Stop me if you've heard this one before, Windows 11 apps aren't working right now. Users are running into unexpected error messages and seeing apps crash or not work as expected.
I'd forgive you for thinking I accidentally covered a story twice, but that's not the case. The issue causing apps to become unresponsive appears to be separate from the 0x803f8001 error that stops apps from loading.
You may also think that since the bug causing apps to become unresponsive is related to the January Patch Tuesday updates, that it would be fixed by the emergency patches Microsoft had to roll out. Nope.
It also appears to be a distinct issue that's not related to the unpatched Outlook bug that makes the app "completely unusable." Though there's a chance some of the causes overlap. Outlook is one of the apps specifically mentioned by Microsoft when discussing the bug.
Windows 11 is off to a strong start this year.
Shifting back to the bug at hand, Microsoft confirmed the issue yesterday and detailed what's going on:
"After installing Windows updates released on or after January 13, 2026 (KB5074109), some applications might become unresponsive or experience unexpected errors when opening files from or saving files to cloud-backed storage, such as OneDrive or Dropbox.
For example, in some configurations of Outlook that store PST files on OneDrive, Outlook might become unresponsive and fail to reopen unless its process is terminated in Task Manager, or the system is restarted. In addition, sent emails might not appear in the Sent Items folder, and previously downloaded might be downloaded again."
There's some irony here because Microsoft has pushed OneDrive so aggressively to Windows 11 users. The cloud storage service integrates directly with the operating system, and you'll even see ads for it within Windows 11.
Of course, the new bug is not exclusive to OneDrive and can occur when opening or saving files through Dropbox as well, so maybe Microsoft deserves some grace here.
Microsoft's suggested workaround for Outlook-specific scenarios is to move PST files out of OneDrive.
The company is working on a resolution and will share more information when it becomes available.
2025 was a disastrous year for Windows 11, and the operating system has not had a good start to 2026. We're only three weeks into the year and we've already seen emergency patches, unfixed bugs, and basic apps like Notepad and Snipping Tool failing to load.
In April of last year, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said AI is used to write up to 30% of the company's code. Many worry that reliance on AI and "vibe coding" has caused a dip in quality.
