Some users may be unable to access or protect content using Azure Rights Management (ARM) across Microsoft 365 services

Title: Some users may be unable to access or protect content using Azure Rights Management (ARM) across Microsoft 365 services User impact: Users may be unable to access or protect content using ARM across Microsoft 365 services. More info: Impact may have prevented users from encrypting or decrypting protected content, including files and email messages, across Microsoft 365 services that rely on ARM. Final status: Our mitigation efforts to stabilize the affected service components and restore request processing have been successful, and we’ve observed sustained recovery across the affected services. Scope of impact: Some users attempting to encrypt or decrypt content using Microsoft 365 services that rely on ARM may have been impacted. Start time: Monday, October 19, 2026, at 6:30 AM UTC End time: Monday, October 19, 2026, at 9:19 AM UTC Preliminary root cause: Our preliminary investigation indicates that unexpected service behavior resulted in some components becoming unhealthy and unable to reliably process requests. We’re continuing our investigation to determine the underlying cause. Next steps: - We’re continuing our investigation into the underlying cause of the identified service behavior to help prevent similar impact from recurring. - We’re reviewing our monitoring and telemetry to improve detection and alerting for similar service behavior. We’ll provide a preliminary Post-Incident Report within two business days and a final Post-Incident Report within five business days.

Title: Some users may be unable to access or protect content using Azure Rights Management (ARM) across Microsoft 365 services User impact: Users may be unable to access or protect content using ARM across Microsoft 365 services. More info: Impact may prevent users from encrypting or decrypting protected content, including files and email messages, across Microsoft 365 services that rely on ARM. Current status: We’ve identified that some service components responsible for processing Azure Rights Management requests are in an unhealthy state. We’re attempting to restart the affected components to mitigate impact. We’re seeing early signs of service recovery and are investigating the root cause while evaluating whether additional mitigation actions are required. Scope of impact: Some users attempting to encrypt or decrypt content using Microsoft 365 services that rely on ARM may be impacted. Next update by: Monday, October 19, 2026, at 11:00 AM UTC