Follow below fallback plans when there’s an outage or breakdown in Microsoft Office 365 cloud services to keep on working until the problem resolved. Those fallback plans also applies to anyone with cloud based email storage, Office 365, Exchange Server, Gmail or other.
Microsoft Office 365 Outage
Content Summary
Fallback Plan 1: Alternative Access Method to Mailbox
Fallback Plan 2: Keep Offline Copy
Fallback Plan 3: Alternate Mailbox
Microsoft Office 365 Exchange Server hosting outages and disconnecting Outlook software from the server. The Register reports that users could continue working via web browser interface, only ActiveSync connection used by Outlook software was affected.
We’re investigating an issue where users may be unable to connect to the Exchange Online service. All details are published in the admin center, available to your Office 365 admin under Service Incident (SI)# EX165763.
— Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) November 26, 2018
We’re working to address an issue preventing some UK customers from connecting to Exchange Online. In the meantime, customers may be able to access services by refreshing their connections.
Microsoft spokesperson told
This isn’t the first time Office 365 server outages. Back in mid of November, some Office 365 users reported login problem due to multi-factor authentication MFA failure.
Fallback Plan 1: Alternative Access Method to Mailbox
There are other ways to access the same Office 365 or Exchange Server mailbox such as:
- Outlook desktop Windows or Mac via ActiveSync
- Outlook apps on phone or tablet
- Outlook Web App/Access (OWA)
Outlook Web App sign in page
- Login to Office 365 account > Mail
Office365 Mail Account
- IMAP
- POP3/SMTP
Fallback Plan 2: Keep Offline Copy
Override Microsoft’s default caching in Outlook for Windows in order to keep a copy of all messages, calendar and contacts on computer.
Step 1: Go to Account Setting > mail account > Change.
Step 2: Check Use Cached Exchange Mode option.
Step 3: Move Mail to keep offline slider to right.
Check Use Cached Exchange Mode and move Mail to keep offline to right
Fallback Plan 3: Alternate Mailbox
Setup second mailbox as alternative email account with different provider such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail or Outlook.com account.
Alex Lim
Alex Lim is a certified IT Technical Support Architect with over 15 years of experience in designing, implementing, and troubleshooting complex IT systems and networks. He has worked for leading IT companies, such as Microsoft, IBM, and Cisco, providing technical support and solutions to clients across various industries and sectors. Alex has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the National University of Singapore and a master’s degree in information security from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also the author of several best-selling books on IT technical support, such as The IT Technical Support Handbook and Troubleshooting IT Systems and Networks. Alex lives in Bandar, Johore, Malaysia with his wife and two chilrdren. You can reach him at [email protected] or follow him on Website | Twitter | Facebook
