Saving files is currently broken on Windows 11 and Windows 10

Microsoft has confirmed that its newest Home windows updates, launched on January 13, 2026, are inflicting a number of functions to freeze when accessing information saved on cloud providers like OneDrive and Dropbox. This is only one in a sequence of important bugs found within the latest patch.

This can be a vital headache for anybody counting on cloud storage for his or her each day workflow. Essentially the most particular and irritating sufferer of this new bug is Microsoft Outlook. In the event you occur to retailer your Private Storage Desk (or PST) information on OneDrive, Outlook can develop into utterly unresponsive. The one technique to get Outlook operating once more is to kill the app manually or reboot your PC.

Aside from the freezing, the bug may stop despatched emails from exhibiting up in your Despatched Gadgets folder. You may additionally see emails randomly redownloading, which is fairly irritating.

If you break down Microsoft’s official steerage, it turns into clear the corporate is struggling to handle its personal ecosystem. The official workaround for the Outlook concern is simply to maneuver these PST information out of OneDrive totally. Whereas placing giant PST information in OneDrive is commonly discouraged except you might be strictly utilizing it for backup, altering a purposeful workflow due to a compulsory safety replace is an enormous adjustment.

To me, it appears to be like like Microsoft is having points with fundamental integration testing between its flagship working system and its core productiveness suite. This cloud storage bug, tracked beneath KB5074109, isn’t confined to only one model of Home windows. It impacts customers throughout Home windows 11 variations, together with 25H2, 24H2, and 23H2, in addition to Home windows 10 variations like 22H2 and older LTSC editions.

This freezing concern is simply the most recent drawback stemming from that very same January patch. Simply days earlier than Microsoft acknowledged the cloud storage concern, it needed to launch an emergency out-of-band fix, KB5077744, to repair widespread connection failures. That earlier bug blocked customers from logging in to distant connection functions, particularly affecting Azure Digital Desktop and Home windows 365.

We lately reported on how the January replace induced some Home windows 11 23H2 gadgets to refuse to shut down or hibernate, forcing one other spherical of troubleshooting by system directors. In case you are battling the freezing apps, Microsoft has provided some apparent recommendation. The corporate’s official suggestion is to ‘contact the applying developer’ to seek out different methods to open your information.

Because the utility developer is commonly Microsoft itself, that recommendation feels a bit round. If Outlook is locked up, the recommendation is to make use of webmail in case your e-mail supplier helps it, which is the definition of avoiding the issue somewhat than fixing it.

Microsoft says it’s actively engaged on releasing a decision for this concern as quickly as potential and can present an replace when extra data is out there. Given the sheer variety of important points which have appeared shortly after this patch launch, it appears like Microsoft must take a critical have a look at its replace high quality management earlier than rolling out obligatory safety fixes.

This can be a good time to deliver up that Microsoft’s CEO claimed that 30% of its code was written by AI. Whereas we will not strictly blame AI for this particular bug, it’s value noting that high quality management points have develop into extra widespread within the yr since that declare was made.

Supply: Microsoft through The Register