rare emergency update issued for anyone who uses outlook

You might want to make sure you have this one (Picture: ZUMA Press/Shutterstock)

If you use a Microsoft computer,the last few weeks might have been a bit rough.

The tech giant released a major security update to Windows 11,its current operating system,this month.

But in the weeks since,people have reported an array of problems,from their laptops not turning off to Microsoft Paint not opening.

Now Microsoft has released yet another urgent update to fix a bug that caused Outlook to crash.

Users described their messages disappearing or seeing endless loading screens.

As one X user said: ‘I need Microsoft Outlook to stop f***ing crashing,dude.’

What was the bug?

Endless loading screens are not what you need on a Monday morning (Picture: Getty Images)

Tucked inside the latest security patch was a glitch that caused apps to freeze and cloud storage to fail,Microsoft said.

As many Outlook users send and store files in the cloud,this would freeze the screen and force people to reboot their laptops.

When launching Outlook Classic,people were greeted with an error screen reading ‘0xc0000409’.

Outlook user Chris wrote on the Microsoft support forum that sent messages wouldn’t show in the Sent email folder.

Windows Latest reported that people who had a cloud-only Microsoft 365 email account were unaffected by the bug.

But people who had a ‘POP’ email account – which downloads mail to the computer,rather than to the cloud – saw their Outlook accounts glitch out.

How can I get the new update?

The update,rolled out last week,has the catchy name KB5078127 and is an ‘out-of-band update’.Tech giants rarely issue these as they fix critical bugs and glitches that can’t be left unresolved,such as PC reset errors.Microsoft will offer you the latest patch regardless of whether you’ve had any issues.Windows 11 is the operating system used on 1.4billion devices (Picture: ZUMA Press/Shutterstock)The software release shows up as ‘2026-01 Update (KB5078127) (26200.7628) is available’ on the Windows Update page.It’ll only take a few minutes to download and about three minutes to install,with just one reboot required.You can also download KB5078127 from the Windows Update Catalogue.Microsoft says the patch is cumulative,meaning users who install it do not need to apply the earlier emergency update separately.If problems persist,run the built-in troubleshooter or contact support.

What other problems have arisen from the January 2026 patch update?

Windows 11’s recent major update has been a tad rocky (Picture: Getty Images)A bit of a big one. January’s major security update prevented some Windows 11 devices from shutting down or entering hibernation.Microsoft rushed out an out-of-band update to this,urging users to ‘take action’ on January 17.On the flip side,another alleged issue is that the update is causing a ‘limited’ number of people to be unable to boot their PCs.Trying to switch on the computer would end with the Black Screen of Death,Microsoft’s new version of the feared blue screen of death.One X user said: ‘I thought my PC was dying because one out of three times when booting Windows,I got a black screen and had to power it on and off.’Microsoft said in support documents that it is aware of the hiccup.