Gmail to Proton Mail: 5 alternatives for users as Microsoft continues to battle Outlook and the Teams global outage

Multiple Microsoft service platforms, including Outlook and Teams, continued to face a global outage on Friday (November 13, 2026) as the tech giant struggled to fix the issue affecting millions across the globe.

The widespread disruption of services dragged on for hours and impacted many users, companies, and some government operations. Several users faced trouble in accessing their email accounts and also encountered other errors in Teams meeting tools, among other platforms across the company's suite of apps.

The outage was first reported on Thursday (November 12, 2026) after midday Eastern time and continued into the night, impacting many companies and some government operations.


In an update on Friday, Microsoft said that the outage was affecting a wide range of Microsoft 365 offerings that interact with its Exchange Online and email services. Services including Outlook, Teams, and the AI assistant Copilot were reported by users to be down.

As Microsoft continues its efforts to restore services, there are other alternatives that can be used in place of Outlook and Teams.

Here are key alternatives:

Gmail: Gmail is an email management service offered by Alphabet’s Google. It is apparently one of the most recognized email platforms across the world. Besides providing a platform for email services, it also integrates other services by the tech giant, including Google Drive, Calendar, Docs, and Meet.

Yahoo Mail: Another alternative that can be easily considered in the absence of Outlook and Teams is Yahoo Mail. For personal use, it is absolutely free, like the case of Gmail. Besides its free services, Yahoo Mail also offers optional plans with additional features, which allows users to choose the best fit for their needs.

This email management platform also allows users to use their Gmail account along with Yahoo Mail. Users can also use Outlook, AOL, and others. They are just required to add another mailbox.

Proton Mail: Microsoft’s Outlook, Google’s Gmail, and Yahoo Mail can always be your go-to options when you think of emails and office workspace. But they are certainly not the only alternatives available at your disposal.

You can also use Proton Mail. Created by Swiss technology company, Proton AG, this email management platform claims zero-access encryption. This means that they never try to see or access the user's inbox on any plan. Similar to Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and other major service providers, Proton Mail is also free but also provides options and plans for users who choose to upgrade.

Two other alternatives that can be used are Tuta and Fastmail. Tuta is a German-based email management company that provides end-to-end encryption and guarantees privacy. On the other hand, Fastmail is an Australia-based email management company owned and operated by Fastmail Pty Ltd.