Microsoft 365 Glitch Blocks Desktop App Installs

Microsoft is currently researching and working to remedy a known problem that stops users from installing Microsoft 365 desktop apps from the Microsoft 365 homepage. A fix is under testing.

A bug identified in incident report OP1192004, as seen by BleepingComputer, has been affecting Office Client users since November 2nd.

Microsoft has developed a solution and is currently testing it, promising to provide a progress update by 6:30 PM UTC today.

The company admitted the bug might impact any user attempting to download Microsoft 365 desktop apps, but it hasn’t clarified the scope of the problem.

When Microsoft acknowledged the issue this morning, it designated it as an incident, a classification for high-severity service issues that usually cause visible user impact.

Microsoft claimed that the analysis of the components of Microsoft 365 infrastructure, as well as recently deployed changes, identified that a recent service update containing a code issue is impacting the license check process, leading to users being unable to download Microsoft 365 desktop apps from the homepage.

Microsoft further stated that they will continuing to validate and test the aforementioned fix in our internal environment to ensure its efficacy prior to deploying it to the affected infrastructure and we expect to provide an estimated deployment time line by our next scheduled update.

Microsoft is also trying to remedy a known issue that prevents some users from opening Excel email attachments in the new Outlook client due to an encoding error in the file names.

Microsoft addressed another known issue caused by licensing changes that resulted in random “Product Deactivated” errors for customers using Microsoft 365 Office apps a year ago, and it resolved a bug caused by misconfigured authentication components that prevented customers from installing Microsoft 365 desktop apps on Windows devices last month.

The workaround as Microsoft works on a permanent fix, users can try these steps, which tackle frequent installation and licensing problems:

• Try a Different Browser or Private Window: Cached data, cookies, or browser extensions may disrupt downloads. Switching to another browser or using your current browser’s incognito/private mode can help resolve the issue.
• Check License Assignment: Confirm that your license is correctly assigned by navigating to Users > Active users in the Microsoft 365 admin center (if you have admin access).
• Use Microsoft’s Support and Recovery Assistant (SaRA): This utility can be used to diagnose and resolve activation and installation issues.
• Remove Existing Installations: Older or conflicting Office versions may lead to issues. Use the Microsoft 365 Uninstall Troubleshooter to completely remove them before performing a clean installation.
• Contact Microsoft Support. If the problem persists, you may need to contact Microsoft Support directly, since they can check your subscription status and help with backend issues.