Updated 3 September 2026: Microsoft has published an official workaround. Details below.
If you opened Microsoft Teams or Outlook this week and got nothing — a crash, a blank screen, or an app that simply refused to start — you are not alone, and your device is probably not broken. A problem introduced by updates released after the August 2026 Patch Tuesday cycle is causing exactly this on a specific group of Windows machines. Here is what is going on and what you can do about it right now.
What happened
Following the latest round of Windows updates, some users found that Microsoft Teams and the newer version of Outlook either crashed the moment they opened them or would not open at all. Microsoft has confirmed the issue and traced it to security updates released on or after 11 August 2026, including KB5121003. It has since published a workaround, which is covered below, and has marked the issue as mitigated.
This matters because the problem was introduced by the update itself — not by anything the user did, and not by a pre-existing fault on the device. If your apps were working fine before the update and stopped working after, that is consistent with what Microsoft has acknowledged.
Who is affected
This is not a universal Windows problem. It affects people running Windows on ARM-based PCs. ARM refers to a type of processor chip — the brain of the computer — that is different from the Intel or AMD chips found in most traditional laptops and desktops. ARM chips are common in smartphones and have been appearing in Windows laptops with increasing frequency over the past few years.
Microsoft has named the Surface Pro 11 and Surface Laptop 7 among affected devices, and users have reported the same failure on the HP OmniBook 3. The issue is most likely to appear on new or freshly imaged PCs that have not yet installed updates from the Microsoft Store.
If you are not sure what type of chip your device has, you can check by going to Settings → System → About on your Windows PC. Look for the processor name. If it says something like “Snapdragon” or includes “ARM” in the description, this issue may apply to you. If you see “Intel Core” or “AMD Ryzen”, this is not your problem.
One useful detail: classic Outlook, Word, Excel and other traditional desktop programs are not affected. Only the newer app versions of Teams and Outlook fail.
What the real risk is
There is no indication from Microsoft or from the reporting on this that the bug exposes your data or gives anyone access to your accounts. The immediate harm is practical: you cannot use tools you may depend on for work or daily communication.
But that practical disruption creates a secondary risk. When people are locked out of their email or messaging app, they feel pressure to fix it fast. That urgency is exactly what scammers look for. Fake “fix this now” emails, pop-ups, and social media posts tend to appear quickly after any widely reported software problem, because the people searching for a solution are stressed and more likely to click without checking.
Any website, email, or message that offers a special download or unofficial patch for this problem should be treated with serious suspicion. There is no legitimate third-party fix for this. The only real solution comes from Microsoft — through the Microsoft Store or Windows Update, both of which are already installed on your PC and neither of which you should ever reach by clicking a link someone sent you.
What to do today
These are concrete steps you can take this week, not vague advice.
- Confirm whether your device is ARM-based. Go to Settings → System → About and look at the processor name. If you see “Snapdragon” or similar, you are on ARM. If you see “Intel Core” or “AMD Ryzen”, you are not affected by this specific issue.
- Install the Auto Super Resolution Package update. This is Microsoft’s official workaround. Open the Microsoft Store from your Start menu, go to Library, and update the Auto Super Resolution Package to version 1.0.19.0 or later. It sounds unrelated to email — it is a graphics component — but it is Microsoft’s own published fix, not a third-party workaround. Open the Store app yourself rather than following any link.
- Use the browser versions in the meantime. Both Teams and Outlook have web versions that run in any browser — go to teams.microsoft.com and outlook.live.com or outlook.office.com depending on whether you use a personal or work account. Type those addresses into your browser bar yourself. These browser-based versions are separate from the desktop apps and are not affected.
- Do not search for third-party patches. If you go looking for a quick fix on search engines, you will find results, and some of them will be fake. The only safe sources are the Microsoft Store and Windows Update, both already on your PC.
- If you receive any email or pop-up claiming to fix this problem, do not click it. Instead, go directly to support.microsoft.com by typing it yourself and search for information there.
- Tell family members who use ARM Windows devices. Someone who does not know about this issue might panic, search online, and end up clicking something harmful. A quick message from you could prevent that.
Why this keeps happening
Updates occasionally introduce new problems — this is a known pattern in software development, not a rare failure. ARM-based Windows is still a relatively new mainstream platform, and software compatibility on it is still being refined. That makes problems like this more likely than on hardware that has been around for decades.
But the deeper issue is what happens in the gap between a problem being discovered and a fix being delivered. That gap is predictable. And because it is predictable, people who run scam operations watch for exactly these moments. They know that a confirmed, widely reported technical problem will send large numbers of frustrated users searching for answers. They know those users are less likely to slow down and verify what they are clicking.
This pattern — real problem, flood of fake fixes — works because there is no reliable way to tie an online identity to a real, accountable person. Anyone can register a domain, set up a page that looks like an official support site, and target people searching for help with a problem they have just read about in the news. When the fraud is reported, the response is to chase it after the fact. The underlying gap — that you cannot know with confidence who is actually behind what you are reading online — remains open. Until that changes, the same scheme will keep running, wearing different clothes each time a new software problem makes headlines.
Frequently asked questions
Will my data be lost because Teams or Outlook crashed?
There is no indication that this crash causes data loss. Your emails and messages are stored on Microsoft’s servers, not only on your device. Switching to the browser versions of Teams and Outlook should give you full access to everything that was there before.
Is there an official fix, and where do I get it?
Yes. Microsoft’s published workaround is to update the Auto Super Resolution Package to version 1.0.19.0 or later through the Microsoft Store. Open the Store from your Start menu, go to Library, and update it there. Do not install it from any link sent to you — open the Store app yourself. Microsoft has marked the issue as mitigated.
Could a message offering to fix this problem be a scam?
Yes, very possibly. Scammers routinely create fake support pages, emails, and social media posts around confirmed software problems because they know people are actively searching for help. If something arrives in your inbox or appears as a pop-up offering to fix this specific issue, treat it as suspicious. Go to Microsoft’s official support site directly by typing the address yourself.
Related reading
- Admin Tokens Forged: What a Software Flaw Means for You
- Fake Antivirus Alerts: How to Tell Safe from Scam
Originally reported by bleepingcomputer.com, with additional detail from Microsoft’s own advisory. This article summarises that reporting and adds practical guidance.
Mafiology tracks the tactics behind these schemes so you can recognise them early. Get our fraud-pattern alerts, plus a free copy of Wes Kussmaul’s Escape the Plantation on how scammers attack you and your family, and what can be done to stop them.
