Microsoft to Fix Windows 11 Bug Freezing Outlook When Saving Files to OneDrive
Microsoft's January 2026 Windows update causes app freezes for OneDrive and Outlook users.
Key Takeaways:
- January 2026 Windows update causes some apps to freeze with cloud storage.
- Outlook users may face unresponsive behavior and missing sent emails.
- Microsoft is working on a fix; temporary workarounds are available.
Microsoft is investigating a newly discovered issue that causes certain apps to freeze when saving files to cloud storage services such as OneDrive and Dropbox. The problem appears to impact users who installed the January 2026 security update on Windows 11 PCs.
“For example, in some configurations of Outlook that store PST files on OneDrive, Outlook might become unresponsive and fail to reopen unless its process is terminated in Task Manager, or the system is restarted. In addition, sent emails might not appear in the Sent Items folder, and previously downloaded might be downloaded again,” Microsoft explained on the Windows Release Health Dashboard.
According to Microsoft, this issue affects Windows 11 versions 25H2, 24H2, and 23H2, as well as Windows 10 22H2, Enterprise LTSC 2021, and Enterprise LTSC 2019. This problem also affects multiple Windows Server versions, including Windows Server 2025, Windows Server 23H2, Windows Server 2022, and Windows Server 2019.
Temporary workarounds for affected Windows 11 users
Microsoft’s engineers are currently working on a fix and will release updates as soon as an update is ready. In the meantime, the only workaround is to move PST files out of OneDrive to address the problem for Outlook users. However, customers will still be able to access emails through webmail.
Additionally, Microsoft advises that users can fix this problem by uninstalling the KB5074109 or KB5073724 updates from affected Windows machines. To do this, headover to Settings > Windows Update > Update history > Uninstall updates, and then click the “Uninstall” option.
It’s not unusual for Microsoft to release updates that cause issues on Windows 11 devices. Last week, Microsoft released emergency updates to address several issues in the January 2026 Patch Tuesday updates. These patches should address sign-in failures that some users experienced when using Remote Desktop applications.
Rabia has a master's degree in Software Engineering and she has years of experience writing professionally about Microsoft products and other technologies. Rabia has also written for OnMSFT.com as well as Windows Report. She is always up to date on t...
