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Japanese workers turn to fax machines as Microsoft 365 outage drags on

A Microsoft 365 outage lasting nearly a day has left Outlook, Teams and Copilot unusable, prompting some Japanese offices to send documents by fax instead.

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Published 3 min read

Illustration of a Japanese office worker sending a document on a fax machine during a cloud service outage

Key takeaways

  • A Microsoft 365 outage lasting nearly 24 hours has left Outlook, Teams and Copilot unusable for many businesses.
  • Some Japanese offices have switched to fax machines to send documents normally distributed as PDFs.
  • Roughly 78% of Japanese companies rely on Microsoft for their digital infrastructure, according to Tom's Hardware.
  • Microsoft says recovery is progressing in Europe and the US, and denies the outage was caused by a cyberattack.
In this article
  1. Offices go back to fax machines
  2. How workers are coping
  3. Why Japan is hit hard
  4. The wider impact

Offices go back to fax machines

A Microsoft 365 outage that has now run for close to 24 hours is still affecting workers in Japan, and some offices have responded in a distinctly low-tech way. According to Tom's Hardware, citing the Japan Times, employees have been sending routine company updates by fax machine instead of as PDFs, with one worker declaring that analog tools are hard to beat.

The outage began on Thursday and was still ongoing on Friday as staff arrived at work. Businesses that depend on Microsoft 365 have been unable to use Outlook, Teams and Copilot, with error messages and blank screens forcing them to reschedule meetings or postpone work.

How workers are coping

Reactions on social media have ranged from relief to improvisation. One person wrote that they could not open Outlook, panicked, and were told by their boss to stay home. Another said the only task they could manage at the office was cleaning the coffee machine in the production room.

Others have leaned on older technology. One user reported that a server problem at Microsoft had made work impossible since the morning, and that phones and fax machines were proving unbeatable. A separate employee confirmed their company was switching to fax to send the regular updates it normally distributes as PDFs.

Why Japan is hit hard

The disruption matters in Japan because so many companies there depend on Microsoft for their digital infrastructure. Tom's Hardware reports that roughly 78% of Japanese firms rely on the company, so a failure of Outlook, Teams and Copilot can halt everyday communication across whole industries.

Fax machines remain common in Japanese offices, which is why some workplaces could fall back on them. The episode has also offered a break from the country's demanding work culture, with some staff effectively given an early weekend.

The wider impact

Illustration: warning, Microsoft logo, building, update and the labels Microsoft 365, Outlook, Teams

The outage has affected far more than Japan. Tom's Hardware reports disruption to entire sectors, including health care in the United Kingdom, businesses, and travel and transport services. Richemont, the Swiss owner of Cartier, delayed the release of its latest earnings report because of the incident.

Microsoft's most recent update said it was seeing encouraging recovery progress in Europe and that the situation in the United States was improving, though it warned some users could still face intermittent problems. The company has also denied suggestions that the outage was caused by a cybersecurity breach.

Sources

  1. Japanese workers return to fax machines during ongoing Microsoft 365 outageTom's Hardware

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