Microsoft confirms: Outlook eats up CPU power

Anyone writing emails in Outlook is currently putting a strain on their CPU: when typing a message, users have to be prepared for peaks of 30 to 50 percent. The power consumption of the computer also increases accordingly. Classic Outlook on Windows is affected after an update to version 2406 build 17726.20126+ in the Current channel, Monthly Enterprise channel or the Insider channels.

Waiting for Microsoft

However, this confirmation from Microsoft comes six months after users first complained about Outlook's behavior: Users have been waiting for a solution from Microsoft since the beginning of November 2024. One solution suggested in the community forum is to switch updates to the semi-annual channel, although this is merely a workaround.

Microsoft is now officially suggesting this solution to affected users. At the same time, according to the support entry, the Outlook developers are investigating the problem. If they fix the error, users can switch back to the previously preferred update channel. Microsoft has not yet provided any information on the technical causes – but the issue can be observed in the Task Manager.

How many resources are still available?

It remains to be seen how much energy Microsoft still wants to put into its classic Outlook. Officially, the new Outlook is the future, which is based on the email client's web application. However, the latter is controversial among users for data protection reasons and due to a lack of functions. It is also questionable whether there will still be a successor to the current MS Office in 2024 or whether M365 will then be compulsory.

According to Microsoft, corporate customers should switch to the new Outlook by 2026. Accordingly, many users in the community forum also doubt the extent to which Microsoft is interested in solving the issue – or simply still has developers for the classic Outlook who can solve it.

(fo)