Unable to sign in to 365 desktop apps on a specific laptop

Question

I keep getting this notice when trying to open outlook and office apps such as excel. It happened suddenly - on a laptop I take away on work visits for 2-3 days per week (it was OK last week).

Firstly, "you'll need the internet for this" despite being connected to internet. A gmail account within outlook updates OK, and I am on websites / streaming services. Then the 2603 error message.

I was able to login to my work microsoft account on the same apps. I don't have the same problem on a laptop at home and can login to MS account and use the browser version of outlook / excel etc.

Any ideas how to fix?

Answer 1

Hi MadScientist1980,

I understand you’re having issues signing in to Microsoft 365 desktop apps on a specific device, you can try the following steps:

1/ Restart Microsoft Account Sign-in and Cloud identity

• Press Windows key + R
• Type "services.msc" and press Enter
• Find "Microsoft Account Sign-in Assistant" in the list. Right-click and select "Restart."
• Find "Microsoft Cloud Identity Service" in the list. Right-click and select "Restart."
• Open any Office app and try again
• For reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5824632/error-code-0x800704cf

2/ Enable TLS settings

• Press Windows + R
• Type: inetcpl.cpl
• Go to Advanced tab
• Scroll to Security
• Make sure these are checked:
  • Use TLS 1.0
  • Use TLS 1.1
  • Use TLS 1.2
  • (TLS 1.3 if available)
• Click Apply > OK

3/ Reset Internet settings

• Press Windows + R
• Type: inetcpl.cpl
• Go to Advanced tab
• Click Restore advanced settings
• Then click Reset (optional but recommended)

4/ Reset Network Stack

• Open Command Prompt as Administrator
• Run these commands one by one:
  • netsh int ip reset
  • netsh winsock reset
  • ipconfig /release
  • ipconfig /renew
  • ipconfig /flushdns
  • netsh winhttp reset proxy
• Restart your laptop

5/ Change DNS

• Open Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center
• Click Change adapter settings
• Right-click your active network > select Properties
• Double-click Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
• Select “Use the following DNS server addresses”
• Enter:
  • Preferred DNS: 4.2.2.1
  • Alternate DNS: 4.2.2.2
• Click OK > Apply

6/ Restart Microsoft Sign-in Service

• Press Windows + R
• Type: services.msc
• Find: Microsoft Account Sign-in Assistant
• Right-click > Restart

7/ Check LAN Settings

• Press Windows + R
• Type: inetcpl.cpl
• Go to Connections > LAN settings
• Ensure:
  • Automatically detect settings is ON
  • Proxy server is OFF

In addition, you may find this link helpful, as it discusses a similar scenario: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5407933/hello-everyone-i-am-facing-thie-error-2

I hope the information above is helpful. If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out.

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Answer 2

On that specific laptop, the sign-in components that Office uses (WAM and the AAD.BrokerPlugin) are likely in a bad state, often because of security software or profile handling. This can cause Office to think there’s no network even when the device is online.

Try these steps on the affected laptop:

1. Fully close all Office desktop apps (Outlook, Excel, Word, Teams, OneDrive sync client).
2. Reboot the device and try signing in again. This alone can temporarily clear the issue.
3. If the problem persists, repair the WAM components in a user‑mode PowerShell window:
   • Open PowerShell as the signed‑in user (not elevated).
   • Run:

          Add-AppxPackage -Register "$env:windir\SystemApps\Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin_cw5n1h2txyewy\Appxmanifest.xml" -DisableDevelopmentMode -ForceApplicationShutdown
          Add-AppxPackage -Register "$env:windir\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.CloudExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\Appxmanifest.xml" -DisableDevelopmentMode -ForceApplicationShutdown
     

   • Restart the device and try the Office sign‑in again.
4. If any third‑party security software (AV/endpoint protection, web filtering, VPN client with security features) is installed, temporarily uninstall it and test sign‑in again. Some products interfere with the AAD.BrokerPlugin and WAM.
5. Ensure that no profile‑roaming or migration tools are roaming data from %localappdata%, especially these locations, which must remain local on the device:
   • %localappdata%\Packages\Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin_cw5n1h2txyewy
   • %localappdata%\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.CloudExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy
   • %localappdata%\Packages\<any app package>\AC\TokenBroker
   • %localappdata%\Microsoft\TokenBroker
   • Registry keys under:
     • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\IdentityCRL
     • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AAD
     • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\WorkplaceJoin
6. Make sure Office is updated to a build that includes recent sign‑in fixes (for example, Version 2310 or later in Current Channel). If possible, update Microsoft 365 Apps on that laptop.
7. As a temporary workaround while troubleshooting, use Outlook on the web and the Office web apps for the affected account.
8. If the issue continues, ask the Microsoft 365 tenant admin to open a support ticket from the M365 Admin Portal and include MSOAID authentication logs captured from the affected device, as described in Use MSOAID for authentication issues.

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References:

• Error “Something Went Wrong [1001]” signing in to Microsoft 365 Desktop Applications
• Can't sign in to Microsoft 365 desktop applications