The following articles were included in our Exchange Messaging Outlook (EMO) newsletter published on January 18, 2018.
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Today's Highlights:
- Outlook and Gmail's Less Secure Apps Setting
- Attachments are deleted from plain text messages
- Outlook loads when the computer boots
- Remove the Holiday or Birthday calendar from Outlook.com
Outlook and Gmail's Less Secure Apps Setting
I suddenly started seeing a lot of Gmail users asking for help because Outlook stopped syncing. It was perplexing until one client wanted me to fix it for him. While I was looking at his computer, he told me Google sent him an email because someone tried to connect to his account and the email included a list of steps to take to insure the account was secure. He went through the steps and made the changes they suggested. One of the steps was to turn off the allow less secure apps options, which he did.
Other people said Google sent them an email saying they were using less secure apps and they took Google's advice to disable less secure apps.
Unfortunately, when less secure apps are not allowed, Outlook can't connect to Gmail servers, unless you also enable two-factor authorization then use an app password in Outlook. (The app password is a one-time use password that can be voided if you suspect it is compromised, without affecting your “real” password.)
My recommendation is to turn off less secure apps and enable two-factor auth. In Gmail's implementation, you'll receive a code by text message to enter when the second authorization screen comes up. If you use an application, such as Outlook, that does not yet support the second authorization, you'll need to use an app password.
In my experience with Gmail, its not annoying at all and retains the authorization. It doesn't request re-authorization often, which makes using an app password fairly painless. If you use public hotspots, you should enable two-factor.
If you choose to allow less secure apps, is it really insecure? No, it's just not as secure as using the newer OAuth protocol to login. Less secure apps use plain username/password authentication to access an account instead of OAuth 2.0. The username password should be transferred in a secure channel but there may be points where a sniffer could pick it up.
Attachments are deleted from plain text messages
The Outlook security update released last week for the MSI installations has a bug that affects the ability to forward plain text emails containing attachments, such as emailed by a fax machine or scanner.
If we have an e-mail in plain text with an attachment and attempt to forward that e-mail, Outlook strips the attachment. It started today after updates. The attachment is immediately stripped after hitting the forward button.
This behavior is the result of a code change in the MSI version, introduced in Security Update for Microsoft Outlook 2016 (KB4011626). Hidden attachments are deleted from plain text mails due to security concerns, as they can be visible when using certain protocols.
In this situation it is a bug, because visible attachments in plain text messages should not be deleted when you forward a message. Microsoft is investigating.
Until this is fixed, affected sites can either uninstall the security update and remove the update from WSUS or instruct users to save the attachments and reattach them after clicking Forward.
You can change the message format to HTML before you click Forward, but honestly, unless you can use a macro to do this, it's generally faster to save the attachment and reattach it.
- Open the Message in a new window
- Click Actions > Edit Message
- Go to Format Text tab and change to HTML format
- Save
- Click Forward
You could use a macro in a run a script rule to change the messages to HTML as they arrive.
For more information and a macro to use in a run a script rule, see Attachments are deleted from plain text messages after the January 9 2018 Update
Outlook loads when the computer boots
I've received quite a few questions over the last couple of weeks asking how to stop Outlook from running when the computer is rebooted.
Outlook has recently started opening when the computer boots. I looked in the startup menu and task manager and Outlook is not listed anywhere. I don't want it to automatically open. How do I stop it?
While the usual place to look is in the startup menu, a utility that uses Outlook data can also cause this behavior. The utility loads at startup and loads Outlook so it can access the data.
You'll need to check the programs that load at startup. Sync utilities that sync Outlook data to other computers or with your smartphone would be the most likely suspects, but any application that accesses Outlook data could be responsible.
Remove the Holiday or Birthday calendar from Outlook.com
Outlook.com and Office 365's Exchange Online accounts have separate Birthday and Holiday calendars. You can remove the calendars if you aren't using them but you cannot delete individual items from the calendars.
I am trying to delete a list of birthdays, but it won't allow me. A message pops up "You cannot make changes to content of this read-only folder"
The server created the calendar; you can turn it off in Outlook on the web's Calendar options but cannot delete individual birthdays from the calendar.. If you want to remove a birthday from the calendar, you'll need to edit the person's contact.
To remove the Holiday calendar, right click on the calendar and choose Delete folder. You can delete the Holiday calendar in either Outlook desktop or Outlook on the web.
If you delete the Birthday calendar in Outlook, it will come back within a few seconds; you need to turn it off in Outlook on the web's Calendar Options and choose Turn off the birthday calendar.
More information and screenshots are in this article:
New & Updated Exchange KB Articles
"Insecure connection" or "secure connection unavailable" error when Outlook for iOS or Android connects to Exchange Server
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4056392
MailTip for big distribution group's size wrong in Exchange Online
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4056666
Add a trusted device to your Microsoft account
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/12369/
Auto-mapping doesn't work as expected in a cross-forest deployment in Office 365 dedicated/ITAR (vNext)
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/3080561
Exchange Server guidance to protect against speculative execution side-channel vulnerabilities
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4074871
"Your encrypted message couldn't be opened" error when external users try to open encrypted messages
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4057302
Scanning your Outlook configuration by using the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant (SaRA) for Office 365
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4055050
Hybrid free/busy lookups fail between Exchange Server 2016 CU8 and O365
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4058297
Phone number instead of contact name is displayed for an Active Directory contact in Skype for Business 2016
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4051050
Update Rollup 19 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4035162
vNext object is not present or updated in Azure AD Connect for Office 365 dedicated/ITAR (vNext)
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4051392
Wrong users are added to an entire series of a recurring meeting in Exchange Server
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4073158
New & Updated Office 365 KB Articles
"Can't Verify Subscription" or “No Subscription Found” error messages in Office Mobile
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2861744
All users' free/busy info shows in Office 365 modern group calendar
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4057584
Error when editing an equation in Office
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4057882
How do I keep on running Office 365 ProPlus 2013?
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/3097292
How to change your user photo in Office 365
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2986893
How to uninstall Office 2013 or Office 365
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2739501
Scanning your Outlook configuration by using the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant (SaRA) for Office 365
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4055050
Office 365 Integration fails in Windows Server 2012 Essentials
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/3216737
Support for 2013 versions of Office 365 ProPlus ends February 28, 2017
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/3199744
New & Updated Outlook KB Articles
All users' free/busy info shows in Office 365 modern group calendar
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4057584
Description of the security update for Office 2016: January 9, 2018
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4011622
Description of the security update for Outlook 2007: January 9, 2018
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4011213
How to suppress the AutoDiscover redirect warning in Outlook 2010, Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2016
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2480582
Security Settings for COM objects in Office
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4058123
Other Resources
Add an Event to Two Calendars
How to Copy events to other calendars using Copy to My Calendar, a macro, or Microsoft Flow.
Attachments are deleted from plain text messages after the January 9 2018 Update
Outlook 2016: Attachments are deleted from plain text messages after the January 9 2018 Security Update.
Disable Outlook's New Account Wizard
The newest builds of Outlook 2016 have a new, simplified account dialog. If you prefer to use the older add account dialog, you can set a registry key. This key is needed if you need to create a send-only account.
Outlook for Mac: Two spaces autocorrect to a period
Outlook for Mac: Two spaces are replaced by a period when typing.
January 2018 updates for Microsoft Office
Microsoft released the following security and nonsecurity updates for Office in January 2018.
List of the most current .msp files for Office 2016 products
A list of the most current .msp files that IT professionals need to include when they create an installation image for an Office 2016 product.