Microsoft 365 Alert : Service Degradation – Exchange Online – MacOS users may encounter a repeated password prompt in the Outlook for Mac desktop client – RESOLVED

31/08/2022 10:57:00 AM (BST)

NHSmail Reference : INC31367583

Microsoft Reference : EX421831

Issue Status : RESOLVED

Issue Description : Users may have been repeatedly asked for their password in the Outlook for Mac desktop client.

More info : As a result of impact, users may have been unable to access their mailbox. While most reports of the issue indicated that Turkish was the predominantly impacted language, the problem could have also impacted other languages outside of English. Please note that English was unaffected by this event.

Users could have bypassed the impact while Microsoft addressed this issue by setting English as the primary language. Microsoft have also received reports that users may have been able to use Outlook on the web as a temporary workaround.

Scope of impact : Any macOS user attempting to access the Outlook for Mac desktop client with Turkish selected as the primary language is impacted.

Final Update : 22/09/2022 15:24:00 PM – The new app has been released and Microsoft have confirmed via internal and user testing that the updated version of the Outlook for Mac desktop client has remediated this issue.

Root Cause : A language settings code pathway problem associated with URL language translation was interrupting the authentication process for Outlook for Mac when Turkish and potentially other non-English languages were set as the primary language, resulting in impact.

Next steps : Microsoft are continuing their review of the URL language translation code that resulted in impact to better understand the underlying cause and prevent similar issues in the future.