8 Most Common Office 365 Problems and How to Fix Them
Microsoft Office 365 is one of the essential programs that ensure productivity and collaboration across teams in an organization. Its suite of useful applications and cloud-based services provides an all-in-one tool that streamlines communication and processes in a business. However, it’s not uncommon to encounter issues that can interfere with the team’s work.
So what are the usual Office 365 problems and how can a business or user solve them? The most common Office 365 issues that individuals may experience are installation problems, sign-in difficulties, synchronizing errors, access issues to mail and calendars, recovery of deleted files, storage limits, file sharing problems, and update problems. The troubleshooting solutions are also included in this guide.
8 Common Office 365 Issues and Their Troubleshooting Solutions
The programs included in Office 365 can make your business’s operations and systems run smoothly. It also makes day-to-day work easier for employees so they can remain productive and deliver on their tasks more efficiently.
However, these programs can still run into some challenges and issues with their functionalities. And even if your team has the most up-to-date version of Office 365, you may still come across days when the applications aren’t performing as they’re expected. Here are some of the known issues that have been experienced by other users and how to handle them:
Problem 1: Office 365 installation is too long or there’s no progress
So you’ve decided to purchase and equip your business with the Office 365 program, but you encountered an error message in the middle of the installation. Most of the time, you may see an alert that says “It looks like you’re on slow connection” or you notice that the installation client suddenly hangs and closes.
How to Troubleshoot: The best thing you can do is to stop the installation and start from the beginning. Try to restart the computer and re-open the installation client. It’s also better to switch to a wired connection than a wireless network to get faster installation speed.
You can also temporarily turn off your firewall settings or antivirus software. If it looks like the program has been installed but you can’t open it, go to Programs and Features in the control panel. You’ll see the “Uninstall or change a program” window where you have to access the list of applications, find the Office 365 program, and initiate online repair.
Problem 2: You can’t sign in to the account
Sign-in problems can occur when a user mistypes their password or when the service that runs and handles the accounts is currently down.
How to Troubleshoot: This can be easily avoided by making sure that the password matches the account username that was provided during initial account creation. To avoid forgetting the password, you can secure it in a password manager which you can easily access. If it still doesn’t work, click the “Can’t Access Your Account” link which will direct you to a password reset page to verify your identity and create a new password.
Problem 3: You can’t sync files accessed from Office Mobile to desktop
One of the features of Office 365 is that users can work on their current Word or PowerPoint projects either on their mobile device or computer. As long as you’re working with your account logged in, the application should automatically save your progress on OneDrive and sync it to your device. However, errors can happen when the device is currently offline or not connected to a network.
How to Troubleshoot: To solve this issue, try to close the program and reopen the file. This will restart your OneDrive account and give it time to access any latest documents. If it appears that you weren’t signed in to OneDrive when you were trying to save the file, you can try to go to the “File” tab and click on “Save Copy.” This will then instruct you to sign in to your OneDrive account so you could simply and easily move the file to the folder you want it to be in.
Problem 4: Emails aren’t showing in Outlook Mobile and Outlook Mail
This is another case of a synching error between your mobile and desktop device. There are cases when some emails may come in your inbox folder delayed or they won’t show up at all. This issue can also be a result of poor internet connection.
How to Troubleshoot: You can solve this problem by signing out of your account and signing in again. In Outlook Mobile, go to the menu on the left side of the screen, open the settings cog, and click the account name that won’t sync properly. In Outlook Mail, you can find the account permissions at the settings cog located in the bottom-left corner and select “Manage Accounts.”
Problem 5: You accidentally deleted an important file and want to recover it
If you have a disorganized folder or keep too many files, it’s easy to make the mistake of deleting the wrong file and sending it to the recycle bin. Fortunately, documents that were sent to the recycle bin aren’t immediately and permanently removed.
How to Troubleshoot: Deleted items from Microsoft Teams or SharePoint remain in the recycle bin for a period of time before they’re completely erased. Simply go to the SharePoint site where the file is originally placed, go to the recycle bin, and check all the files that you wish to restore.
Problem 6: The maximum storage amount has been reached
When this error pops up while you’re trying to save or upload a file, it usually means that you have used up the storage limit included in the Office 365 subscription.
How to Troubleshoot: You can simply solve this by purchasing an Office 365 Extra File Storage add-on to increase your storage capacities. To prevent encountering this issue, the team should do regular cleanups of the recycle bin since the deleted files can also temporarily take up some of your existing storage space.
Problem 7: You can’t collaborate and edit a SharePoint file with another user
Office 365 allows collaboration across team members by easily setting up access permissions. When this problem occurs, it usually means that you don’t have permission to open and edit the file.
How to Troubleshoot: The easy solution for this issue is to edit the permissions and grant access to the users you want to collaborate with. Open the file, click “Share,” and select the dropdown list which will show options to whom you want to give edit access. You can change the settings to give access to anyone in the organization or you can send an edit invitation to only specific people.
Problem 8: You’re having trouble installing new Office 365 updates
Businesses who are subscribed to Office 365 are given free updates and feature improvements to ensure the efficient performance of the programs. However, you may encounter some installation issues which can leave you with an outdated version of Office 365.
How to Troubleshoot: For Office Mobile, updates are found on the application store. If you can’t download, it’s most likely a phone storage issue or system problem. Try restarting your phone or offloading and deleting some applications to make space for the update. On the desktop, you can access updates in the Microsoft Store or through “Windows Update” on the settings page. To avoid future installation problems or manual downloads, you can configure the settings and tick the box to allow automatic download updates.
Advantages of Having an Office 365 Suite
There are many reasons why a business should consider having an Office 365 suite. From more streamlined processes, collaboration culture, and large file storage capacities, here are some of the benefits of Office 365:
- Employees can work remotely by simply accessing resources and files through SharePoint.
- Real-time edits are applied to the Word or PowerPoint projects as long as the user is connected to a network.
- It promotes better employee engagement and interaction with communication applications such as Teams, Skype for Business, and SharePoint.
- Office 365 also has advanced encryption features and email phishing protection in Outlook.
- There’s reliable 24/7 customer support online and on the phone.
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