Microsoft has fixed a well-known problem. That caused Microsoft 365 apps and Classic Outlook to crash on Windows Server 2016 or Windows Server 2019 systems.
This writes Bleeping Computer. The cause was a recent Office update that integrated the React Native framework to support certain features of Microsoft 365 apps. The problem was limited to Microsoft 365 users who had updated their Classic Outlook and Microsoft 365 apps to Version 2412 (Build 18324.20168).
Crash within 15 seconds
The company confirmed the problem for the first time after users complained. Specifically, their Outlook email client and Office 365 apps, such as Excel, Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint, crashed within 15 seconds of startup.
On Thursday, Microsoft released an Office Suite update that fixes the bug causing the crashes on Windows Server systems. This was the vendor’s message:
If your Microsoft 365 Apps clients are configured to automatically update from the Office Content Delivery Network (CDN), then no action is required. If you manage updates directly you can now download this latest update and begin deployment.
We’ll be gradually rolling out this update of Microsoft 365 Apps to users on that update channel starting January 16th, 2025 (PST).
Customers for whom the update has not been automatically applied and who cannot install it on their systems immediately can temporarily revert to Version 2411 (Build 18227.20162). And they can do so by following the following steps:
1. Open a Command Prompt with administrator privileges.
2. Type or paste the following two commands into the Command Prompt window and press Enter after each command.
- cd %programfiles%CommonFilesMicrosoft SharedClickToRun
- officec2rclient.exe /update user updatetoversion=16.0.18227.20152
3. To prevent Office from updating to the latest version again, one can disable updates by clicking File, Office Account, Update Options and then Disable Updates.