A widespread Microsoft outage disrupted email and other communication systems across Phoenix and surrounding areas in Arizona on Thursday. While police and fire departments reported administrative disruptions, emergency services continued operating. Local hospitals also said patient care was not affected.
Captain Mike Johnson of the Phoenix Fire Department said the outage had not affected 911 dispatch operations or the deployment of fire crews responding to emergencies.
With email unavailable, the department directed residents to its official account on X for updates. Johnson stressed that emergency response services remained fully operational and that any further information would be shared through the social media account.
Microsoft reported problems affecting Exchange Online mailboxes and Microsoft Teams. Police departments in Phoenix, Glendale, Gilbert, Tempe and Surprise confirmed disruptions for administrative staff but said emergency services were unaffected.
In a social media post late Thursday, Microsoft said it was restoring some of the affected servers. Several systems began coming back online that evening.
The outage also disrupted the daily routines of court employees. Alex Stratton, a court employee in Phoenix, said staff had to rely more on in-person conversations and word of mouth instead of email. Since the system had been unavailable throughout the day, he expected an influx of messages when he returned to work the following morning.
Another court employee, Maria Rubio, said staff normally receive email notifications about filings in their cases. The outage meant they could not find out in time when attorneys submitted documents or needed to communicate information.
Despite the disruption, the Maricopa County Superior Court said hearings continued throughout the day. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office handled its work over the phone, while staff at Arizona State University said they used Slack to communicate.
Healthcare services across the Valley also continued without changes to patient care. Phoenix Children’s said its clinical systems do not run on Microsoft infrastructure. At HonorHealth, patient needs continued to be met through MyChart and Epic.
Dr. Nina Shah, HonorHealth’s Chief Medical and Clinical Strategy Officer, said the incident raised questions about what could happen if other platforms were disrupted. She added that HonorHealth prepares for such situations and prioritises ensuring that physicians, nurses and care teams can continue delivering services without interruption.
