Microsoft 365 users worldwide encountered significant disruptions today as multiple services, including the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, reported degradation or complete inaccessibility.
The issue, first noted around 18:45 GMT, has left many users unable to access key services, with some reporting partial recovery.
Microsoft has acknowledged the problem through an update on their service status page, indicating they are actively investigating the situation which has affected user access to the admin center and other Microsoft 365 services.
“Admins may have received an “Unable to read the configuration” error message when attempting to access the Microsoft 365 admin center.”
A Microsoft statement detailed that while some users have reported resolution, the company is still assessing if further interventions are necessary to ensure full service restoration for all affected users.
For more detailed updates, users are directed to check the Microsoft 365 service status page at http://status.cloud.microsoft or look under incident MO991872 in the admin center, if accessible.
This outage has sparked a wave of frustration among businesses and individuals relying on Microsoft 365 for daily operations, highlighting the critical role cloud service reliability plays in modern workflows.
Microsoft has not yet disclosed the root cause of the service degradation but is committed to resolving the issue promptly saying “A recent configuration change contained an error that prevented access requests from completing as expected, which prevented access to the Microsoft 365 admin center.”
“We’re making changes to our code resiliency and optimizing our configuration change validation methodology to ensure similar errors aren’t introduced in future updates”
As this situation develops, Microsoft encourages affected users to monitor the status page for the latest information on service restoration efforts. This incident underscores the ongoing challenges of maintaining seamless operation in cloud-based services, particularly given the scale of Microsoft 365’s user base.
Update:2:39 pm Wednesday, 29 January 2025: Microsoft has officially confirmed the resolution of an earlier service disruption that impacted Microsoft 365. The problem, which primarily affected administrators trying to access the Microsoft 365 admin center, has now been fully addressed.
According to Microsoft’s latest update, the impact was isolated to admin access, sparing other aspects of the Microsoft 365 suite.
The company has documented the incident under the code MO991872 for further reference within the admin center. For more detailed insights or to confirm the service status, admins can visit http://status.cloud.microsoft.
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