Microsoft outage causes chaos across the US as governments crash and jail reveals they can’t release inmates

Office workers aren't the only ones being affected by the worldwide Microsoft outage - inmates are too.

The outage, which began on Thursday (November 12), has left email, calendars and AI tools unreliable for users, impacting millions across 74 countries and territories.

It's proved extremely difficult in Colorado, with the Arapahoe County Detention Facility reporting that the outage was preventing them from releasing inmates.

The facility relies on outlook to 'verify online bond payments' and, therefore, they are now not able to release inmates unless their bond is paid in person.

"The Microsoft outage is affecting online bond payments for individuals being held at the Arapahoe County Detention Facility," an X post from the prison's page read.

"Because of the outage, jail officials are not receiving the email notifications needed to process online bond payments. Until Outlook email is restored, anyone needing to post bond for immediate release must do so in person at the jail."

The statement concluded: "We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience."

The jail then asked those who required any help or further information to give them a call.

Colorado's Judicial Branch has also been affected by the outage. A statement posted on their website read: "The nationwide Microsoft outage has impacted court operations. We are currently not able to send or receive emails or access other Microsoft programs. We do not know when those services will be available."

Microsoft executive releases statement

Microsoft executive Charles Lamanna said the incident was not caused by a cyber-security incident, writing in a post on X: "We regret that today's outages caused disruptions for our customers, and we are working to address the issue."

However, the outage has proved difficult to fix. Microsoft first said it was seeing 'positive results' from efforts to restart systems, but later said the fixes were not working 'as expected'.

In its latest update, as per the BBC, Microsoft says there is 'continued recovery progress across affected regions, with broader improvements now observed in North America and sustained improvements across much of Europe'.

They added: "We're also seeing encouraging recovery signals in Asia Pacific," however, they stress that a number of users may continue to experience intermittent access issues or delayed email delivery.

Elsewhere, The US House of Representatives say their staff have also been affected by the outage.

“We all use Outlook, that’s our life, everything is there, our calendar is there, our boss’s calendar, so it has been a challenge,” one member told Politco.