Microsoft fixes Outlook 'Cannot send this item' email bug

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Microsoft fixes Outlook 'Cannot send this item' email bug

 

 

Microsoft has fixed an Outlook bug that blocked users from forwarding or replying to emails containing embedded hyperlinks pointing to long URLs.

 

Outlook for PC users experiencing this issue are seeing "Cannot send this item" errors according to customers' reports on Microsoft's community website.

 

Others have also pointed out on Reddit that these errors have also started showing up on long email threads beginning with February.

 

The issue appears when replying to emails with long links in the body when processed with SafeLinks or when the 2084th character in a link is an escaped character.

 

Microsoft has fixed the known issue in Outlook for PC build 13913.10000, which should roll out in production Current Channel during late April.

 

Image: Microsoft

Workaround available until fix goes live

Microsoft also provides a workaround for users affected by this bug until the fix will roll out.

 

To get rid of "Cannot send this item" errors when replying or forwarding emails in Outlook, you have to do one of the following:

• Change the email format from HTML to Rich text. Go here for more information and detailed steps: Change the message format to HTML, Rich Text Format, or plain text - Outlook (microsoft.com)

• Remove any long links in the body of the email before replying.

• Reply to the email using Outlook Web App (OWA)

• Switch Office to Semi Annual Channel where the bug is not introduced. To do this, follow the steps here: Change the Microsoft 365 Apps update channel for devices in your organization

 

Microsoft is also currently investigating issues where the follow-up flag status is displayed in sent messages incorrectly and error messages being displayed when sharing a calendar in Microsoft 365.

 

Last year, Redmond addressed a major issue affecting Microsoft Outlook worldwide with the application immediately crashing on launch with 0xc0000005 errors displayed in the Windows Event Viewer.

 

 

Soruce: Microsoft fixes Outlook 'Cannot send this item' email bug

   

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Outlook developers have also shared a handful of workarounds

 

 

(Image credit: N/A)

 

 

A frustrating bug in the Microsoft Outlook desktop client has finally been addressed, with a fix set to be made widely available by late April.

 

First discovered in February, the bug is restricted to the Outlook email client for PC and prevents users from forwarding or replying to certain emails. It was reported by several users on Microsoft’s official community website, as well as on social media platforms such as Reddit and Twitter.

 

The Outlook for Microsoft 365 team is now reporting that the developers have fixed the issue in Outlook for PC build 13913.10000.

 

Bug me not

 

The developers have also shared details about the bug, which displays a popup to warn users about the inability to send messages. The lack of any details in the error message confused many users, leaving them frustrated as they frantically searched for answers to help resolve the issue.

 

As well as sharing news about the fix, the developers haev also shed light on the conditions that led to the error.

 

According to Microsoft, the issue surfaced when replying to emails with long links in the body, particularly when the 2084th character in the link was an escaped character. The developers believed the error could also show up if the URLs were processed with the SafeLinks service that scans incoming email for known malicious hyperlinks.

 

While users wait for the fix to make its way from the development channel to the stable release channel, Outlook developers have shared a bunch of workarounds to help avoid the issue. 

 

The safest of these is to reply to affected messages using the Outlook Web app. If you absolutely have to use the desktop client, you can also get around the issue by changing the format of the email from HTML to rich text.

 

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