This browser is no longer supported.
Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(57.599999999999994, 82%, 15%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EST%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
All,
I have another odd issue that only affects Windows 11 Multi Session and not Windows 10 Multi Session. This is the same problem with Citrix or just via RDP.
When using Windows 11 MultiSession and Office Monthly Channel (this issue does not occur with Office semi-annual 2302) the search menu apps (click start menu and go to search bar and view apps or search for them) works fine and also the hidden icons/apps in the taskbar system tray pop-up also are fully functional as expected, until you load outlook!
Once you load outlook (and do not open any email just leave it open) then the apps within the windows start search menu although they can be seen and search works, they cannot be selected or left/right click on. The same is for the icons/apps in the taskbar system tray pop-up on windows 11.
If you close outlook everything returns to normal functionality. If you open outlook again it’s broken. You can also fix this by opening an email in outlook, by double clicking on it to open, and it's also fixed by changing display screen, such as going from a windowed RDP/Citrix session to full screen. The issue returns again when outlook is closed and re-opened. Issue is reproducible in both Citrix and AVD
This only seems to affect Outlook, all other office apps are fine. There was a similar issue with Citrix Workspace app on Windows 11, which required a reg key to disable hw acceleration so possibly Windows 11 has some graphical HW acceleration issues for certain apps when its a VM. However office no longer appears to have the option to disable hw acceleration and that might not be the issue anyway.
Has anyone worked with Windows 11 Multi Session and Office M365 monthly channel? does this issue also happen?
Thanks,
Steve
Hello @Steve Turnbull
I'm sorry to hear that you are experiencing this issue with Windows 11 Multi Session and Office Monthly Channel. This issue could be related to the graphics driver or hardware acceleration settings on the virtual machine.
Here are some steps you can try to troubleshoot the issue:
If none of these steps resolve the issue, you may need to contact Microsoft support for further assistance.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(0, 70%, 10%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3ETS%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Here are some steps you can try to troubleshoot the issue:
Support case has been opened for a few weeks. Still unresolved. Still the same issue. Escalated to Office/Outlook team now.
This is now also an issue with the latest semi annual 2308 released this week.
we have a build still from December with semi annual 2302 which is working correctly
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(240, 38%, 33%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EDK%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Did you ever fix this problem? We have exactly the same problem in Azure Virtual Desktop with Windows 11 23H2 and Outlook version 2408 17928.20156.
Does it start working if you open an email
Yes. Clicking the last received mail open or just click on another mail does fix the problem. Also turning on the option Always preview messages fixes the problem. But this is not wat we really want.
Ah nice to see someone else with the same issue :) I’m surprised everyone isn’t shouting about it but possibly this is only win11 multi session related.
i have a ticket with Microsoft, they recently acknowledge the issue as an actual bug. What’s happening is there is a hidden window that is spawned when outlook is open and it’s taking focus, the provided some script to kill this hidden window for testing.
i suggest raising a ticket with MS for this as I was informed its with the product team now but obviously they have their own priorities and workaround is to set outlook to always show preview, which is what you’ve found already.
ive been working on this issue with them for more than 400 days lol
If you want a ticket to reference
2310190030004788
Thanks for the comment! Interesting.
I also find it strange that there's no other information about this on the internet. What I also noticed is that at the same time the options in the ribbon at the top of Windows Explorer also no longer work.
Another solution I find out is switching to the New Outlook version. I can't replicate the problem in that version. But that's not we want at the moment.
I will submit a ticket to Microsoft and refer to your ticket! Thanks!
Btw did you find a solution to set this Always preview messages option to be default enabled for all users? As far as i know there is no GPO for this and changing the registry setting HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Preference, ReadingPaneSelectItem to 1 does not seem to have effect.
no I haven't looked in to that option, I tested it just with a single account to prove it worked/resolved the problem.
It's far from ideal and MS really should fix it, but they are spending all resources on the New Outlook UI which doesn't have this issue, although the new Outlook UI has it's own problems and runs like an absolute dog in VDI.
I recommend you submit a ticket if you haven't already. I have no workaround for this issue apart from waiting for MS to fix or move to New Outlook UI, providing they fix all the performance issues.
Just received a call from Microsoft. We are no longer the only ones who have reported this bug. It now has higher priority at MS to resolve this problem. They expect an Outlook update within 1 or 2 months that will fix it.
Microsoft just called me about the search bar issue. We are no longer the only ones who have reported this bug. It now has higher priority at MS to resolve this problem. They expect an Outlook update within 1 or 2 months that will fix it.
Yes I’ve also been asked to open another ticket specifically for the outlook team and was told they have a few customers now reporting the issue recently, I guess that was inevitable since people are starting to look at windows 11 more now, we are just early adopters lol