November 2026. Service availability may change as Microsoft’s recovery progresses.