Outlook Windows Freezing with the Windows Add-in Client (Edge WebView2 version 1.14)

Background

• Starting June 5, 2023, Microsoft started rolling out version 114 of the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime.
• Microsoft Edge WebView2 is used to render web content used by third-party Windows add-ins for Microsoft Outlook, including Microsoft 365, Office 2021, and select versions of Office 2019, and 2016.
• Version 114 of Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime introduced a bug that causes Microsoft Outlook with Windows (COM) add-ins to freeze and/or crash.

Am I impacted?

If you have suddenly noticed Outlook hanging or crashing, you are likely impacted.

1. You are using the Riva Insight Windows Add-in client, or another non-Riva Windows Add-in that renders web content;
2. you are using a version of Outlook that uses Microsoft Edge WebView2 to render web content;
3. and you have version 114 of the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime installed.

Resolution

Microsoft is actively working on a fix to address the issue.  As of the writing of this article, there is no confirmed release date for the fix. It is expected that the fix will be rolled out some time between June 8, 2023 and Jun 15, 2023. Alternatively, as a temp work around you may:

• Run Outlook in Safe Mode (which will run Outlook with the Windows COM-based add-ins disabled), or
• Manually disable any COM based add-ins

More Information

Refer to the following for an up-to-date status on the bug and fix rollout:

• https://github.com/MicrosoftEdge/WebView2Feedback/issues/3539