Too Many requests while signing into MS office using Okta

Question

Too Many requests while signing into MS office using Okta

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Move from Microsoft 365 and Office | Office Online Server

Answer 1

Worth checking:

https://www.yourwindowsguide.com/2025/07/too-many-requests-error-in-outlook.html

Answer 2

Hi, Deepak Sharma

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum.

This “Too Many Requests” message is basically throttling, either Microsoft or Okta is seeing a burst of sign-in calls (often from a retry loop, multiple sessions, or a policy that keeps re-authing).

Here are some suggestions you can try:

Fully sign out of Office apps, close them, then try signing in once from a fresh session (don’t spam the sign-in button). This breaks the “auto-retry” loop that triggers throttling.

Try the sign-in in a private/incognito browser window, or a different browser. This avoids stale cookies or stuck SSO sessions that can keep re-calling Okta and Microsoft.

If you’re on VPN or a strict corporate network, disconnect VPN and try a different network (like phone hotspot) for the first sign-in. Some blocks are IP or network reputation based.

If this is happening to multiple people, your IT admin should check Okta System Log for rate limit violations and look for an authentication loop in the Okta > Microsoft 365 setup or related policies.

Hope this helps. Feel free to get back if you need further assistance.

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Answer 3

The "Too many requests" error when signing in to Microsoft 365 usually indicates throttling because too many authentication or service calls are being made in a short period of time.

For sign-in to Microsoft 365/Office via Okta (federated/SSO scenario), use these steps to narrow down and mitigate:

1. Confirm the exact error and where it appears
   • Check whether the 429/"Too many requests" is shown in the browser during sign-in, in the Office client sign-in dialog, or in Okta logs.
   • If the error is coming from Microsoft cloud endpoints (for example, login.microsoftonline.com), this typically means the tenant or client is being throttled due to high request volume.
2. Check for high-volume or repeated sign-in attempts
   • Look for automated processes, scripts, or misconfigured clients repeatedly attempting sign-in (for example, many shared devices all starting Office and signing in at the same time, or a misconfigured profile that keeps retrying).
   • Reduce or stagger these sign-in attempts where possible.
3. Validate that security software and network devices are not causing loops
   • Ensure local firewalls, antivirus, or network devices are not interfering with token acquisition processes or causing repeated authentication attempts. For Office sign-in, verify that:
     • C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin_cw5n1h2txyewy\Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin.exe
     • C:\Windows\System32\backgroundTaskHost.exe are not blocked.
   • Confirm that https://login.microsoftonline.com is reachable and not intermittently blocked, as intermittent blocking can cause repeated retries and contribute to throttling.
4. Check for profile or token issues on clients
   • In environments with roaming or non-persistent profiles (common with SSO/VDI), invalid or mismatched tokens can cause repeated authentication failures and retries.
   • Avoid roaming any data under %localappdata% related to AAD/WAM and token broker components, and ensure user profile tools exclude the documented folders and registry keys.
   • On affected clients, sign out of Office, close all Office apps, and sign in again with a clean session.
5. Review Okta and Azure AD sign-in logs
   • In Okta, review system logs for repeated SAML/OIDC requests or errors that might be triggering retries.
   • In Azure AD (Entra ID), review sign-in logs to see if there is a spike in sign-in attempts from the same IP, device, or app, which can indicate a loop or misconfiguration.
6. If the issue persists across many users
   • Because throttling is happening at the service side, and detailed analysis of tenant-level throttling requires backend data, open a support case with Microsoft 365 support and provide:
     • Time range of the issue
     • Affected users and sample UPNs
     • Correlation IDs or error codes from the sign-in page or Office client logs
   • Also coordinate with Okta support to ensure there is no misconfiguration causing repeated redirects or token requests.

These steps help reduce excessive authentication traffic and allow throttling to subside while ensuring that Office sign-in via Okta remains stable.

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References:

• Connection issues when signing in after updating to Office 2016 build 16.0.7967 on Windows 10
• Error code 80070520, -2147023584, or 2147943712 when signing in to Microsoft 365 apps
• "Sorry, but we're having trouble signing you in" when a user signs in to Microsoft 365, Azure, or Intune
• Error “Something Went Wrong [1001]” signing in to Microsoft 365 Desktop Applications
• 429 Too Many Requests errors
• Too many requests error in Power Automate