Microsoft 365 outage: will you get compensation under the SLA?
After an outage like the one in November 2026, the question naturally arises: will we get anything back for this? In its Service Level Agreement, Microsoft promises a minimum monthly availability, with service credit if it falls below that. Here you can read what the SLA says, how the calculation works, what you need to provide and where the limitations lie.
Possibly, but not automatically. If the availability of, say, Exchange Online falls below 99.9 per cent in a month, you can claim service credit. You have to submit a claim yourself, with evidence, within the deadline.
Everything below comes from the Service Level Agreement for Microsoft Online Services, November 2026 version. This is not legal advice. Status as of Friday 13 November 2026, 10:15.
What Microsoft promises in the SLA
- For Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive and Teams, among others, a sliding scale applies: below 99.9 per cent availability you get 25 per cent credit, below 99 per cent 50 per cent, below 95 per cent 100 per cent.
- The credit is a percentage of what you pay for that service in that month, never more than the monthly fee.
- According to the SLA, service credit is the only remedy for availability problems.
- You submit a claim yourself to Microsoft support, no later than the end of the month following the incident.
- According to the SLA, an outage notice from Microsoft is not confirmation that you are entitled to credit.
The SLA for Microsoft Online Services is a single document covering Azure, Dynamics 365, Office 365 and Intune, with its own definition of downtime for each service. For most parts of Microsoft 365 the arrangement is the same: Microsoft calculates each month what proportion of the time your users could use the service, and gives credit if that falls below a threshold.
Service credit by monthly availability (SLA for Microsoft Online Services, November 2026)
| Availability in the month | Service credit | Applies to, among others |
|---|---|---|
| Below 99.9% | 25% | Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Teams |
| Below 99% | 50% | Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Teams |
| Below 95% | 100% | Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Teams |
What counts as downtime
This is the crux. The SLA defines downtime per service, and that definition is narrower than what you as a user experience as an outage.
When it counts as downtime, per service (SLA November 2026, loosely translated)
| Service | Downtime according to the SLA | What that means for this outage |
|---|---|---|
| Exchange Online | Users cannot send or receive email using Outlook on the web | If you could not use Outlook on the web, you probably qualify |
| Microsoft Teams | Users cannot chat or start an online meeting | According to Microsoft, calling and chat largely worked; a broken calendar is not covered |
| SharePoint Online | Users cannot read or write part of a site collection | According to Microsoft, opening files worked; external sharing is not automatically covered |
| OneDrive for work or school | Users cannot view or edit their files | Depends on what your users genuinely could not do |
Downtime is measured in user minutes: the duration of each incident multiplied by the number of affected users, divided by all user minutes in the month. If only some of your employees were affected for a few hours, it counts proportionally. An outage lasting a day for all your users is roughly 3 per cent of a thirty-day month, and availability then falls below 99 per cent. Whether that applies to you depends on how long and how widely your own users were affected.
The SLA also lists situations that do not count, such as problems caused by your own configuration, your network or third-party software, and performance issues without genuine unavailability. For Exchange Online there are also separate commitments on how quickly email is delivered within Microsoft 365.
The SLA explicitly states that Microsoft's incident notifications are intended to help customers, and are not confirmation of a missed service level or an entitlement to credit. You have to demonstrate the impact on your own organisation yourself.
How to submit a claim
You only receive service credit on request. The SLA lists what a claim must contain; if anything is missing, the claim is rejected. For Microsoft 365, the claim must be submitted by the end of the month following the incident. For this November outage, that means by 31 December 2026 at the latest.
- A description of the incident
Quote incident numbers EX1550543 and MO1550821 and describe what your users were unable to do.
- Time and duration
From when until when your organisation was affected, as precisely as possible, including the time zone.
- Number and location of users
How many users were affected and where they were based. Ideally, export this from your own logs.
- Error messages
Which errors users saw, with screenshots and error codes captured during the outage.
Microsoft reviews the claim and generally states it will process it within forty-five days of receipt. If credit is awarded, it is deducted from what you pay for that service. If you buy through a partner or under a volume licence, check your own contract: with some licence types, credit is given as extra days rather than money. If you use a free or trial version, the SLA does not apply.
What the credit does not cover
Service credit is a percentage of your monthly fee for the affected service. It does not cover what the outage cost you in missed orders, staff hours or customers who walked away, and under the SLA the credit is the sole remedy for availability problems. For most organisations, the amount is therefore out of proportion to the damage.
That is no reason to leave the credit unclaimed, but it is a reason to draw the lesson more broadly. What an outage costs you is largely up to you: with a playbook, with emergency channels and with software that doesn't go completely dark when a single supplier falters. The playbook for businesses and the article on dependence on a single cloud provider cover this. For the timeline, read the overview of the outage.
the monthly availability below which the first service credit of 25 per cent applies.
the final date for a claim relating to this outage, according to the deadline in the SLA.
the highest credit, for availability below 95 per cent, and never more than the monthly fee.
Frequently asked questions
About the Microsoft 365 SLA and compensation after the November 2026 outage.
Will I get compensation for the Microsoft outage?
Possibly. If the availability of a service such as Exchange Online falls below 99.9 per cent in a month, you can request service credit. This does not happen automatically: you have to submit a claim yourself.
How much service credit does Microsoft give?
Under the SLA, 25 per cent of the monthly fee for the service below 99.9 per cent availability, 50 per cent below 99 per cent and 100 per cent below 95 per cent. The credit is never more than the monthly fee.
Until when can I submit a claim?
For Microsoft 365, by the end of the month following the incident at the latest. For this November outage, that is 31 December 2026.
What must an SLA claim contain?
A description of the incident, the time and duration of the outage, the affected users and their location, and the error messages that occurred. If information is missing, the claim is rejected.
Does every outage count towards the SLA?
No. The SLA defines what counts as an outage for each service. For Teams, that means chat and online meetings; a broken calendar is not covered. Problems caused by your own configuration or network do not count either.
Does the SLA cover my lost revenue?
No. The credit is a percentage of your monthly fee for the affected service and, under the SLA, the only remedy for availability problems.
What does an outage really cost you?
Appfront builds custom software and helps organisations map their dependencies. Want to know which processes grind to a halt when Microsoft 365 stumbles, and what to do about it? Book a conversation with a developer.