High CPU usage when typing a message in Outlook

Question

OS: Win 11 Pro

Office: 2016 Pro

Hi everyone,

CPU activity goes to 16-22% when typing a message in Outlook 2016 and returns to 1 % when typing stops.

Deactivating (all) add-ins and Graphic acceleration did not solve the issue.

Deactivating spell check options did not cure the problem either.

The problem seems to be specific to Win 11 and does not occur on Win 10 OS.

If anyone has any suggestion on how to solve this issue...
PDMC

***moved from Outlook / Windows / Classic Outlook for Windows / For business***

Answer 1

Good point
Microsoft support is a waste of time.
I have support cases opened since May last year.
None of them has been properly addressed or resolved.

Answer 2

Yes thank you Gabriel, I really hope they can find and fix this soon and roll this out to all the affected branches. But isn't SemiAnnual on 2408 now which is supposed to have the problem? And isn't LTSC 2024 also on 2408?

Answer 3

Gabriel's work-around really seems to work and stops the high CPU usage while typing a message in Outlook!

I tried rollbacks to version 2405, build 16.0.17628.20110 (first build of 2405) as well as build 16.0.17628.20164 (latest build of 2405), and with both, the high CPU usage did not appear again up to now. To be verified over the coming days, but this looks very promising!

For the rollback, I would recommend build 16.0.17628.20164 (latest build of 2405), because in comparison to 20110 (first build of 2405) which Gabriel mentioned, 20164 includes some later security fixes and, most of all, it already includes some major user-interface updates (for example the new rounded menu ribbon) which 20110 is missing. So version 2405, build 16.0.17628.20164 has already the same look as the current version 2502, whereas version 2405, build 16.0.17628.20110 still has the older look.

Hopefully, the CPU usage really does not appear again after the rollback. And hopefully, Microsoft will fix this bug very soon so that everybody can receive current updates again.

By the way, there had been a very similar bug already some time ago, from version 2105 to 2301 (it took MS over 1,5 years to finally fix it...). At that time, the high CPU usage appeared when opening attachments in Outlook: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/all/outlook-causes-high-cpu-usage-for-2-3-minutes-each/fa903250-4bd2-4517-942c-fe77b4c6f3c3

By the way, for those who speak German, there's another thread for this issue on a German discussion board: https://thinkpad-forum.de/threads/outlook-365-seit-2-3-wochen-pl%C3%B6tzlich-sehr-oft-hohe-cpu-last.230167/page-5#post-2408544

Answer 4

I worked with Microsoft support on this issue for a couple of months. Back and forth, back and forth, we tried everything. I even wiped a disk and reinstalled the OS, drivers, Office. I logged into several different computers that were known to be OK, and once my profile was added to outlook, that computer started having the issue too. So it appears to be account-related. Microsoft finally gave up and told me they wouldn't help any more. Here is the exact wording from the email:

We have checked with our engineering team, and it appears that this is likely a known issue. The engineering team is currently working on it, but there is no estimated time of arrival (ETA) for a resolution at this moment.

We have also been informed that several other users are experiencing the same issue.

Given the circumstances, I would like to ask for your closure on this case, as we do not have a resolution or an ETA for an update from our engineering team.

I didn't allow them to close the ticket, and asked several more questions, here are their answers to those question:

1. More Information: We are still investigating the root cause of the issue. It appears to be a known problem affecting multiple users.
2. Known Workarounds: At this time, there are no confirmed workarounds. Our engineering team is actively working on a resolution.
3. Affected Accounts/Installations: The issue seems to affect users across various accounts and installations, not limited to a specific group.
4. Windows 11 vs. Windows 10: The issue manifests on both Windows 11 and Windows 10.
5. Documentation: We have documented the issue internally, and it is being tracked by our engineering team. Unfortunately, there is no ETA for a resolution at this moment.

The MS support person again asked permission to close the ticket. I said absolutely not, but then I just got ghosted.

Answer 5

Hi There,

I am seeing this exact problem as of november this year.

In VDI environments or on dedicated user devices. While composing message CPU spikes up to approx 25% and stays there until the mail is sent or closed.

Running build 18129.20158

Any ideas?