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outlook desktop client : unable to manage groups

For some days now, anyone who has an Exchange online mailbox and uses Outlook for e-mail has not been able to manage groups.
After doing all the recommended tests on the internet, we opened a support ticket to Microsoft who replied: “This is a global system crash which you could monitor from the admin interface”

We report the detail of the Microsoft report.

April 19, 2023 7:58 PM

Title: Some users may be unable to view or access group calendars and email messages in the Outlook desktop client User impact: Users may be unable to view or access Microsoft 365 group calendars and email messages in the Outlook desktop client.

More info: Affected users are part of a Microsoft 365 group and are on versions 16.0.16222.10000 or higher, including the latest February release channel. Some affected users may also notice that impact self-resolves after some time, although impact may also reoccur at a later time. These users may also be unable to perform one or more of the following actions in the Outlook desktop client:

  • Add or access the group mailbox
  • Add or access the group calendar
  • Add, remove, or edit group members
  • Changes to mail items, such as marking as read, archiving, or moving email to other folders.

Until a fix is deployed for this issue, impacted users with access to Outlook on the web can use that connection method to access the impacted group features.

Alternatively, impacted users can revert to Outlook desktop client build 16130.20332. The steps are outlined in the following article: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-revert-to-an-earlier-version-of-office-2bd5c457-a917-d57e-35a1-f709e3dda841

Current status: We’ve validated the fix and are preparing deployment to the impacted environments. We anticipate the deployment will start by our next communications update, at which we’ll be able to provide an estimated deployment timeline if available. While we’re preparing the deployment of the new build, we recommend impacted users revert to Outlook desktop client build 16130.20332, as mentioned above for immediate remediation.

Scope of impact: Impact is limited to users on versions 16.0.16222.10000 or higher, and are attempting to access or perform various Microsoft 365 group related actions in the Outlook desktop client.

Start time: Sunday, March 19, 2023, 1:00 AM (12:00 AM UTC)

Root cause: A recent service update is incorrectly triggering an indexer to delete specific values within the Outlook desktop client for some users, resulting in impact.

April 25, 2023 8:16 PM

Estimated time to resolve: We anticipate that the deployment of the fix will completely saturate the affected environments and fully remediate impact on Tuesday, May 2, 2023.

Next update by: Tuesday, May 2, 2023, 9:00 PM (7:00 PM UTC)

 

Aprile 26. Microsoft’s workaround

Revert to the Outlook Desktop build prior to the issue occurring, build 16130.20332.  You can use ODT steps, How to revert to an earlier version of Office or by following the steps below.

To revert to the prior build, do the following:

  1. Open a Command Prompt (Run as Administrator).
  2. Type/paste the following commands and press Enter after each:
    cd %programfiles%\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun
    officec2rclient.exe /update user updatetoversion=16.0.16130.20332
  3. In the backstage, disable Updates (File, Office Account, Update Options, Disable Updates).
  4. Set a reminder on your calendar for May 9, 2023, to remember to re-enable updates. The fix should be out sooner, but May 9 is Patch Tuesday, and the fix will be in this update.