Microsoft’s history with updates for Windows has been a bit shaky in recent times, with many updates presenting problems or creating more problems than they solve. But it seems that it is not only the famous operating system that is cursed: Outlook is also cursed.
Following user reports that the Outlook desktop application was failing with an error 0xc0000005, Microsoft launched an investigation. While the company is now in the process of coming up with a solution, an online solution has been shared for those affected.
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While Microsoft has not indicated which update it believes may be to blame, the crash issues only started on July 15. However, the company says that none of the update releases on this particular date are to blame.
On Twitter, Microsoft used their Microsoft 365 Status account to keep users up to date:
We are investigating whether a recently implemented update could be the source of this problem. As an alternative solution, users can use Outlook on the web or their mobile clients. Additional details can be found in the admin center under EX218604 and OL218603.
– Microsoft 365 status (@ MSFT365Status) July 15, 2020
We have completed the rollout of the repair and confirmed through internal oversight that the service has recovered. Note that users may need to restart the Outlook client to enable the fix. Additional details can be found under EX218604 in the admin center.
– Microsoft 365 status (@ MSFT365Status) July 15, 2020
Now on the Office support site, Microsoft says:
There is a new Outlook symptom crashing on startup from 07/15/2020. A solution has been released, but it will take time to spread to worldwide availability. Outlook will automatically search for the solution at startup, so if this problem persists for multiple launches, use Outlook Web Access (or your provider’s webmail interface) for an hour and then try again.
This issue is not associated with any of the security patches on 07/15/2020, so there is no need to uninstall them if Outlook does not start. If this problem persists for more than four hours, contact Microsoft Technical Support in the way that works best for you.
Additional details can be found in the admin center under EX218604 and OL218603.
As Microsoft explains, the solution may not be available to everyone right away, so in the meantime, you can use the mobile or web-based versions of Outlook. There is also a solution that Appuals.com has shared:
- Click Start and type CMD
- The right button of the mouse CMD and choose “Execute as an administrator“
- Go C: Program Files Common Files microsoft shared ClickToRun
- Type, exe / update user updatetoversion = 16.0.12827.20470
- In case you get the “Something went wrong” error message, use this command instead of the one in step 4 exe / update user updatetoversion = 16.0.12527.20880
- Now the message “Updating Microsoft Office” will open and the latest stable version will be installed.
- If the above doesn’t work, you can also try starting Outlook in offline or secure mode.
Image credit: Walter Cicchetti / Shutterstock
