Office 365 Outlook slow to reply to external chain email when selecting automatic picture download

Nathan Sweeney 0 Reputation points
2023-03-07T11:52:52.92+00:00

So I've been having this problem lately with office 365 outlook where I'm replying to an external email with a long chain (say 20 replies) and selecting yes for Automatic Picture Download. When I go to send it outlook freezes up (not responding) for like 2 minutes before sending.

I've tested this selecting no for the automatic picture download and it doesn't seem to freeze up at all. I would assume this is caused by the amount of signatures contained by each reply in the chain. When using outlook 2019 with the same chain email there isn't any delay like there is in office 365. This only happens in long chain emails with lots of images say from signatures.

We're using an on premise exchange and I've disabled all unnecessary plugins for outlook with the same result. Was wondering if there's a fix for this or a patch that would address this issue in the near future.

Microsoft 365
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Formerly Office 365, is a line of subscription services offered by Microsoft which adds to and includes the Microsoft Office product line.
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Outlook
Outlook
A family of Microsoft email and calendar products.
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Outlook Management
Outlook: A family of Microsoft email and calendar products.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
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3 answers

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  1. AhmedAli Shaik 80 Reputation points
    2023-03-07T17:04:00.79+00:00
    1. Is the behavior common on other Outlook versions?
    2. Is it the same on Outlook safe mode?
    3. Collect a Fiddler trace to see if anything in your environment is blocking the connection or causing delay, like AV scan etc..
    4. If the external URL's are from a known sender and can be trusted then add them to the IE/EDGE trusted list
    5. Disable AV on the machine temporarily to see if the Outlook response time
  2. Faery Fu-MSFT 16,816 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2023-03-08T03:09:50.46+00:00

    Hi @Nathan Sweeney ,

    I've tested this selecting no for the automatic picture download and it doesn't seem to freeze up at all.

    You mean when you uncheck the option, it works normally on Office365, right?

    It is recommended you try the following troubleshooting:

    • Check your Outlook for updates. Open Control Panel or Settings and check for the updates. If available, install them and restart the system. Sometimes, updating the Outlook client also fixes such issues.
    • Antivirus may also conflict with Outlook application. It can access Outlook files or data files for scan and prevent Outlook from accessing them or making any updates, leading to Outlook freeze and crash.
    • Create a new user profile in Outlook.
      1. First, in Control Panel, select Mail > Show Profiles. Then select the profile that you want to remove, and then select Remove.
      2. After that, click on Add.
      3. Type a name for the profile in the Profile Name dialog, re-connect your account.

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  3. Faery Fu-MSFT 16,816 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    2023-03-09T07:57:02.4+00:00

    Hi @Nathan Sweeney ,

    If Outlook does start in safe mode, then the problem is likely with one of your add-ins.

    You can refer to this official document to find the add-in that is causing the problem：

    Start Outlook and Disable add-ins

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

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