RANT: Is anyone else tired of clicking on Microsoft products, Office especially, and having it completely fail to respond.
Posted by SwiftSloth1892@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 108 comments
That's it. the title. for the last few months, it's been getting steadily worse. Outlook is by far the worst in my opinion, but teams, and excel do the same types of things. Literally just clicked in the search bar, nothing, clicked again, nothing, clicked a third time, window minimized. I just want to search for *($&# sake. finally, cursor shows up and I can search. I'll ignore that it got lost again as I re-maximized the window. Then I start typing the response. oops. fat fingered something. click the word "left-click; because who knows why", nothing happens. try again, nothing, right-click select spell check and pick word. finish typing email. realize I misspelled a couple other words. repeat prior incident except every formatting error disappears for 30 seconds when I make a correction. (granted I know this last one is copilot trying to get me to hurt a wall). Like, I'm this close |<--->| to switching my whole org to open office.
makzpj@reddit
My favorite is when you start typing something then autocompletes and what you are searching for is right there, but there is a delay between what you are typing and the autocomplete and then autocompletes again and the thing you were searching for never appears again.
en-rob-deraj@reddit
We've been having a lot of issues. TBH, some of these issues I just replace the laptop. Quicker than trying to figure out why Microsoft keeps having all these issues.
TeflonJon__@reddit
Not to mentioned I have had tickets escalated to their engineers, whom gave us the really good (/s) suggestions of “create them a new MSFT account” for 2/3 issues I had to get their support for. Absolutely loved it when they couldn’t even troubleshoot their own applications (MSFT Lists, in these cases) and basically said “start over” as a solution. This was after 3 tiers of support techs escalated…
taikowork@reddit
I'm noticing more and more their version of a solution is "nuke the windows profile and start over" which is quite possibly the worst suggestion a higher tier support staff could say.
Ferretau@reddit
It's sad when the "experts" have no understanding of their own product, how can they expect us to support it when they move the goal posts every day. The best I heard of was a M$ course where the instructor stated to the students the online docs were wrong as the product had just been upgraded that day. Whey pay them for this slop - I guess the Europeans have had a enough and are are starting to build their own alternatives.
dedjedi@reddit
so stop paying them? *boggle*
Steel_Bolt@reddit
Start menu in Windows 11 is the perfect case study for microslop. On the fastest computers with the fastest internet, somehow that damn start menu will still lag out.
purplemonkeymad@reddit
Fun fact, on fresh installs of windows 11 that haven't connected to any networks, the start menu will only show a couple of the icons. As soon as a network is connected the rest show.
Why the hell would icons need networking?
Ironically the start menu is super fast before it's connected.
1RedOne@reddit
Turns out it is all GPU calls due to hardware acceleration. I upgraded from a seven year old GPU to a much newer one and now it loads instantly
Steel_Bolt@reddit
I just figured it was all the web integration it was waiting on. I have a 7900XTX and the menu is always pretty quick but once in a while it won't open the first couple times I hit the windows key.
NotRecognized@reddit
On servers, it never opens the first time here.
aes_gcm@reddit
The start menu is just a layout, it's not even 3D. Why is GPU acceleration even a thing there?
axonxorz@reddit
The entire desktop is 3D, even if it doesn't look like it.
Windows draw themselves to a buffer that is text-mapped onto a plane.
But I would say that there is more going on to slow things down, because mapping a texture to a plane with zero lighting and doing a simple transformation on that plane is like the most basic of basic graphical operations for a modern GPU.
bedz01@reddit
Basically no GPUs support 2D acceleration anymore. Everything is 3D accelerated, when rendering 2D it's actually just a flat plane in a technically 3D environment.
1RedOne@reddit
I don’t know, but that’s what I saw. Upgraded the GPU for better frame rates in Nightreign and was shocked that the start menu suddenly loaded
After_8@reddit
Why does the start menu need GPU acceleration?!
I have an 8 year old laptop with on-chip graphics running KDE and the "start" menu of that appears instantly. I don't understand how Microsoft can't manage this.
Drywesi@reddit
This is extra funny given KDE's history as the most graphics-intensive DE.
Ferretau@reddit
Because all the code is now dotnet and not close to the metal.
Nexzus_@reddit
Have had more than a few instances where the index? for the start menu items fails to load. I start type "compu.." for Computer Management and... nothing. Close it down, wait 10 seconds to try again, and nothing. After the third time, I log off and log back in, and voila, instant start menu search.
Can't believe Ive been dealing with the annoyances for like 30 years.
I'll still drag around the copy-item monitor or a program install window to make sure it hasn't frozen on me like I'm back on Windows 98.
Furry_Thug@reddit
If it opens at all!
Microsoft Windows' defining feature, the start menu, completely breaks and doesn't even open on some user profiles.
boli99@reddit
it was busy checking if your license includes access to the search bar
it was busy checking if your license allows you to doubleclick
thats just the developers fscking with you.
Bogus1989@reddit
yeah i basically never use the search bar in win 11 at work….today i tried…that mfer just disappeared LOL.
Awkward-Candle-4977@reddit
Change the update channel to Semi Annual. It's the real stable version
https://ma-zamroni.blogspot.com/2025/10/set-windows-office-onedrive-to-real.html#zzzoffice
AliveInTheFuture@reddit
I’m frustrated by things stealing window focus, unintentionally entering edit mode, double clicking words resulting in selecting the word plus white space, window title bars having selectable shit in them now so you have to find a sliver of the bar to move the window, alt tab no longer reliably returning to the previous app…I could go on…
paul_33@reddit
Windows 11 in general is like this now. All apps, even the start menu. Right clicking is delayed. It wasn’t this bad on launch.
TheReaver@reddit
cant even copy with CTL + C properly so i need to press it like 3 times for it to actually copy.
paul_33@reddit
I really hate this. I wish they’d add a “Copied!” popup to confirm it at least
Ferretau@reddit
Which "version" of Windows 11 - it has had so many releases now that you are probably not running the original one by now through forced upgrade, I mean security update.
SwiftSloth1892@reddit (OP)
I'm convinced it's because the right mouse button is directly linked to Copilot causing it to intervene any time the right mouse button is clicked. but then I'm also convinced that not a single process happens on your windows computer at this point without copilot getting to review it, your time be damned.
paul_33@reddit
Well copilot is in the right click context menu, so yeah it’s definitely part of it.
m9832@reddit
24H2 is when it started having major issues for me, like the cursor stuttering for 20 seconds straight.
CherrySnuggle13@reddit
You’re definitely not alone. Outlook especially has felt weirdly sluggish lately, like every click has a delay or random UI hiccup attached to it. Half the frustration is that it’s inconsistent, so troubleshooting feels impossible. Sometimes disabling add-ins or Copilot helps, but it still feels heavier than it used to.
OrgIQOfficial@reddit
An alien looking down at microslop w/o context would be forgiven for thinking the company was trying to sabotage itself
Double_Ocelot_8673@reddit
Yes. Oh if only I could switch the whole org to open[anything].
catherder9000@reddit
EU Office (Euro Office, or whatever it ends up being for a final name) is coming, I have high hopes.
Ferretau@reddit
Different Lipstick same pig
catherder9000@reddit
Maybe, maybe not. Way, way, too early to say something like that though.
THE_SEX_YELLER@reddit
OpenGL is back, baby!
TallDan68@reddit
OpenBSD and SCO OpenServer?
Anlarb@reddit
Open cmd, it looks like it is focused, I start typing, it isn't focused.
Unminimized notepad, the thing I want is already highlighted, can I copy it like I used to? No.
Try and copy a cell on the online outlook with ctrl c or right click copy, does it copy? Not on the first try, does if I mash it half a dozen times though.
A bunch of things I open now take a while to open and pop under so I don't even notice it when it does show up.
Big new weird pop up on mstsc, re-asking me questions I already have saved in the config...
Godcry55@reddit
Windows start menu search just doesn’t respond at times. Even on a fresh install with modern hardware - I like MS but this is getting ridiculous.
dataBlockerCable@reddit
SaaS solutions altogether have been horrible as "solutions". Constant hangs and slow response times or crashes, and all I can do is open a ticket and hope they get to it. If I had onsite stuff at least I could diagnose and attempt fixes myself. Where are all those highly-touted AI solutions that will automatically detect issues like these and fix them without any human intervention?
Ferretau@reddit
Built by the same people that built the SAAS solution - do you think it will be any better? From what I have seen it isn't.
SwiftSloth1892@reddit (OP)
I've been saying this for years. In my department we have a saying "Goooooo Cloud!", but you must say it slowly, sarcastically, and with an underwhelming fist pump. I miss on prem, when things used to just work or as you said be fixable. I really hate giving an end user the answer, x program is in the cloud and there is nothing we can do to fix it. we have to wait for them to resolve the issue they are having.
NoobToobinStinkMitt@reddit
I'm honestly stunned we all let them move their consoles to the web. We all knew web consoles were shit compared to installed apps in the early 2000s.
Ferretau@reddit
They sold it to the customer saying they would save money. Internally they sold it by saying they would make more money as it is no longer a 5 year buying cycle and instead it's a permanent rental model.
HeWhoThreadsLightly@reddit
I am sick of explorer hanging for multiple minutes when I try to open a .txt file.
Ferretau@reddit
Turn off "Show recently used files in Quick access" & "show frequently used folders in Quick access" and see if it is quicker. Explorer may be scanning the history lists before it opens the text file.
sorealee@reddit
You’re not alone, in the last 6 months I’ve seen much more issues in Microsoft products, tools and admin sites that I’m fairly certain are due to lack of QA or testing.
Some days I just want to look for job that’s Mac/linux environment only then to deal with more MS issues.
Ferretau@reddit
You are the QA / Testing team - all testing is done by deploying it. They got rid of those teams 10+ years ago.
Bob4Not@reddit
Bro I cant open a new Excel instance sometimes, it just sits for forever if I already have one window open.
They’re all so bloated and broken
Ferretau@reddit
I'd suggest it's the AI/ML Component that runs as a separate process causing the problem - it didn't seem as bad before they pushed it out.
JerikkaDawn@reddit
I've noticed if you click inside the already open window, Excel will be all like "oh shit yeah, sorry I was just resting my eyes" and then the second instance opens.
SwiftSloth1892@reddit (OP)
Man I feel this scenario. Windows updates....back out and come back and and watch your update jump from 3% to 99%.
Bob4Not@reddit
I’ll try that more, thanks
Denver80211@reddit
What I would give to not have to support Outlook anymore
25toten@reddit
We moved most of our users to OWA. Best decision ever. It doesn't fully resolve the issues with Outlook, but prevents pretty much all of the software bugs/problems the software version has. The amount of issues has gone down dramatically. The software client is a buggy piece of shit.
Denver80211@reddit
interesting............ Not sure how my users would feel about moving into a web-based Outlook. Outlook News is a sack of shit. I'll have to start testing yeah for myself.
Ferretau@reddit
The OWA version is definitely better than the "New" Outlook. I would suggest 99% of your users would be able to complete their 99% of what they need with it and the 1% they miss would probably not be supported by "New" Outlook anyway.
25toten@reddit
OWA has the added benefit of being accessible easily on users phones, and on any PC they use. No app download required (app DLs weird some people out), just outlook.com in whatever browser they use.
This mitigates the headache of people adding email accounts on their phones (nobody understands how to do this) and the countless random compatibility issues with their varied PCs/Phone OS.
Much, much, much less headache.
catherder9000@reddit
Outlook mobile is fantastic though. Better than any other iOS or Android email system out there. And that's not just me saying that, all our users are amazed how much more productive and useable it is compared to anything they used on their phones before.
Denver80211@reddit
Hmmmm.. I just logged in to my Outlook account and there's my email, except none of my shared mailboxes show up like they do in the application. We have a lot of users who have shared mailboxes. It would definitely be a problem if they didn't see them like that. is that normal?
Wonderful-Command474@reddit
Go into settings > account > 'shared with me' and then add the shared mailboxes there and they will appear in the left pane like Classic.
Tarcanus@reddit
I'm less infuriated by msft products specifically, but any product that gives you a box to type in, gives you enough time to select the box and start typing, then finishes loading the page, kicking you out of the active text box and making you re-select the text box to begin typing again drive me insane.
Makes you have to open something and then just sit there staring for a few seconds. I'd rather the page just not load until it's ready to be used.
Ferretau@reddit
So that hasn't changed for the last 3 years then
finalpolish808@reddit
Not just me then, eh?
breid7718@reddit
Login dialogs for me. Unless you're logging in as the same user, get ready for some circle spinning.
SwiftSloth1892@reddit (OP)
Don't expect it to understand that you may be logging in with multiple accounts either, despite the best practice of using dedicated special accounts for admin tasks.
Ferretau@reddit
Yep M$ has no undestanding of the concept of multiple accounts in one session - especially when it comes to cloud and Office
lenswipe@reddit
Microslop
SimplifyAndAddCoffee@reddit
Slopya Nadella
Ferretau@reddit
Don't you mean Slopya Nadella and his Copilot?
Rex_Bossman@reddit
I finally bit the bullet and "upgraded" to Windows 11 two months ago. Outlook would occasionally crash before that, but now it's several times a day and I'm a relatively very light user of Outlook. Kind of feels like they are purposely trying to kill off Outlook Classic.
Cosmic_Shipwright@reddit
There’s a rare but nasty bug we encountered where if a user tried hopping between Classic and New, even a couple of times as a test (which isn’t uncommon), mails in the sent box from years ago would be resent to the original recipients. Worse, they don’t even show up under the senders sent box. We were notified by confused recipients, some of whom aren’t even related to us anymore. To my knowledge, this bug has been there for a few years.
Ferretau@reddit
Lucky if it ever gets fixed - the developers that understood the code have all probably retired by now.
Shazam1269@reddit
Or searching in Outlook Classic! I'll search emails from a specific vendor I know are in my inbox, and the result is zero (after chugging for several minutes).
IRideZs@reddit
I’m sick of clicking on Microsoft products and being presented with copilot
Double_Ocelot_8673@reddit
Isn't it ridiculous to right click and have the first option in the menu be "CoPilot"? (When the only other option is "copy.")
Ferretau@reddit
It seems they named it a little to closely to Clippy
lenswipe@reddit
Even worse - I'm sick of clicking on Microsoft products and being presented with a Microsoft product
SimplifyAndAddCoffee@reddit
or clicking on locally installed microsoft products and being presented with a ~~~bing~~~ copilot search page in edge for said microsoft product.
OG_Dadditor@reddit
Many such cases
bitslammer@reddit
In a minor small victory for me, at home my wife finally got fed up with her PC and asked me if I could "put that Linux system" that I use on it for her.
Still have to use it at work, but it feels so good to be an MS free zone at home. All of our devices now behave and do exactly what we need and want them to, no more, no less.
DisjointedHuntsville@reddit
Instead of lying about things that never happened, but a Mac.
bitslammer@reddit
LOL...guess you've never had to deal with the shitshow that Outlook or MS mail is for a home user.
...and anyway we do have a Mac Mini in addition to the Linux machines.
DisjointedHuntsville@reddit
I have both the Windows version running within a Parallels VM on my Max along with the Mac version on the same machine. Yeah . . what do i know ?
TYGRDez@reddit
I'm just sick of clicking on Microsoft products, full stop
Antoine-UY@reddit
\^\^\^\^ This
IAmSnort@reddit
I feel like MS is going to crash itself on the the rocks of AI.
CBOW_IT@reddit
The amount of times windows explorer crashes in windows 11 is down right hilarious. I ran classic shell in windows 10 and barely ever had windows explorer or classic shell crash. I feel like I have windows explorer crash at least once a week on my work machine and my home machine.
Outlook is the biggest piece of fucking garbage I've ever seen. Supposedly they are making a proper desktop version, but it's made by Microsoft, so it will probably suck.
BrentNewland@reddit
The only slowness I've seen is caused by the signature div tag bug.
burundilapp@reddit
I have a office 2016 installed on an older VM I use occasionally for specific software tools, Excel opens so quick and is all round so much quicker compared to the click2run versions these days.
jimicus@reddit
It's not even Outlook; it's the fact that I'm not doing anything drastically more complicated than I did twenty years ago using the same desktop software.
And yet my very modern laptop with probably fifty times the RAM is in no way any faster. If anything, it's slower.
Fake_Cakeday@reddit
Office is so slow now I need my gaming rig to run it
sole-it@reddit
Recently I started to having issue with regular Office (Desktop) app, like trying to insert an image to Word could hang it for half a minutes.
And then the whole 'you need to sign in' prompt on 365 website.
Cyber_Faustao@reddit
OpenOffice is a dead product, Libreoffice is the best-maintained alternative.
mj3004@reddit
I’ve never had this issue
Juncti@reddit
Big time, not just office but damn near everything feels laggy. They all need to phone home to their servers to check your licenses, track your usage, and other stuff to get between you and the product or service you're paying to use.
SpaceMan_Barca@reddit
Sounds like someone opened the admin console…. It’s slow as shit.
Mindestiny@reddit
Rant: Can we ban these "DAE Microsoft sucks?" threads? The comments here read less like a sysadmin forum and more like end user uninformed, ignorant bitchfests griping about tier 1 tech support issues as if they're intentional design. There's no value or discussion here.
Nandulal@reddit
I like when I close a spreadsheet and it just decides to close my newly opened one also just for good measure. I've had to get used to clicking twice on each one since this is now a feature I guess.
razorback6981@reddit
I’m tired of clicking, period.
GenderOobleck@reddit
Fucking search bar in Teams not acknowledging clicks half the time even when it’s the in-focus app.
joshloveless1976@reddit
since the 90s
qordita@reddit
try it again, but this time with feeling
Business-Lawyer-1274@reddit
I tried opening the windows calendar yesterday to check a date and apparently we don’t have a license for that lol
HWKII@reddit
Outlook.exe is a literal terrorist.
CantaloupeCamper@reddit
It sometimes responds?
/meme