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Topics Map > Features and Functionality > Client Capabilities > Desktop

Below is a list of known issues with Outlook for Windows and Mac desktop clients. Feature requests and known issues for other clients can be viewed at: Outlook on the Web | Outlook for mobile devices.

Important: You can contact Microsoft directly to make a case for supporting a specific feature in Office 365, by submitting your idea to Microsoft's Office 365 feedback and suggestions site at https://office365.uservoice.com/.

Activate MS Office 2019/2016 for macOS - MicrosoftOffice2019VLSerializer Office 2019 above. Note that Office2019 DO NOT support activate via simple copy/paste plist license file which is the simplest way to activate Office 2016. Collaborate for free with online versions of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote. Save documents, spreadsheets, and presentations online, in OneDrive. Outlook 2016/2019 for Mac does not support allowing subscribed Public Folder users to send on behalf of that Public Folder calendar. Users can send meeting invitations from their own Exchange account and can include that Public Folder as a recipient.

For a list of issues that have been resolved, click here.

You may also want to review support documentation from other services that may be related to the issue you are experiencing.

• OneDrive for Business: known issues | support
• Wisc Account Administration site: known issues | support
• Google Apps: known issues | support
• WiscList: known issues | support *

Note: If you are experiencing message delivery delays and are interacting with a WiscList, review the documentation related to WiscList above.

If you are experiencing issues with an earlier version of Outlook, the UW-Madison Office 365 team recommends upgrading to a newer version of Outlook. Learn more about client support.

Outlook for Mac clients

Signing out of Office 2016 from within the OS: I had installed 1 of 10 copies that I purchased. It required me to sign in to activate it. I do not want to stay signed in to Office on someone else's computer. I wanted to sign out. So I went to sign out and was frustrated at the number of steps I had to take to actually sign out. 'You need to activate Office for Mac within X days' after activating already. Microsoft is aware of and currently working on this issue. If you've activated Office for Mac 2016 but are still seeing a message that says 'You need to activate Office for Mac within X days,' please try these steps to resolve your issue: Run the License Removal Tool.

• Fixes or workarounds for recent issues in Outlook for Mac

  • Details and Workaround
    • With the latest release/update to Apple OS and Office for Mac, multiple issues have risen and are being worked on. Please review this article for common issue and automated troubleshooting tools.
    • In addition, is it highly recommended that you always make sure you are running the latest version of Office for the Mac. In some cases, the issue you are experiencing may have been fixed in a newer version.

• Microsoft acknowledges Office 2016-El Capitan crashes but lacks ETA for fix

  • Details and Workaround
    • Error: 'Microsoft Outlook has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience' when using Outlook 2016/2011 for Mac.
    • For additional details on this issue, review following information.
    • Workaround: Install the latest release of Office/Outlook.

• Performance issues such as slowness when interacting with mail and/or calendar

  • Details and Workaround
    • In Outlook 2011 and Outlook 2016 for Mac, accounts that you have full mailbox permissions to -- including any linked accounts -- will not be added to your account list automatically. You will need to subscribe or configure these accounts.

• In Office 2011 for Mac, installation produces 'activation' or 'sign-on' error

  • Details and Workaround
    • The version of Office 2011 for Mac downloaded from within Outlook on the web is not compatible with UW-Madison's Office 365 implementation. If you attempt to install/run this version, it will return an error within the 'Activate Office' screen: Sign in failed because the password is incorrect or the sign-in name does not exist or Sorry, there was a problem while trying to connect to your account.
    • Current Work Around (because the Office 2011 installer available on the Campus Software Library is licensed under UW-Madison's Microsoft EES, it can only be used on UW-owned computers and is not visible or available to students)
      1. Delete any Office 2011 software from your 'Applications' folder.
      2. Delete any Office 2011 application icons from within your dock.
      3. Log into UW-Madison Campus Software Library using your NetID credentials.
      4. Within the 'Productivity' section, click Microsoft Site License.
      5. Within the 'Downloads | Microsoft Office Site License' section, click Macintosh - Office 2011 Standard.
      6. Save/Run the file.

Outlook for Windows clients

Office 2016 For Mac

• When you view items in the secondary mailbox, new items may not appear or items seem to be missing or items that you had deleted still appear in the secondary mailbox.

  • Details and Workaround
    • For additional details on this issue, review following information.
    • Workaround/solution:
      1. Start Outlook for Windows.
      2. On the 'File' tab, click Account Settings in the Account Settings list.
      3. In the Account Settings dialog box, click the 'E-mail' tab and then double-click your Microsoft Exchange Server account.
      4. In the 'Change Account' dialog box, click More Settings.
      5. In the 'Microsoft Exchange' dialog box, click the 'Advanced' tab.
      6. Click to clear the Download shared folders check box.
      7. Click OK two times.
      8. Click Next, click Finish, and then click Close.
      9. Restart Outlook.

• Performance issues such as slowness when interacting with mail and/or calendar

  • Details and Workaround
    • The most common performance issue for Outlook is slowness when completing the following tasks: downloading/syncing mail, loading calendar, interacting with messages, editing calendars, or editing permissions.
    • Workaround: Performance issues can have a variety of causes. For more information on how to improve Outlook performance, please review the following document: Office 365 - Get better performance when using Outlook desktop clients.

• When using Outlook for Windows, you may experience any of the following symptoms: Outlook does not load or takes a long time to load, receive an error during startup, unable to access another account(s) (permission issue), etc

  • Details and Workaround
    • A common troubleshooting step for these types of symptoms is to recreate the Outlook local data file for your profile. To perform this action, follow the steps outlined within the Re-create an offline Outlook Data File (.ost) section. After completing this, start Outlook and see if the problem persists.

• Moving, copying, or deleting large quantities of mail may result in an error

  • Details and Workaround
    • Error messages can include: 'Outlook is not responding' or 'Outlook is not working'.
    • If this occurs, do not attempt to shutdown or quit out of Outlook. Be patient and let Outlook complete your last action. This may take several minutes.
    • Review following Microsoft resources:

• Downloading a large mailbox can result in an error

  • Details and Workaround
    • Error messages can include: 'Outlook is not responding' or 'Outlook is not working'.
    • If this occurs, do not attempt to shutdown or quit out of Outlook. Be patient and let Outlook complete your last action. This may take several minutes.
    • Review following Microsoft resources:

• Sending as an address which is not visible in the Global Access List (GAL) can result in an error

  • Details and Workaround
    • When attempting to send as an address which you have send as permissions for, the following error will be sent to your inbox if the send as account is not visible in the GAL:
    • Information on how to make an account visible in the GAL can be found here: Show or Hide Service Account within Global Address List

• Performance issues such as slowness when interacting with mail and/or calendar

  • Details and Workaround
    • In Outlook for Windows, accounts that you have full mailbox permission to -- including any linked accounts -- will be added to your account list automatically. Review the following document for further details on AutoMapping: Office 365 - Automapping.

• Emails with HTML formatting do not always display as expected

  • Details and Workaround
    • To work around this issue, Outlook gives you the option to open the message in a web browser.
    • More information on this issue is available here and here.

• Some users are unable to use the 'Report Spam' function in certain Outlook desktop clients. In some rare cases, the 'Report Spam' action will not work and the message will remain in your Inbox. We are aware of this issue and are working on a solution.

  • Details and Workaround
    • Use Outlook on the web to submit the message as spam.
    • Manually forward the message to the spam repository account.

• Some users are unable to use the 'Report Spam' function in certain Outlook desktop clients. In some rare cases, the 'Report Spam' action will not work and the message will remain in your Inbox. We are aware of this issue and are working on a solution.

  • Details and Workaround
    • On machines with smaller monitors, clicking the 'Report Spam' link displays a disclaimer, but the 'Report Spam' button is obscured from view. It is not possible scroll down to see the button.
    • To work around this issue, double-click on the message to open it in a separate window, then maximize the window. This should allow for enough space for the 'Report Spam' button to be displayed below the disclaimer.

• In Outlook for Windows, emails 'sent as' or 'sent on behalf of' another account will appear in the default configured account's Sent Items folder

  • Details and Workaround
    • If you send an email on behalf of Bucky Badger, the email will appear in your Sent Items folder instead of Bucky's. Note: Even though you may have 'send as' or 'send on behalf of' permissions to another account, this does not mean the account will automatically show up in Outlook 2016/13.
    • This does not occur in Outlook 2016/2011 for Mac.
    • Workaround: Follow these instructions/options to have a message sent stored in the mailbox of the intended account.

• After the password for your NetID account is changed, Microsoft Outlook may repeatedly prompt you for your password or is unable to send/receive mail. After you enter the new password and then click to enable the Remember my credentials option, you are again prompted for your credentials.

  • Details and Workaround
    • Windows uses a password manager to store your account credentials for certain applications. You may need to reset these credentials.
    • Workaround - Review NetID password change issue for Outlook document.

• In Office 2013 for Windows, activation produces 'The user id or password is incorrect. Please try again.' when attempting to sign-in to your Office 365 account

  • Details and Workaround
    • The version of Office 2013 for Windows downloaded from within the campus software library is not compatible with UW-Madison's Office 365 implementation. If you attempt to install/run this version, it will return an error within the activation screen: 'The user id or password is incorrect. Please try again.'.
    • Workaround - Uninstall Office 2013 then install the version Office for Windows available to you via Outlook on the web. If you do not want to uninstall your current version of Office, follow these instructions to install the correct version of Office. Make sure to follow the steps to update your registry.

• If you are having trouble starting Outlook for Windows, or have received the error 'Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window', the user interface may be failing to completely launch.

  • Details and Workaround
    • Review this Microsoft document for possible solutions.

• Importing contacts from Thunderbird to Outlook for Windows will require extra steps.

  • Details and Workaround
    • By default, contacts imported from Thunderbird to Outlook will display the email address in the 'Comments' field. Other information may also display incorrectly.
    • For information on how to avoid this issue, see step #12 of this document: [Link for document 35410 is unavailable at this time.].

• Unable to edit or assign permissions to or create/edit/delete events on a resource when granted editor/owner rights in Outlook for Windows.

  • Details and Workaround
    • Some users may experience the inability to edit (create, edit, delete events) or assign permissions to a resource even though the user has been granted the appropriate access to the resource.
      1. Open Outlook.
      2. Go to File > Account Settings > Account Settings.
      3. Select your Exchange profile > Click 'Change' > Click 'More Settings' > Select the 'Advanced' tab.
      4. Check 'Use Cached Exchange Mode' (if not already checked).
      5. Uncheck 'Download shared folders'.
      6. Click OK > Click 'Next' > Click 'Finish'.
      7. Restart Outlook.

• Unable to share calendar - Policy does not allow.

  • Details and Workaround
    • When attempting to share one of your secondary calendars you may receive the following message: 'Policy does not allow granting permissions at this level to one or more of the recipients. Please select another permission level and send the sharing invite again'. Follow the steps below to correct this.
      1. Open Outlook.
      2. Select the calendar you want to share. Make certain the the text of the name in the calendar tab is bold
      3. From the ribbon in the Home tab in the Share group, click Share Calendar.
      4. Click Add.
      5. In the Address book list, click Global Address List.
      6. In the Search box type the last name of the person with whom you want to share your calendar.
      7. Click Go.
      8. Click to highlight the person's name.
      9. Click To, then click OK.
      10. Repeat steps 5 - 9 for each additional person you want to share your calendar with.
      11. Click Send.

See Also:

Office 2016 For Mac Support

The following explains how to install and activate Office 2016 on a Mac.

Installation and activation

1. Go to Office 2016 for Mac in IUware. (You'll need to log into IUware, even if you are already logged into CAS.)
2. Click Get product key to see your assigned product key.
3. On the Office setup page, enter your 25-character product key from IUware, and click Get Started.
4. On the 'Welcome to Office Online' page:
   • If you already have a Microsoft account: At Office Online, enter your Microsoft account email address and password. Proceed to step 5.
   • If you don't have a Microsoft account: Create one, as follows:
     1. At the bottom of the page, click Sign up now and complete the required fields. UITS recommends creating an account with your primary IU email address (e.g., username@iu.edu) to ensure the least margin of error.
     2. You'll receive an email message requesting verification. Follow the instructions to finish creating the account.
        If the email message does not arrive within a few minutes, use the resend email option.
     3. Log into Office Online with your newly created Microsoft account. After selecting your country/region and language, click Continue. When prompted, enter a first and last name for the account.
5. Verify that 'Microsoft Office Home & Business 2016 for Mac' shows on your account page.
6. On the Microsoft page, click Install to download the installation file. Alternatively, download the installation file from IUware directly.
   The Microsoft account must show the 'Microsoft Office Home & Business 2016 for Mac' registration in step 5. If this is not completed, it will not be possible to activate the Office 2016 product after installation.

   If you downloaded the .dmg file from IUware, open the Finder, select Downloads, and then open Microsoft Office 2016 Installer.pkg. Click Continue.

7. Once Office is installed, a new window will open. Click Get started >.
8. You will be prompted to sign in to activate Office. Select Sign In, and then enter the email address and password for the account that you activated with the Office 2016 product key from IUware.
9. Enter your Microsoft account email address and click Next.
10. Choose Microsoft account.
11. Finish the activation process by signing in with your Microsoft credentials.
12. In the 'How would you like Office to look' interface, choose Colorful or Classic, and then click Continue >. You should then have full use of Office 2016.

Troubleshooting

To troubleshoot installation or activation errors, see the Microsoft Guide.