Outlook opens and then crashes immediately

We have encountered large numbers of people who are having a problem with Outlook. Particularly, this applies to those who have a version of Microsoft Office 2016 installed.

The problem

When opening Outlook it will appear to open correctly and then within a few seconds will close without warning. In some cases Outlook fails to open at all.

The cause

Microsoft have changed their security setting and have switched from “basic authentication” to “modern authentication” (Please see previous articles). Later versions of Office support Modern authentication by default but Office 2016 does not.

The solution

Microsoft have issued a solution to this problem in the form of a Knowledge Base article (KB5001998) which provides a downloadable patch for either 32bit or 64bit installations of MS Office 2016.

How to download and install the update

Microsoft Update

Use Microsoft Update to automatically download and install the update.

Download Center

This update is also available for manual download and installation from the Microsoft Download Center. 

If you’re not sure which platform (32-bit or 64-bit) you’re running, see Am I running 32-bit or 64-bit Office? Additionally, see more information about how to download Microsoft support files.

Virus-scan claim

Microsoft scanned this file for viruses by using the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to it.

Microsoft Support