What you need to know
- A Windows 10 bug prevents Office 365, Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and other apps from connecting to the Internet.
- The bug affects people using proxy connections or VPNs.
- The bug comes at a time when millions of people are working from home for the first time.
Microsoft issued a warning to people about a Windows 10 bug that prevents Office 365, Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and other apps from connecting to the Internet (via ZDNet). The bug affects people using proxy connections and VPNs. The bug comes at a terrible time because millions of people are working from home for the first time due to current health restrictions. The bug can also affect people's ability to connect to the Internet in general.
The bug affects all versions of Windows that have applied cumulative update KB4535996 or any of the three cumulative updates that came after that. KB4535996 came out on February 27, 2020, so devices updated after that date could run into the bug.
Microsoft outlines the bug in a doc:
Devices using a proxy might show limited or no internet connection statusDevices using a manual or auto-configured proxy, especially with a virtual private network (VPN), might show limited or no internet connection status in the Network Connectivity Status Indicator (NCSI) in the notification area. This might happen when connected or disconnected to a VPN or after changing state between the two. Devices with this issue, might also have issues reaching the internet using applications that use WinHTTP or WinInet. Examples of apps that might be affected on devices in this state are as follows but not limited to Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Office, Office365, Outlook, Internet Explorer 11, and some version of Microsoft Edge.
Microsoft states that restarting your device might mitigate the issue. It adds that it is "working on a resolution and are targeting a Microsoft Catalog only release of an out-of-band update to resolve this issue by early April."
