User is getting sync and network errors with all M365 Apps

Question

Hello,

I have a user who is having trouble syncing and connecting with M65 apps. Things were working fine then seemed to change out of nowhere. The user does not use a VPN or firewall and has a great internet connection. Here is what they are seeing:

• OneNote will not sync correctly. The user is getting errors such as "cannot connect to the server for some reason" and "no internet connection"
• When they close out of a desktop app such as Excel, they get a popup saying the file "could only be saved locally but could not sync"
• When they try to open an Excel file that is in the cloud (OneDrive or SharePoint), their browser shows a "no internet connection" error for about 30 seconds then corrects itself
• They have an error in Outlook when trying to send some emails that says "could not be completed because they cannot connect to the server"
• They are seeing an error with OneDrive saying "The server you are trying to access is using an authentication protocol not supported by this version of Office"

We have tried a power cycle of the router, tested internet speeds, reinstalled OneNote to see if it fixed the issues & restarted the computer. Their OneNote did say "unlicensed" at the top of the app which was fixed with a sign out/sign in but it did not solve any of the sync issues.

It seems that the user cannot connect to M365 servers with various apps as mentioned above.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

Hi InformationTechnologyHelp,

Good day! Thanks for querying in this forum. We’re happy to help you.

From your description, it seems that one of your users is having network connection issues and sync issues with OneNote, Office desktop app, Outlook, OneDrive, and opening excel file in cloud from OneDrive and SharePoint.

Please let us cooperate and please don't worry, we can work together to narrow down and resolve the situation.

Based on the error messages you're getting, there's a possibility that the issue is caused by corrupted system files or the account itself.

We’d suggest you change to another network to check if the same problem will occur.

If the other users don’t have the same problem, we’d suggest you go to another user’s device to sign in with the user’s account or create another user profile on the device to check if the same problem will occur.

Additionally, please kindly make sure that all Office updates are installed. To check, see this link for instruction on how to install updates.

We would suggest that you start Office app and Outlook in safe mode, and see if there are add-ins that might be causing this. If the issue also occurs in safe mode, please try repairing Office.

If the issue persists,****please provide us with the following information:

1. May I know if the other users have the same problem?
2. Would you please send out the screenshot of the prompted errors?
3. May I know the version of the Office app and your operating system? To check version information, open any Office app, such as Excel or Word, click File>Account, check for the info mentioned under Product Information.
4. Could you please confirm if you are using the new OneDrive.exe or the old OneDrive client(Groove.exe)?
5. Are you signed in with more than one account in Office apps?

Below are the links for your reference:

"The server you are trying to access is using an authentication protocol not supported by this version of Office" error in OneDrive - Microsoft Support

If the scenario above is not consistent with yours, you can also post back and point that.

Your patience and understanding are highly appreciated. I hope that you are keeping safe and well!

Sincerely,

Rhoda| Microsoft Community Moderator