How to fix RTL bugs in new Outlook for Mac 16.102.1

Hi Staif, Katie,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Forum!

Have a good day and I hope you're doing well!

I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing challenges with RTL (right-to-left) formatting in the new Outlook for Mac after the latest update. I understand how frustrating this must be for your daily work, especially when you need to compose emails in RTL languages and the formatting keeps breaking such as bullet lists and numbered items reverting to LTR, or the RTL button in the formatting options not responding. 

This situation appears to have resurfaced with the most recent Outlook for Mac update (version 16.102.1). While we wait for Microsoft to release a permanent fix, you can try the following temporary workaround: 

Disable Connected Experiences 

1. In Outlook, go to Settings (or Preferences) > Privacy. 

2. Find the Optional Connected Experiences section and turn off the option. 

Clear Application Data 

1. Restart Outlook, then go to the Help menu in the top bar. 
2. Select Clear Application Data. 

3. In the pop-up window, check the boxes for "Experimental Features" and "Identities." 

4. Click the Clear button. Restart Outlook again and test if RTL formatting works properly when composing new messages. 

Please note that this is a temporary workaround. We understand it may not be ideal, might not work for everyone, and could potentially need to be repeated after future updates. 

If this situation persists after trying the workaround, I recommend downgrading to a previous stable version of Outlook where RTL formatting worked correctly. You can find information on previous updates, including download links for older versions, here: Update history for Office for Mac. Then, wait for the next update from Microsoft to address this regression. 

Additionally, have you tried switching back to the Legacy Outlook by going to the Outlook menu > Legacy Outlook? If it works fine there, you could consider it as a temporary workaround until the new version is updated.

I highly recommend submitting feedback directly within Outlook by selecting Help > Give Feedback. This is the most effective way to help Microsoft collect diagnostic data and prioritize a permanent fix for this recurring problem. Alternatively, you can also submit your feedback through the Microsoft Feedback Portalfor broader visibility. 

I hope this information helps you at least partially. We will continue to actively test in our testing environment to simulate and replicate your case as closely as possible. If you have any concerns or questions, or if I've misunderstood anything or if something is unclear, feel free to reach out.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".    

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.