Microsoft Investigating Teams Issue that Disables Users from Opening Apps
Microsoft has confirmed it is investigating a significant issue affecting Microsoft Teams for Education, which is particularly impacting users’ ability to access critical features such as assignments and grades.
Microsoft has confirmed it is investigating a significant issue affecting Microsoft Teams for Education, which is particularly impacting users’ ability to access critical features such as assignments and grades.
The problem, which initially appeared limited to administrators in Europe, has since expanded to affect all users with educational accounts worldwide potentially.
The outage stems from backend infrastructure challenges within Teams’ processing systems. Microsoft first acknowledged the issue on November 12, 2025, stating that affected admins in the European region were unable to open or load assignments and grades.
This disruption has broader implications for educators and students relying on the platform for daily collaboration and academic management.
As the investigation progressed, Microsoft updated its status to reveal that the issue extends beyond admins to any user holding a Microsoft Teams Educational account.
We're investigating an issue where admins in Europe may be unable to open or load assignments and grades within Microsoft Teams for Education. More information can be found under TM1185134 in the admin center.— Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) This escalation underscores the platform’s centrality in modern remote learning environments, where even brief downtimes can halt lesson planning, grading, and student interactions.
The outage stems from backend infrastructure challenges within Teams’ processing systems.
To address the problem, Microsoft engineers are actively restarting key backend components that power Teams’ services. These restarts aim to restore processing capabilities and mitigate the ongoing impact.
Users experiencing difficulties are directed to the Microsoft 365 admin center for real-time updates under incident identifier TM1185134. There, detailed timelines, affected services, and mitigation steps are available, helping IT administrators track resolution efforts.
The timing of this incident is particularly unfortunate, coinciding with the mid-semester period when educational institutions heavily depend on digital tools.
Microsoft Teams , part of the broader Microsoft 365 suite, serves millions of users globally, with education-specific features integrated deeply into school workflows.
While the company has not specified a root cause, such as a software glitch, server overload, or external factor, past Teams outages have often involved high-traffic scenarios or configuration errors in cloud infrastructure.
Microsoft emphasizes that its teams are working around the clock to resolve the issue, with preliminary signs of improvement expected as restarts complete.
In the interim, affected users are advised to monitor the admin center and consider alternative tools for urgent tasks. This event highlights ongoing challenges in maintaining reliable cloud-based educational platforms, especially amid rising demands post-pandemic.
As more details emerge under TM1185134, educators and IT professionals should prepare contingency plans to minimize academic disruptions. Microsoft has committed to a full post-incident review to prevent future occurrences.
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Based on reporting by Cyber Security News.