Recent Microsoft 365 Outages: Outlook and Teams Issues
This past week has been particularly challenging for the Microsoft 365 support team due to a series of outages impacting users. Most notably, Microsoft Teams experienced difficulties with file sharing, adding to ongoing concerns regarding system reliability.
Classic Outlook App Faces Performance Challenges
Compounding the situation, the Classic Outlook application is also grappling with significant performance issues. Following a recent update, users have reported that downloads are broken, and another major bug has surfaced. This issue has resulted in unusually high CPU usage during simple tasks like typing, often spiking between 30% and 50%, which is alarming for modern systems.
The fact that this occurs while typing—an action that should demand minimal resources—strongly suggests it’s related to a bug rather than the result of outdated hardware. Unless you’re operating on a severely outdated machine, such as a Pentium 4 or original Athlon, there’s no reason for typing to cause such intensive resource consumption.
ISSUE
When composing an email in Classic Outlook for Windows, users may observe CPU usage spikes reaching 30% to 50%, significantly increasing power consumption. This can be monitored via Task Manager during the typing process.
This problem primarily manifests after updating to Version 2406 Build 17726.20126+ on the Current Channel, Monthly Enterprise Channel, or Insider channels.
Microsoft’s Proposed Workaround
In light of these issues, Microsoft has proposed a workaround that involves switching to the Semi-Annual Channel, where these CPU performance problems have not been reported—although some minor issues may still exist. The company provides detailed instructions for this change, which can be accomplished through either the Office Deployment Tool or Registry edits.
STATUS: WORKAROUND
The Outlook Team is investigating this matter and will provide updates as they become available. To circumvent the problem, users are encouraged to switch to the Semi-Annual Channel, as the performance issues are not present there. Here are the methods for switching:
Using the Office Deployment Tool
Follow the instructions detailed in the Change the Microsoft 365 Apps update channel for devices in your organization article to switch to the Semi-Annual Channel.
Registry Command Method
To change to the Semi-Annual Channel using the Registry:
Open a Command Prompt window by ensuring Run as administrator is selected.
Paste the following command and press Enter to execute it:
reg add HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\office\16.0\common\officeupdate /v updatebranch /t REG_SZ /d SemiAnnualAfter adding the registry key, navigate to File > Office Account > Update Options > Update Now to finalize the switch to the Semi-Annual Channel.
For more detailed discussions, you can visit this forum thread: High CPU usage when typing a message in Outlook.
For additional information and support, refer to the official Microsoft support article available here.
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