Microsoft outage means no email chimes or message pings, but still we stayed online

BERLIN — It was the sound of e-silence.

No Microsoft Outlook email chimes, no Teams message pings, no new notifications and, very possibly, no work getting done.

Microsoft 365 teetered on the edge of becoming Microsoft 364 as the global outage stretched from Thursday into, ironically (or fittingly, depending on your personal outlook), Friday the 13th. The disruption has impacted an unknown number of netizens, but the total could be as high as 450 million — the figure the tech giant touts as the number of paid customers of the Microsoft 365 apps.

Many of us were doing the same thing: Refresh, refresh, refresh.

But what really happens when an essential workplace tool goes quiet and the silence is heard around the world?

Sadly, it seems, the extended break online did not mean that we went outside — or even offline. Thousands used the 21st century technology of social media to complain about the 20th century invention of email. Memes sprang up across the internet as brands like airlines rushed to capitalize early Friday on an unexpected long weekend.

"Emails can wait. The world has been waiting long enough," Air India wrote on X. "Consider this your cue to plan that getaway."

The airline's post featured a photo with a view out an airplane window with the quip, "A change of outlook we'd highly recommend."

But the UK arm of discount grocery chain Aldi suggested staying home, writing "Microsoft being down is the equivalent of an adult snow day right?!" on Facebook.

Burger King instead opted for a message directed at Microsoft: "whoever's troubleshooting and working on the outage rn…take your time. go out and get a Whopper."

The World Health Organization, meanwhile, valiantly pitched some healthy offline ideas like taking a break from screens or stretching and walking.

We could do that. We could take advantage of a world and a workday where our inboxes don't demand all of our attention. We could savor the unexpected serenity of an enforced e-silence. We could take a walk! Really, we could.

Or we could stay inside, tethered to our laptops and desktops and smartphones, drafting hot takes instead of emails.

And again: Refresh, refresh, refresh.

For some unfortunate souls, Teams sadly still worked. Others were forced to pivot to alternate forms of communication.

"Having meetings on WhatsApp now instead," one Redditor wrote.

"My boss pointed out the program that has our training on still works," someone else posted.

Still more turned to other screens for entertainment: "Feet up on the sofa, coffee in hand and playing a bit of xbox, wonderful start to the day," another said. "Hopefully outlook is down for the remainder of the day."

But the outage also brought a nostalgia not seen since the 1900s.

"It's actually been quite fun in the office," another Redditor wrote. "It feels like a bit of a social event — everyone is chatting, we've ordered breakfast in, planning a pub visit this afternoon if it continues. Is this what the 90s felt like?"

But for many of us, the Internet Age is all-consuming. Even if our ears got a break for a few hours from the constant dings and pings of notifications, our fingers remained ready to reply-all at a moment's notice.

Refresh, refresh, refresh.

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The Associated Press uses several Microsoft 365 services, including Outlook, Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive. The outage gave Dazio some peace and quiet to write this report.

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AP journalist Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong contributed to this report.