[German]There currently seems to be massive issues with shared mailboxes on Microsoft 365 not being able to update automatically since January 2022. A blog reader alerted me to the problem on Jan. 20, 2022, but there are more reports about it.
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A reader's report on Jan. 20, 2022.
German blog reader Liam W. emailed me yesterday at noon (1/20/2022) about the problem (thanks for that). Liam wrote (I've translated his German text):
Microsoft 365 Shared Mailbox: auto-update issues.
Hello Herr Born,
There seems to be a problem with automatic refreshing with Microsoft 365 Shared Mailboxes at the moment. I have 4 users of a company where this is no longer done automatically but only via "Refresh folder". It seems to be with version 16.0.14729.20260 (build 2112), but not with all users. I am currently trying to narrow down the problem. Also on Reddit I see a user complaining about this problem:
Shared Mailboxes not updating
Morning, we noticed slowly that shared mailboxes would sit at "Updating Folder" status in the Outlook client, on the latest build of 2112. If you manually click Update Folder it will work as it should but never automatically update after. This is starting to impact a small handful of clients as they update.
It seems to be related to cache mode, turning the shared folder download off under settings then back on fixes it or rebuilding the OST file. Is anyone else noticing this? We did open a support call with Microsoft and they helped point us to that setting but said nothing has been reported as a bug per the 2112 version.
The reader comments: Maybe other readers of your blog have the problem too? Liam wants to test the "fix" of turning the "download shared folder" on and off – but I don't have any feedback on that yet.
More reports in the web
I have times a little searched, and immediately came across another thread at reddit.com from Jan. 19, 2022, which confirms this. The user writes there:
Shared mailboxes not updating
I had a quick question about exchange shared mailboxes. Lately I've had several people in my organization tell me that their shared mailboxes are not updating when emails are sent. They can manually update the folder and emails will come through but once manually updated nothing else comes through. I've tried clearing our their offline items, manually updating the folder after that, turning off a few different add on that could be causing issues, and removed their delegations and re-added them. We do have an exchange server that we use but I would think if it was a problem with the server that more people would be having this issue. Its also good to note that this is only an issue with the desktop app version of outlook so far.
According to another post in this thread, Microsoft has confirmed the bug in EX316072 and says:
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Title: Users' shared mailboxes aren't automatically refreshing for new email in the Outlook desktop client
User Impact: Users' shared mailboxes aren't automatically refreshing for new email in the Outlook desktop client.
More info: While we're focused on remediation, users that have access to Outlook on the web can use this connection method to work around this problem. Some affected users have reported that manually refreshing their folders using key shortcuts, such as pressing F9 or CTRL + M, may result in intermittent success as well.
Current status: Our initial review of available service telemetry doesn't indicate that impact is occurring. We're continuing to monitor service health to ensure that our systems remain healthy, and if your users are continuing to see persistent impact, please reach out to your support representatives with client logs available to further assist.
Scope of impact: Your organization is affected by this event, and any shared mailbox attempting to automatically refresh may be impacted.
But I am not sure if this is the case for all affected users. Because in the Techcommunity there is meanwhile the thread Shared Mailboxes or Calendars not updating since mid Jan 2022 unless disable Shared Mailbox Caching, in which an affected person writes the following:
Hello.
We're an MSP and since around 17th/18th Jan we've had one or two users in 7 different companies (tenants) report issues with shared mailboxes or shared calendars they have access to not updating.
We've been able to get working again by simply unticking option in Outlook profile to cache shared mailboxes.
But with this amount of clients with the same issue, I've not been able to see anything regarding known M365 health / windows update issue that causes this in the last few days. Anyone else seen this issue and know root cause or have any acknowledgement of known issue.
More users with dates of January 19 and 20, 2022 report similar observations there. Question to the administrators who use the function: Have you experienced these problems? Have they been fixed in the meantime, or are they still pending?
Addendum: German blog reader Andreas P. has send me the text form Microsofts EX316072 status entry:
Published Time: 21.01.2022 21:54:05
Title: A small percentage of users' shared mailboxes aren't automatically refreshing new email in the Outlook desktop client
User Impact: Users' shared mailboxes aren't automatically refreshing for new email in the Outlook desktop client.
More info: While we're focused on remediation, users that have access to Outlook on the web can use this connection method to bypass this problem. Some affected users have reported that manually refreshing their folders using key shortcuts, such as pressing F9 or CTRL + M, may result in intermittent success as well.
Current status: We've successfully reproduced the issue in our internal environment and are reviewing the fresh Fiddler trace logs to understand where the problem with the new mail notifications is occurring, which will subsequently inform our next troubleshooting efforts.
Scope of impact: A small percentage of users aren't seeing their shared mailboxes automatically refresh.
Next update by: Saturday, January 22, 2022, at 12:30 AM UTC
Published Time: 21.01.2022 19:21:02
Title: Users' shared mailboxes aren't automatically refreshing for new email in the Outlook desktop client
User Impact: Users' shared mailboxes aren't automatically refreshing for new email in the Outlook desktop client.
More info: While we're focused on remediation, users that have access to Outlook on the web can use this connection method to bypass this problem. Some affected users have reported that manually refreshing their folders using key shortcuts, such as pressing F9 or CTRL + M, may result in intermittent success as well.
Current status: Our review of the available logs has led us to suspect that there may be an issue with new mail notifications being dropped at some point during their lifecycle. We're attempting to reproduce the issue and gather fresh Fiddler trace logs which will allow us to confirm our suspicions, gain a better understanding of the cause of the problem, and identify our next troubleshooting steps.
Scope of impact: A small percentage of users aren't seeing their shared mailboxes automatically refresh.
Next update by: Friday, January 21, 2022, at 9:30 PM UTC
Published Time: 21.01.2022 06:17:54
Title: Users' shared mailboxes aren't automatically refreshing for new email in the Outlook desktop client
User Impact: Users' shared mailboxes aren't automatically refreshing for new email in the Outlook desktop client.
More info: While we're focused on remediation, users that have access to Outlook on the web can use this connection method to bypass this problem. Some affected users have reported that manually refreshing their folders using key shortcuts, such as pressing F9 or CTRL + M, may result in intermittent success as well.
Current status: Our analysis of the provided logs has been inconclusive. We're reaching out to affected users to request Time Travel Debugging (TTD) traces and the time frame of impact so that we can identify the root cause and develop a potential fix.
Scope of impact: A small percentage of users aren't seeing their shared mailboxes automatically refresh.
Next update by: Friday, January 21, 2022, at 6:30 PM UTC
Published Time: 21.01.2022 04:32:30
Title: Users' shared mailboxes aren't automatically refreshing for new email in the Outlook desktop client
User Impact: Users' shared mailboxes aren't automatically refreshing for new email in the Outlook desktop client.
More info: While we're focused on remediation, users that have access to Outlook on the web can use this connection method to work around this problem. Some affected users have reported that manually refreshing their folders using key shortcuts, such as pressing F9 or CTRL + M, may result in intermittent success as well.
Current status: We've received additional network trace logs which we're analyzing to help us better understand the impact scenario, identify the source of the problem, and develop a potential fix.
Scope of impact: A small percentage of users aren't seeing their shared mailboxes automatically refresh.
Next update by: Friday, January 21, 2022, at 5:30 AM UTC
Published Time: 21.01.2022 02:17:52
Title: Users' shared mailboxes aren't automatically refreshing for new email in the Outlook desktop client
User Impact: Users' shared mailboxes aren't automatically refreshing for new email in the Outlook desktop client.
More info: While we're focused on remediation, users that have access to Outlook on the web can use this connection method to work around this problem. Some affected users have reported that manually refreshing their folders using key shortcuts, such as pressing F9 or CTRL + M, may result in intermittent success as well.
Current status: We suspect three potential sources of impact could be responsible for this issue – a User Interface (UI) delay resulting in a failure to update with the newly received emails; a networking issue contributing to a lack of notifications being delivered; or a potential issue involving the Outlook desktop client blocking notifications, resulting in the automated sync failure. We're awaiting additional diagnostic logs to help inform our investigation while, in parallel, we're working to gather any internal service health telemetry information and logging with insight into sync operations for additional clarity on how impact manifests.
Scope of impact: A small percentage of users aren't seeing their shared mailboxes automatically refresh.
Next update by: Friday, January 21, 2022, at 3:30 AM UTC
Published Time: 21.01.2022 00:40:02
Title: Users' shared mailboxes aren't automatically refreshing for new email in the Outlook desktop client
User Impact: Users' shared mailboxes aren't automatically refreshing for new email in the Outlook desktop client.
More info: While we're focused on remediation, users that have access to Outlook on the web can use this connection method to work around this problem. Some affected users have reported that manually refreshing their folders using key shortcuts, such as pressing F9 or CTRL + M, may result in intermittent success as well.
Current status: After reviewing recent service changes, we've confirmed that they're not contributing to impact. Our initial review of client captures provided by affected users indicates a potential delay in certain notifications, which may be resulting in impact. We're working with affected users to gather additional diagnostic data including network captures and messageIDs from the impacted mailboxes to isolate the underlying cause and develop mitigation actions.
Scope of impact: A small percentage of users aren't seeing their shared mailboxes automatically refresh.
Next update by: Friday, January 21, 2022, at 1:30 AM UTC
Published Time: 19.01.2022 21:09:26
Title: Users' shared mailboxes aren't automatically refreshing for new email in the Outlook desktop client
User Impact: Users' shared mailboxes aren't automatically refreshing for new email in the Outlook desktop client.
More info: While we're focused on remediation, users that have access to Outlook on the web can use this connection method to work around this problem. Some affected users have reported that manually refreshing their folders using key shortcuts, such as pressing F9 or CTRL + M, may result in intermittent success as well.
Current status: Our initial review of available service telemetry doesn't indicate that impact is occurring. We're continuing to monitor service health to ensure that our systems remain healthy. If impact persists, please reach out to a support representative with client logs available to further assist.
Scope of impact: A small percentage of users aren't seeing their shared mailboxes automatically refresh.
Next update by: Thursday, January 20, 2022, at 11:30 PM UTC
Published Time: 19.01.2022 19:48:00
Title: Users' shared mailboxes aren't automatically refreshing for new email in the Outlook desktop client
User Impact: Users' shared mailboxes aren't automatically refreshing for new email in the Outlook desktop client.
More info: While we're focused on remediation, users that have access to Outlook on the web can use this connection method to work around this problem. Some affected users have reported that manually refreshing their folders using key shortcuts, such as pressing F9 or CTRL + M, may result in intermittent success as well.
Current status: We're reviewing system logs to determine the source of the issue.
Scope of impact: A small percentage of users aren't seeing their shared mailboxes automatically refresh.
Next update by: Wednesday, January 19, 2022, at 8:00 PM UTC
Published Time: 19.01.2022 18:41:25
Title: Users' shared mailboxes aren't automatically refreshing for new email in the Outlook desktop client
User Impact: Users' shared mailboxes aren't automatically refreshing for new email in the Outlook desktop client.
More info: While we're focused on remediation, users that have access to Outlook on the web can use this connection method to work around this problem.
Current status: We're investigating a potential issue and checking for impact to your organization. We'll provide an update within 60 minutes.
