Share via

Hidden Dialog Box - Outlook

Majuba 71 Reputation points
2022-09-22T15:22:56.907+00:00

Having an issue with Two-Factor Authentication, where returning to the computer after the VPN times out, Outlook has a dialog box open, requesting a choice for two-factor authentication. However the window is usually hidden and can't be selected from the task bar. Alt-Tab doesn't help, Outlook is inaccessible with the dialog box open, though other software works. Problem persists even after VPN is restored.

I have found a work-around - hitting ALT-ESC does some kind of cycling that will pull the dialog box to the foreground.

It would be nice to eliminate the problem however.

Outlook Management
Outlook Management
Outlook: A family of Microsoft email and calendar products.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
5,333 questions
Accepted answer
  1. syed semefex 80 Reputation points
    2023-02-23T03:30:10.53+00:00

    I have similar issue and its quite annoying. I manage to get the two-factor authentication tab upon clicking on Reminder Tab.

    1 person found this answer helpful.

2 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Majuba 71 Reputation points
    2022-09-23T22:14:03.92+00:00

    ALT-ESC is an effective solution [edited to be answer]

    Yes, the VPN times out, and when I return the pop-up box is hidden and not selectable by most means.

    There is no access when not connecting by VPN, and I do not use other VPNs.

    Keeping Outlook in safe mode does not seem like a useful solution (and restarting it at all is part of what I'm trying to avoid). I'll consider leaving it in safe mode over a weekend or something though, to see if it happens the same.
    I do not have control over my build.
    I do not believe the Recovery Assistant would be helpful in this case - nothing is "broken" strictly speaking.

    3 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Faery Fu-MSFT 18,866 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2022-09-23T06:16:43.4+00:00

    Hi @Majuba ,

    Welcome to our forum and thanks for posting here.
    We are glad that you currently have a workaround to temporarily reduce inconvenience.

    From your description, it looks like when the VPN times out, the verification pop-up box will be hidden, right?
    Is there such a problem when not connecting to VPN? Or when connecting other VPNs?
    Given this case, you may use the following troubleshooting:

    • Start Outlook in safe mode by running Outlook.exe /safe to see if the issue continues.
    • Update Office products to the latest build(File > Office Account > Update Options > Update Now)
    • To diagnose and automatically fix several common Office sign-in issues, you can download and run the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant

    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.

    0 comments

Your answer

Answers can be marked as Accepted Answers by the question author, which helps users to know the answer solved the author's problem.