Microsoft Teams goes down as Europe starts working from home

As millions of people across Europe choose to work remotely rather than head into the office in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, a widely-used communication and collaboration tool that allows workers to have video meetings, chat, and share files has gone down.

Microsoft Teams posted on its Twitter support account that it was aware that users were experiencing problems using the service:

We’re investigating messaging-related functionality problems within Microsoft Teams. Please refer to TM206544 in your admin center for further details.

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Obviously this is hardly the ideal time for Microsoft Teams to go down.

As more and more businesses tell their workers not to travel into the office, and more schools switch to teaching pupils online, we’re likely to see more internet services stumble as they attempt to handle the sudden increased usage.

And don’t forget – the teams at those companies providing the internet services are likely to have their own workers logging in remotely, trying to fix systems via the laptop on their dining room table.

Strange days indeed.

Northern Line train at 08.00 this morning. Driver has just reminded us: “All passengers to keep 6 feet apart”. pic.twitter.com/4yuPfk5Qs8

— Robert Howard (@ProfRobHoward) March 16, 2020

Update: Some users are now reporting that Microsoft Teams services have returned to normal.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is an award-winning keynote speaker who has given presentations around the world about cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. A veteran of the computer security industry since the early 1990s, he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows, makes regular media appearances, and is the co-host of the popular "Smashing Security" podcast. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, or drop him an email.