Outlook crashing? You’re not alone. Here’s the fix

October 10, 2022

By Kim Komando

Many people use Microsoft’s Outlook as their default email client without problems, but it hasn’t been smooth sailing for some. A bug appeared in August, rendering Outlook virtually impossible to use.

As soon as the app opens, it loads for a few seconds and then crashes. At the time, there wasn’t much you could do about it. Thankfully, Microsoft has found a fix.

Read on to see how you can ensure Outlook runs flawlessly and your emails keep flowing.

Here’s the backstory

Microsoft explained that Outlook started crashing in August due to a simple formatting error. There was a high likelihood of the app not working correctly if you received an email with a built-in table, like an Uber receipt. The same would happen if you replied or forwarded an email with a complex table.

Some workarounds prevented Outlook from crashing, some easier than others. Microsoft’s easiest suggestion was to sign out of Office and then back in.

Others were more involved and included MS-DOS commands and editing registry keys. This can be daunting if you’re not familiar with the processes. So it wasn’t a real fix for most.

Now there is good news and bad news. While Microsoft determined what was causing Outlook to crash, it couldn’t figure out why it was happening, the tech giant explains in a blog post.

How to keep Microsoft Outlook from crashing

Microsoft released an update that fixes the annoying Outlook crashing issue.

Over the next few days, Windows should automatically update to the latest version, which is Version 2209 (Build 15629.20156) for the Current Channel, and Version 2208 (Build 15601.20158) for the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel (Preview).

You can do it manually if you don’t have Windows set to update automatically. Here’s how.

To update Windows 10:

• Go to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update. Then select Check for updates. If an update is available, select Download and install now.

To update Windows 11:

• Go to  Start > Settings > Windows Update > Check for updates. If an update is available, select Download and install now.

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