Microsoft Releases Temporary Solution for Outlook Crashes Encountered During Email Access

Microsoft has provided a temporary workaround for a significant issue affecting the classic Outlook email client. This problem has been identified when users attempt to open or create new emails, leading to application crashes. The issue is primarily impacting users within the Monthly Enterprise Channel who recently updated to Outlook for Microsoft 365, specifically starting with Version 2504 (Build 18730.20122).

As indicated by the Outlook team, this functionality failure is linked to the inability of Outlook to access the Forms Library. The preliminary findings suggest that noted occurrences are particularly prevalent within virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). Microsoft has escalated the matter for further investigation and commits to providing updates as more information becomes available.

In the interim, Microsoft advises affected users to manually create the necessary FORMS2 folder located at C:UsersAppDataLocalMicrosoftFORMS2. The following steps outline this temporary fix:

1. Close Outlook and all other Office applications.
2. Click on Start > Run and enter the path %localappdata%Microsoft, then select OK.
3. In the File Explorer menu, navigate to New > Folder and rename it to FORMS2.

Additionally, Microsoft is looking into another related issue causing flickering and erratic behavior with mailbox folders when users attempt to transfer items. Users are recommended to temporarily disable caching of shared mailboxes by turning off the Download Shared Folders feature; however, this could potentially degrade performance, resulting in Outlook operating in an offline mode regarding shared mailboxes.

Recently, Microsoft addressed concerns related to the Outlook LTSC 2019 crashing when accessing emails from applications such as Viva Engage, Yammer, and Power Automate, through a service update.

Earlier solutions had previously been shared by Microsoft for distinct crashes that occurred during email writing, replying, or forwarding in classic Outlook. Additionally, fixes have been implemented for known issues that prompted crashes in both classic Outlook and Microsoft 365 applications on Windows Server systems.