Outlook Mac showing tons of abnormal editor underlines when drafting emails

Question

Since the last Outlook Mac update, when drafting emails in Outlook, there are tons of inappropriate red and blue underlines through throughout my draft even on blank lines that have no text. Editor scan od email drafts seems to be glitchy. This all started to occur after the recent Outloo Mac update two days ago to version 16.111. Is anyone else experiencing this? Is there a way to potentially turn this off? I don't want to turn off all editor functions, but there seems to be a glitch in auto Editor.

Answer 1

This issue is occurring on all emails in Outlook for Mac, including new messages, replies, and forwards. The affected systems are running the latest version, 16.111.1, and the problem started immediately after updating to this release.

The issue does not occur when using Outlook on the web, which suggests it is specific to the Outlook for Mac client.

I have already reported this through Contact Support, and Microsoft support has confirmed that this is a bug requiring a product fix. At this stage, I am waiting for a future Outlook update that will hopefully address the issue.

It is a very frustrating problem, as the editor displays excessive and incorrect underlines while composing emails, making it difficult to work efficiently.

Answer 2

Hi BP

Please confirm:

• Does the same abnormal underline issue happen in Outlook on the web?
• Does it happen in every new email draft, or only in replies, forwards, or signatures?
• What macOS version are you using?

Meanwhile, try these workarounds:

1) Check whether a newer Outlook for Mac build is already available

Open Outlook for Mac, then go to Help > Check for Updates. Install any available update, restart Outlook, and test a new draft again. Office for Mac updates are delivered through Microsoft AutoUpdate, and version 16.111 is listed in the Office for Mac release notes. See: Release notes for Office for Mac - Office release notes | Microsoft Learn

2) Reset the message proofing language for the draft

In a new email draft:

• Click inside the message body.
• Go to Edit > Language > Language.
• Select the correct language.
• Enable Detect language automatically, if available.

See: Let Outlook for Mac automatically detect and spell check languages in your emails | Microsoft Suppo…

3) Temporarily reduce automatic correction features without disabling all writing tools

Go to Outlook > Settings > Spelling & Typing, then turn off only the automatic typing options you do not need, such as:

• Correct Spelling Automatically
• Smart Quotes
• Smart Dashes
• Text Replacement

After changing one or two options, test a new draft again.

4) Manually run Editor only when needed

If the automatic underlines are distracting, use manual checking before sending instead of relying on continuous underlines while typing. Open the draft, then use the spelling or grammar option from the compose window or ribbon to check the message before sending.

5) Test the same account in Outlook on the web

Sign in to Outlook on the web and create a test draft there.

• If the abnormal underlines do not appear in Outlook on the web, the issue is likely limited to the Outlook for Mac app after the update.
• If the same behavior appears on the web, it may be related to the account, browser, language settings, or Editor settings rather than the Mac app only.

6) Check Microsoft’s official Outlook for Mac known issues page

See: Fixes or workarounds for recent issues in Outlook for Mac | Microsoft Support

Please tell me how it goes. If the problem persists, please don’t hesitate to reply to this thread and I will be happy to help. Have a lovely day!  

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