Reactions disappear the second you click on them

If you are setting the reaction from Outlook Desktop the only issue, I know of is if reactions were disabled at the tenant or if a user turned off reactions on an email they sent then you would not be able to set a reaction. I have not tested this fully myself, but I could image this happening since Outlook Desktop does not have functionality yet to recognize reactions are disabled.

Reference:

Reactions in Outlook: Public usability update September 2023 - Microsoft Community Hub

Soon, Outlook users will be able to choose to “Disallow Reactions” on an email they are about to send. The option will be available when users are still drafting their email and cannot be changed after the email is sent. At the client side, the ability for recipients to react to the email will be grayed out and made not clickable. Since Disallow Reactions will roll out to different Outlook clients at different cadences and not all Outlook clients will have the gray-out update immediately, we also have a second layer of protection. When an email has reactions disallowed, attempts to react to it will fail at the server side.

Dear Communications2,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community. It will be a pleasure working with you,

You are having problems with the emoji reactions feature in Outlook for Windows. I can understand how annoying and confusing this can be, especially if you want to express your emotions or feedback to someone’s email.

There are several possible causes and solutions for this issue, depending on your situation. Here are some suggestions that you can try, based on the web search results:

• Check if you have the latest version of Outlook and Windows installed on your device. You can do this by opening any Office app, switching to the File or Help tab, and selecting Check for Updates. If there are any available updates, install them and restart your device.
• Check if you have the Reactions feature enabled in Outlook. You can do this by opening Outlook, switching to the File tab, and selecting Options > Mail. In the Message arrival section, make sure that Show reactions is checked.
• Check if you have a personal OneDrive connection under Connected Services in Outlook. You can do this by opening Outlook, switching to the File tab, and selecting Office Account. In the Account Information section, click on Manage Settings under Connected Services. If you see a personal OneDrive account listed there, remove it by clicking on the X icon next to it.
• Check if your internet connection is stable and if your Outlook is online. You can do this by looking at the status bar at the bottom of the Outlook window. If you see a message saying that Outlook is offline or disconnected, click on it to reconnect.
• Check if your email account is on Exchange Online or not. You can do this by opening Outlook, switching to the File tab, and selecting Account Settings > Account Settings. In the Email tab, look at the Type column and see if it says Microsoft Exchange or not. Reactions only fully work when both the sender and the receiver of the email have Exchange Online mailboxes.

I hope these suggestions help you resolve your issue as soon as possible. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. I’m here to assist you.

To notify us and have us get back to you, simply reply to this post.

Thank you,

Microsoft Community