Outlook 2021 Signatures

Hi IanFretwell_46

Greetings

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community.

After doing some research this tends to happen when you install an Office subscriptions that has pre-installed Microsoft Office desktop apps. Kindly refer to the Outlook freezes clicking the Signature button (microsoft.com) 

After carrying out the steps in the article, you would have to run an office repair for instructions on how to do so kindly refer to  Repair an Office application (microsoft.com)

Please feel free to let me know how it goes.

Kind Regards,

Momo

Hi,

Thanks for the reply, but no, all three machines are clean installs from ISO media - so unless Windows 11 is installing an Office subscription for me then this isn't what's happening.

And it doesn't 'freeze' - it closes completely.

Having gone through the steps (which seems to be for Outlook 2016, the option Microsoft Office Desktop Apps doesn't appear on any of the three machines anyway.

Hi Ian

Thanks for the response.

Please confirm if you were able to run an office repair/

Please try the following and check to see if it helps resolve the issue.

# Remove or delete the existing outlook profile by following the steps listed in Remove a profile (microsoft.com)

# Then uninstall office then reinstall it, then create a new outlook profile for instructions on how to do so please see Create an Outlook profile (microsoft.com)

Kind Regards,

Momo

Hi Momo,

OK, I've now tried that on one of the machines - it has unfortunately made no difference.

Do bug reports like this actually get escalated to the point where somebody actually tries what I'm describing to actually see if the problem exists 'everywhere' ?

If not, how would I actually report it through the correct channels ? (at the end of the day if the two flagship desktop products - when installed completely cleanly - can't do a basic function that's existed for 20 odd years then I'm a bit of a loss as to where MS are headed)

Thanks,

Ian

The article Momo posted has all the known reasons we have seen this issue prior. The next thing to check is also listed in the article but probably a better explanation here, Unable to add Email Signature in Microsoft Outlook on Windows 10 (thewindowsclub.com).

Open Registry Editor and navigate to the bolded paths below depending on your install scenario. Check if the Outlook.exe path matches the respective paths below. If not, edit that registry key and put the correct path. If the path does not match, please note what it is currently set to and let us know.

For 32-bit Office installation on 32-bit Windows and for 64-bit Office installation on 64-bit Windows:

Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0006F033-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}\LocalServer32

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Root\Office16\OUTLOOK.EXE

For 32-bit Office installed on 64-bit Windows:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\WOW6432Node\CLSID\{0006F03A-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}\LocalServer32

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Root\Office16\OUTLOOK.EXE

Hi & thanks - but sadly that's not it either - the path is correct:-

I've now had a colleague perform an equivalent installation - this time on a VMware Workstation VM - end result is absolutely identical, as soon as you attempt to go into Signatures Outlook shuts down.

It's broken...how do we raise this properly with the appropriate support team please ?

The support options are listed here, Support for business (microsoft.com). Just to double check but do you have Office Subscription or is this Office Perpetual? If perpetual then the only option is Microsoft Professional Support (pay-per-incident) unless you have a separate support contract. Office Subscription comes with support included.

Thanks Gabriel,

These are actually test machines using company MSDN licenses.

I don't neccessarily think that me wanting to file a 'bug-report' is the same as me requiring 'support'.

I have no intention of paying for this to be fixed, but I did want to offer my 'testing' for free. There's a bug, I thought MS would like to know, but maybe I'm wrong.

I can only assume it'll get fixed eventually when enough paying customers complain too.

Cheers anyway,

Ian

Ian,

We have logged a bug for the issue and will work toward getting it fixed. The main challenge is determining what causes the misconfiguration in the registry. I went through some of the support cases this morning and I see support engineers are using the existing guidance to mitigate customers, Outlook freezes clicking the Signature button (microsoft.com). Maybe you are seeing a different root cause but if you have some patience it might be worth looking more carefully in case it might help. If we end up finding any other root causes I will post back and share any findings.