Email delays for customers on Microsoft 365
Email · partial outage · lasted 18 h 20 min
SummaryNov 13, 2026, 10:15 AM PST
From 9:25 AM PST on Nov 12 to 3:45 AM PST on Nov 13, about 18 hours, Howdy could not read or send email for customers on Microsoft 365. Calls, texts, portals and the rest of Howdy kept working.
The cause was a Microsoft Exchange Online outage (Microsoft incident EX1550543) that stopped Outlook, Outlook on the web, mobile mail and the Microsoft 365 API from opening mailboxes in every region. Microsoft says it came from an issue during an earlier network capacity upgrade, and it has promised a full post-incident report.
Howdy reads and sends email through that same Microsoft 365 API, so it waited instead of retrying into the outage. As soon as mailboxes answered again, it processed every email that had arrived and picked back up each carrier conversation that was waiting on a reply. We have found no lost email.
6 previous updatesHide previous updates
ResolvedNov 13, 2026, 6:00 AM PST
Email is back to normal for all customers. Howdy has processed every email that arrived during the outage and picked back up the carrier conversations that were waiting on a reply. We also removed the unfinished drafts Howdy had started when the outage hit.
Microsoft has extended how long it keeps retrying delayed mail to 48 hours, so mail sent to you during the outage should still arrive. If anything looks off in a conversation Howdy was handling, email saner@itshowdy.com.
MonitoringNov 13, 2026, 3:45 AM PST
Howdy can reach Outlook mailboxes again and is working through the email that arrived overnight. Replies may be slower than usual for the next hour while it catches up.
UpdateNov 12, 2026, 3:30 PM PST
Microsoft reports that part of its affected servers are back and that some regions are seeing limited recovery. Howdy's mailboxes are still unreachable. We're checking continuously, and Howdy will resume on its own as soon as they respond; you don't need to do anything.
UpdateNov 12, 2026, 11:35 AM PST
Microsoft says a large number of its mailbox servers became unavailable and that any region can now be affected. It has paused deployments and is moving traffic off the affected servers and restarting them. There is no estimate for recovery yet.
If Outlook opens for you before Howdy recovers, new email may be in your Howdy Intake folder instead of your Inbox. It moves to your Inbox once Howdy catches up.
IdentifiedNov 12, 2026, 10:30 AM PST
Microsoft has confirmed an Exchange Online outage (EX1550543) that stops Outlook, Outlook on the web, mobile mail and the Microsoft 365 API from opening mailboxes. Howdy reads and sends email through that API, so for customers on Microsoft 365 it can't read new email or send replies until Microsoft restores service.
Nothing is lost: Microsoft holds email sent to you, and Howdy will pick it up as soon as mailboxes are reachable. Calls, texts and portal work are not affected. For anything urgent, reach carriers and facilities by phone.
InvestigatingNov 12, 2026, 9:50 AM PST
We're seeing long delays and errors when Howdy reads and sends email for customers on Microsoft 365 (Outlook). The errors are coming from Microsoft's servers. We're investigating and will post updates here.