Microsoft Confirms Data Center Power Outage Disrupted Windows 11 Store And Updates

Microsoft has admitted a power failure at one of its data centres was responsible for widespread problems with the Microsoft Store and Windows Update on Windows 11. The disruption was preventing some people from installing or updating apps and downloading system updates. Power has since been restored, but Microsoft states that service recovery continues and it is anticipating residual impact as systems recover.

What Caused the Microsoft Service Disruption?

In an official statement, Microsoft said, “A power outage at a datacenter is impacting customers’ ability to complete operations in the Microsoft Store and Windows Update. As a result, some users may experience failures or timeouts when installing or updating Microsoft Store apps or when downloading Windows updates.”

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The company added, “Although power has been restored, service recovery is still in progress. Storage services are gradually returning online, and some customer impact may continue while recovery completes.”

Services and Regions Affected

The outage impacted users of Windows 11, specifically those relying on the Microsoft Store and Windows Update.

Impact Statement from Microsoft

- Issue began at 08:00 UTC on 07 February 2026

- Affected Azure services in the West US region

- Users may experience intermittent service unavailability

- Possible degraded performance or delayed monitoring and log data

The disruption was traced to an unexpected utility power interruption at a West US data centre supporting Microsoft Azure services.

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Current Status and Recovery Efforts

Microsoft said backup power was automatically engaged and that there remains a steady power supply in the affected region. The engineers, in the meantime, have been validating systems and slowly rebalancing traffic through Azure’s software load balancing layer. Health checks finish, and services start to come back.

What Users Should Do

Microsoft’s current recommendation for affected customers is to try Microsoft Store and Windows Update functions later. The company has reported it is actively working to restore full system reliability and will post updates as the recovery progresses.