If your Microsoft Outlook inbox had lots of spam today, you were not alone [Update]

Microsoft Outlook is not working like it should today. Reports are coming in worldwide that the email client's spam filters are not blocking spam messages like they should. The Verge first reported these problems, and we have independently verified that Outlook users are getting slammed with spam.

That includes former Neowin writer, and current Stardock Vice President, Brad Sams, who posted on Twitter this morning about his own Outlook problems, tweeting, "Did Outlook wake up today and decide 'today's the day we turn off the spam filters?'"

Microsoft's Outlook community forums are also filling up with messages about the spam filter issues. Some users have stated that their Hotmail inboxes are also filling up with spam messages. At the time this article was written, Microsoft had yet to issue an official comment on the breakdown in Outlook spam filters. We will update this post if the company issues an update, including when they plan to fix this problem.

However in our brief testing it appears that the spam is not filtered on Outlook on the web (outlook.com) but if you open the Outlook client app, the messages are properly filtered and this is then synced to Outlook.com where the spam messages are marked as Junk Mail.

Update: Microsoft sent messages on Twitter to some users around 5:30 pm Eastern time, stating the Outlook spam issue " has been resolved." It did not state the reason for the original error.