A Microsoft Outlook update released today for the desktop client introduced bugs that prevent users from creating or viewing mail.
Today, Microsoft released Outlook version 2104 build 13929.20372, and after installing the update, users of the click-to-run desktop client found that they could no longer properly view emails or create new ones.
When attempting to view an email, instead of seeing the entire message body, they only see a small portion or a single line of the email message, as shown below.
To make it even more frustrating, when creating a new email message, every time you press enter, all the previously written content will be removed, as shown below.
In an incident status message in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center titled 'EX255650: Issue affecting viewing email content in Outlook', Microsoft states that they have identified the root cause of the issue and released a fix.
Title: Issue affecting viewing email content in Outlook
User Impact: Users may be unable to view email message content within Outlook.
More info: Impact is specific to the Outlook client and users with access to other protocols, such as Outlook on the web or the Outlook mobile app, can view message content in those platforms as a potential workaround while our fix is applied.
Current status: We’ve identified the underlying cause of impact and are applying a fix. This fix will reach all affected users incrementally over the course of the next four-to-five hours. Once users receive the fix, they will need to restart their email client to apply the fix. In some circumstances, users may need to restart their client a second time for the changes to take effect. We expect to complete this process and restore service for all affected users by May 12, 2021, at 3:00 AM UTC.
We encourage affected users who are able to do so to leverage the workarounds described above in the "more info" section of this post while we complete the process of fixing this problem.
Scope of impact: This issue could affect any user attempting to view an email message in the Outlook client.
Root cause: A recent change to systems that facilitate text display management for content within the Outlook client caused impact.
All affected users will receive the update over the next 3 to 4 hours and will need to restart Outlook for the fix to install.
If you have previously disabled Microsoft Office updates, you should enable them again to receive this update from Microsoft.
How to fix the Microsoft Outlook issues
If you are experiencing this issue in Microsoft Outlook, users have reported that you can fix the bug by rolling back to a previous Microsoft Outlook version.
BleepingComputer has tested this method, and it resolved the problems in our Outlook desktop client.
Method 1: Roll back Microsoft Office to latest April 2021 release
To roll back to the April 23rd, 2021, release and fix the Microsoft Outlook problems, please follow these steps:
- Open a command prompt by clicking on the Start Menu and typing CMD. When the 'Command Prompt' result appears, click on it.
- In the command prompt type
cd "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun"
and press enter. - You will now be in the ClickToRun folder. Type
officec2rclient.exe /update user updatetoversion=16.0.13901.20462
and press enter. - Microsoft Office will now download the specified version of Microsoft Office and roll back to that previous version. Please be patient as this may take a few minutes or longer, depending on your computer and Internet connection speed.
- When the updates are finished installing, you will be shown a screen stating 'Updates were installed.' You can press the Close button on this screen.
- Microsoft Outlook will now be rolled back to the previous version, and you should be able to start Microsoft Outlook again.
- You can now close the Command Prompt by clicking on the X button.
Method 2: Start Microsoft Outlook in Safe Mode
If you do not want to roll back to a previous version of Microsoft Office or cannot find the ClickToRun folder, you can launch Microsoft Outlook in Safe Mode to fix the bugs until an update is released.
It should be noted that when starting Outlook in Safe Mode, all add-ins will be disabled, including security add-ins.
To start Outlook in Safe Mode, please follow these steps:
- Press and hold the Ctrl key on your keyboard and then launch Microsoft Outlook. Outlook will proceed to start and then ask if you are sure you wish to start in safe mode.
- You should now press the Yes button and Outlook will start in Safe Mode with add-ins disabled.
- Once Outlook starts, you can confirm you are in Safe Mode, as the title of the Outlook window will state "Microsoft Outlook (Safe Mode)", as shown below.
- When done using Outlook, you can simply close the program.
It should be noted that you need to repeat this procedure every time you want to start Outlook in Safe Mode.
Please let us know if these methods work for you.
How to disable Microsoft Office updates
If you want to prevent Microsoft Office from autoupdating to this buggy version, you can temporarily disable updates.
To prevent Microsoft Outlook from autoupdating, follow these steps:
- Open Microsoft Outlook.
- Click on the File menu.
- Click on 'Office Account' option in the bottom left of the sidebar.
- When the Account screen opens, click on the 'Update options' button and then select 'Disable Updates.'
- You will now be shown a User Account Control (UAC) prompt. At this prompt, click on the 'Yes' button to allow the updates to be disabled.
- After you press the Yes button, you will be back at the Outlook Account screen, and it will state that updates are disabled, as shown below.
- To exit from the Account page, you can press the Esc key on your keyboard.
Microsoft Outlook updates will now be disabled and you can reverse these steps to enable them again when a fix is released.
This is a developing story.
Update 5/11/21 6:32 PM EST: Added Safe Mode instructions non-ClickToRun Outlook users.
Update 5/11/21 7:00 PM EST: Added instructions on how to disable Microsoft Office updates temporarily.
Update 5/11/21 8:20 PM EST: Added updated statement from Microsoft.
Comments
KeiFeR123 - 2 years ago
Hello Lawrence. Thank you for the solution. It worked for me. By the way, on the method 1.3, please remove the " after the officec2rclient.exe.
Hotiron - 2 years ago
Bill, I hope they move you right up to level one support service....Maybe try turning it off and then back on again...
NewSurak - 2 years ago
Thanks for the article. Worked for me.
emres - 2 years ago
I just joined to thank you, saved my day, I was just about to reinstall everything.. A real doozie..
Lawrence Abrams - 2 years ago
Thanks all..fixed the command lines.
nickutis - 2 years ago
Just got this issue too. Repair, reinstall, changing outlook profile or computer profile didn't work, so was really puzzling. Will try downgrading, thanks!
Hotiron - 2 years ago
You guys are the shiznit...... Thank you
Nogami - 2 years ago
Awesome, fixed here too. Thanks!
dawson_davis - 2 years ago
Thank you Lawrence. Great article. We got hit by this today, and your article really helped.
brunapaduaguerra - 2 years ago
Oh, I was going crazy about this bug. I had just clicked to read an email and everything in the body of every message went blank except for one random line. It affected both my email accounts and I had tried everything from Addins to to the color of the font and viewing options. I noticed that Outlook could print the whole body of the email, so that was the only way to read the full message. I noticed that assistant could read out loud the full body of the email too and that images would open on internet explorer.
I tried the command lines above but it did not work for me. On the second command line it brings me a message calling invalid directory name. :/ Couldn't restore the program to earlier version by any method...
Still waiting for a solution, I mean, we pay quite a lot for this kind of service.
Lawrence Abrams - 2 years ago
Try these commands, pressing enter after each one. We missed the quotes in our article earlier (they are there now).
cd "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun"
officec2rclient.exe /update user updatetoversion=16.0.13901.20462
Mikesco3 - 2 years ago
What does it feel like to be the absolute hero of the day???!!!
Lawrence Abrams - 2 years ago
Feels pretty good :) Just happy we could help!
brunapaduaguerra - 2 years ago
WOW!!! You are the best! This correction worked perfectly!
For anyone having trouble accessing the C:\ (in my CMD it showed C:\Users\XXX and I would get the message "C:\Program not recognised like an intern or extern command, executable or lot of files"), you have to type in "cd\" first of all, then you can begin.
Thanks very very much, you pretty much saved my full day of work, maybe week :|
pittbul - 2 years ago
Worked for me as well. Thank you
Mezcal - 2 years ago
Worked for me. Thank you for saving me from going even further insane.
BigMatlock - 2 years ago
Works for me too, Thanks. What a weird issue though, I was concerned that because I wanted to register to your site and I couldn't see email text bodies that I could not also read the verification mail to register (sort of chick and egg, which came first quandary).
aerhart - 2 years ago
Did not work for me. I do not have a ClickToRun directory at that location. Any ideas?
Lawrence Abrams - 2 years ago
What happens when you try to run the commands? It should launch the Office Updater at shown in the article, go through the motions, and when done you should be able to relaunch Outlook with the older version.
Mike_A23 - 2 years ago
Worked for me (or, more correctly, Mrs A) - top marks!
Hammerfest - 2 years ago
As a temp solution, you can also start outlook in safe mode until they fix the problem to avoid having to uninstall things.
It IS limited in safe mode as far as addons and layout goes, BUT, it works...
aerhart - 2 years ago
I don't understand your comment. I can't launch the commands from that Directory because I do not have that directory at all. If I look at your fix, it seems it is relying on an executable file to exist in a directory called ClickToRun. I don't have either the file ( I did a search ) or the directory.
pontiacstogo - 2 years ago
I have the same problem as aerhart - I wonder if it's because I'm using the 32 bit version of Office 365? My version is Microsoft® Outlook® for Microsoft 365 MSO (16.0.13929.20206) 32-bit.
Lawrence Abrams - 2 years ago
Does running Outlook in Safe Mode help?
Windows key+ R and then in the Run field enter outlook /safe and press the OK button.
When prompted, press ok to choose your profile and see if its fixed.
pontiacstogo - 2 years ago
"Does running Outlook in Safe Mode help?
Windows key+ R and then in the Run field enter outlook /safe and press the OK button.
When prompted, press ok to choose your profile and see if its fixed."
Perfect - that at least takes care of the immediate problem - I can now see my emails and respond. Appreciate all of your help on this - I spent many hours trying to resolve this earlier today and your thread saved my sanity!
dmerrett - 2 years ago
Worked a treat! Thanks!
jkdthunder - 2 years ago
Thank you so much for the quick fix. I've already tried this on a user that was experiencing this same issue. Took less than a 2 minutes to patch and get the user back on their feet.
thank you so much again!!
jtc53 - 2 years ago
Thanks! Worked great!!
Aghada - 2 years ago
Hi,
I think for the people it doesn't work for it maybe your not following the correct instructions. When you open the CMD window (the DOS command Window) make sure you follow the instructions to the letter including the CD (for the command change directory) and include the quotation quotes i.e. "
So copy and paste
cd "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun"
Press Enter on your keyboard and you should see the C:\ directory command line change to directory i.e.
C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun
Then when you are in this directory ender the next command
officec2rclient.exe /update user updatetoversion=16.0.13901.20462
and press Enter on your Keyboard.
Then watch for a new application to open.
Anyway this is just a thought as to what the problem might be.
It worked for me
Thank you Lawrence
minalo1 - 2 years ago
Wow, thank you........
Very much appreciated as wasnt looking forward to reset all desktops in the morning, can now remote update, your a star!
Lawrence Abrams - 2 years ago
For those who do not have a Click2Run version, or are having issues with the steps, I have added an additional method to run in Safe Mode until a fix is released.
It's not a full-featured mode but will let you read and create email.
kds4bama - 2 years ago
Worked perfectly!!! Thank you!!
barry101 - 2 years ago
Thanks for the solution, it worked for me. I also found that detailed Calendar items were missing most of their content, and your solution reinstated all that information as well, so a big thanks from me!
Mikesco3 - 2 years ago
Can't thank you enough!
Did the mistake of not spacing the command correctly, but when I ran it correctly, it worked like a charm.
officec2rclient.exe /update user updatetoversion=16.0.13901.20462
as opposed to this that did NOT work because of spacing error
officec2rclient.exe /update userupdatetoversion=16.0.13901.20462
AlistairBurch808 - 2 years ago
It worked for me ! Great!!! However, what is to stop MS installing the defective patch again into my machine?
Mikesco3 - 2 years ago
I added this reg
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Office\16.0\common\OfficeUpdate]
"EnableAutomaticUpdates"=dword:00000000
I don't know if it will work, however...
CJatWork - 2 years ago
Just a guess but I think they would have pulled the update by now.
danieldmu - 2 years ago
Rollback worked correctly, tried the safe mode method but still had the same problem. Thanks.
MIDIWerks - 2 years ago
The rollback resolved the problem with my customer. Thanks for saving me lots of legwork at the end of a workday.
jschwab - 2 years ago
Method 1 didn't work for me. Office popup says Office is already up to date. Method 2 does work for the time being
aerhart - 2 years ago
Yes, it works in safe mode. Thanks! And I was doing it correctly. I do not have the ClickToRun Folder , or the associated executable file anywhere on my computer. There are 6 folders at the location C:/Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared , and none of them are even close to a folder called ClickToRun.
alan777 - 2 years ago
Worked for one client, off to try it for two more! Thanks for this timely article!
JasonT2000 - 2 years ago
Trojan horse left by Melinda? Coincidence? I think not!
qwertynerd - 2 years ago
Has anyone noticed if autocomplete broke as well?
cathimarx - 2 years ago
Thank you Thank you!! I am not even computer savvy but I followed your directions. Thank you so much!
CJatWork - 2 years ago
Incident report states a fix has been pushed out and should "restore service for all affected users by May 12, 2021, at 3:00 AM UTC". [edit] That would be 11:00PM EDT
Lawrence Abrams - 2 years ago
Thanks..adding info to article.
keitheva - 2 years ago
Rollback didn't work for me either, as for jschwab I just got the message that Office is up-to-date. Safe mode works.
jwhitted24 - 2 years ago
Thanks!
This helped us a lot, we have tons of calls coming in, I work for a MSP.
In away stumbled on this on the first call I had, I uninstalled and reinstall and it resolved it. Thankfully they had a fast internet connection and only took a few minutes to download.
Lawrence Abrams - 2 years ago
Added a section on how to disable Microsoft Office updates until Microsoft releases a fixed version.
MBP - 2 years ago
I encountered this very problem this afternoon. I was able to go around the issue in this way.
Outlook - File - Options - Mail - Editor Options - Advanced - Check box (Use the Insert key to control overtype mode. Click ok twice and restart outlook.
When composing a new email, the problem was gone. I hope this works for others.
ziedman - 2 years ago
Your first fix worked great for me (I never even looked at other fixes)! Just make sure you enter everything as listed in the instructions above. I have failing eyesight and fat fingers. It took me more than a few tries.
LostInPira - 2 years ago
Lawrence, it is hard to know which drug these people @MS are on these days. Your post was a real-life saver--Thanks. If I may provide an update... I was having the same problem you described above on two computers (32 and 64 bits Office 365). Then, I followed your recommendations:
cd "c:\program files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun"
OfficeC2RClient.exe /update user Updatetoversion=16.0.13901.20462
I opened Outlook, and it was working again. Then, I did an Office Update through Office Account/Update. Reboot. I opened Outlook, and it is still working, but with a newer version than the above (16.0.13901.xxxxx). This is what I got after the Outlook self-update (second update) on both computers:
Microsoft® Outlook® for Microsoft 365 MSO (16.0.13929.20206) 32-bit
Microsoft® Outlook® for Microsoft 365 MSO (16.0.13929.20360) 64-bit
It seems that something went wrong the first time Outlook/Office did the update, but after downgrading the version to 16.0.13901.xxxxx and then self-updating, it healed itself.
Thanks again.
LARRYIEP - 2 years ago
Outstanding! I just spent 4-hours troubleshooting this Outlook 365 bug! Thanks for the heads-up and recommended temporary fixes. I just went to Safe mode to get my critical email messages out ASAP.
TomLark - 2 years ago
Hello
Method 1: Roll back Microsoft Office to latest April 2021 release - works
I have tryed to Disable hardware graphics acceleration (Options-> Advanced -> Display) - it works too
rus
Привет!
Первый метод с откатом обновления через CMD помогает.
Также помогло:
Отключить аппаратное ускорение обработки изображения (Параметры ->Дополнительно -> Отображение) - решает проблему
SandraTx - 2 years ago
Method 1 worked perfect first time! Thank you so much!!
sunbelt - 2 years ago
OK. OK. Microsoft is trying to make us independent people get cranky and alienate our clients. So that they can promise the world and "fix" their crap actions.
"Oh... you want perfect Office? You need Microsoft to support you. Use the best, dump your local computer support. We do better". Yeah, sell the crap then sell the fix.
Phul - 2 years ago
The cool kids have been using Outlook web client for years now #worklikeits2021
dgod40 - 2 years ago
Someone ran Git push before running their Unit tests. LOL.
saluqi - 2 years ago
This worked perfectly for me. It took a while for the "update" to download and install.
FWIW I copy/pasted each command, to avoid typos.
MikehOCE - 2 years ago
Was talking to a co worker and was thinking that we could just make method 1 a batch script! he quickly made it for me.
Open notepad paste in the below:
@echo on
START cmd.exe /k "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\ClickToRun\officec2rclient.exe" /update user updatetoversion=16.0.13901.20462
- save it as a .bat file not a .txt file.
- run the script manually on PC's
- if client has a domain controller Add script to group policy or logon script would recommend testing this first.
glostephan - 2 years ago
Worked like a charm - thank you! I spent 1.5 hours looking for a solution until I found this. I really dislike webmail because I find Outlook much more efficient. BUT lately Outlook has been doing some strange things and I'm not happy!
sunbelt - 2 years ago
Thanks, Lawrence and team. Btw. We really appreciate your timely info and solutions.
Now, back to critical....
We would like to think that our (we pay them -- TOO MUCH) Microsoft "helpers" test this stuff. I mean, what does that "test" word mean? Really truly open Outlook and open an email.
Does it work? If yes, release.
THEY SIMPLY MUST NOT TEST THEIR STUFF -- IN THIS CASE. I'll forget about the emails they blocked in the past 48 hours. You know. They broke that TOO.
And adding.... maybe we get this bs too
".... But but bu bu bu bu but ......COVID?? Yeah? Please forgive me???" (feigns shame, goes to bank)
Sorry you had to read this but this crap can't be "explained away".
gpickard - 2 years ago
Well Written/Said!!!
meridium - 2 years ago
I thought I was going crazy.. until I found this post.
Rollback did the trick! Thanks!
apfels - 2 years ago
I registered as a new user so I could say "thank you!" I was perplexed until I found this news. I might add that if you are not a frequent user of DOS, when you enter the final command, the Outlook/Office utility pops up unannounced and you might not see it right away. One other note, the pop up box disappeared a couple of times before it finished, but it did not appear to impact the final result.
ddawall - 2 years ago
Before I discovered this was a wide issue, I fixed it simply by deselecting 'Let Office download online content" in Privacy Settings in Account Privacy. I assumed they made a booboo and reversed the check box result.
KeiFeR123 - 2 years ago
Who needs Microsoft Support if you have Lawrence Abrams.
dparmentier - 2 years ago
Just : run outlook as a administrator once
AZSnowbird - 2 years ago
Thank you Lawrence. After spending three hours needlessly analyzing and restoring backups, I finally found your site and the solution. Glad to say I'm back in business.
1DaveN - 2 years ago
FWIW I have users reporting that just updating Office again solves the problem, so MS probably released a fix. Worth trying a check for updates before rolling back.
traindisp - 2 years ago
You are a genius - thanks for this post. I followed your instructions, as a matter of fact, I suggest that people use cut n paste to prevent from typo's.. All it takes is one little typo and you will get an error you did not see or notice. Thanks again for getting this out there this quick. You are a life saver!!
CMB-Bob - 2 years ago
Thanks, this worked great and calmed a bunch of grumpy people!
KLSGrem - 2 years ago
None of the fixes up there worked for me, but when I saw the comment about the update I checked and had an update. I ran it and it fixed my disappearing text problem.
EJT2s - 2 years ago
The article stated Microsoft is pushing out a fix to all user last night. Has anyone see the Microsoft update correct the issue?
KeiFeR123 - 2 years ago
I tested it on my other laptop, the version is 2104 build 13939.20372. They corrected the issue.
AcuproGeek - 2 years ago
This article is great but it is wrong on one key description of the problem. When you are creating an email and hit enter the text is not deleted, it becomes invisible. If you go ahead and send the email to your contact they will be able to see it fine. Just like received mail the body is invisible to those affected by the bug. Also Microsoft released a fix today.
AttilaThePun - 2 years ago
That is correct. The text was capable of being read aloud by Outlook, as well, when not visible. I suspect it was white text on white background, but I am not going to undo the fix just to find out! Any one still having the problem could check it by copying the blank section and pasting it into another application like Word or Wordpad and changing the font colour to black, or else just into Notepad, when it will be plain unformatted text. But hell, who cares -- if it's fixed? What we do want is a suitably public explanation of how this got rolled out without texting.
deejinoz - 2 years ago
Seems to be a problem in their macOS version of Outlook, still!
This is what happens when your approach to software development is to sack your QA team, throw code at a product to see what sticks and release update beta tests as products.