On October 29, 2025, a significant outage hit Microsoft Azure around noon, causing disruptions to multiple services that rely on its cloud infrastructure, affecting a wide range of applications and users.
The root cause of the outage was identified by Microsoft as problems with Azure Front Door, which led to a loss of availability for certain services and challenges in accessing the Azure Portal. Further investigation revealed that issues involving the domain name system were also a contributing factor. Notably, this outage occurred just hours before Microsoft was set to release its quarterly earnings report, highlighting the critical dependence on cloud platforms for operational continuity.
As the outage unfolded, reports of disruptions surged on monitoring platforms like Downdetector, illustrating the scale and impact of the issue. Microsoft responded by rerouting the Azure Portal away from Azure Front Door to mitigate the problem. Additionally, the company recommended that affected users utilize programmatic access methods, such as PowerShell or the Command Line Interface (CLI), to navigate the challenges posed by the outage.
The incident had far-reaching consequences, affecting key functionalities across various sectors and underscoring the significant operational dependencies on Azure’s infrastructure. The services impacted included Microsoft 365, Xbox, Minecraft, and other applications crucial for both consumers and businesses, with notable effects reported by companies such as Alaska Airlines.
