Outlook keeps hanging

Question

Every time I open Outlook on my PC, after a couple of minutes (or less) the screen freezes, the screen is greyed out, the timing circle starts up, and the only way to fix it is to force a closedown and re-open. This seems to happen whether I am active in Outlook or not, but seems to happen particularly if I try to use the Search facility.
To try to fix it I have compacted the data files. repaired Office 365 (offline and online) and tried the Classic Outlook Advanced Diagnostic troubleshooter but nothing seems to help.

Answer 1

See if you have new update available, particularly KB5078127 

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/january-24-2026-kb5078127-os-builds-26200-7628-and-26100-7628-out-of-band-cf5777f6-bb4e-4adb-b9cd-2b64df577491

If not, go to Windows Settings > Windows Update > Update History > Uninstall Updates Look for KB5074109 and uninstall it for now. Restart the computer and then see if it improves.

Answer 2

I have tried the suggested options but nothing seems to work.