The classic version of Outlook users continues to enjoy the traditional business-oriented Outlook experience on Windows 11. But, some users have highlighted a certain concern about the classic Outlook’s sudden CPU usage spike on their machines. It seems that the CPU usage surges up to 30-50% when the user is trying to compose an email. This is completely abnormal, as it usually takes very less CPU power to do so. If you are also affected by this problem, this guide will help you out.
NOTE – This change has effected the latest version of Microsoft 365 users. So, if you are using a standalone version of Outlook client, your Outlook may not get affected by this change.
Fix 1 – Edit the system registry from terminal
There is a temporary fix that can control the occasional spike in the usage of Outlook classic client.
Step 1 – You need to open up a CMD terminal with administrative privileges. So, search for “cmd“.
Step 2 – Next, just right-click the “Command Prompt” in the search results and tap “Run as administrator“.
Step 3 – Paste this simple line of code in the terminal, and hit Enter.
reg add HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\office.0\common\officeupdate /v updatebranch /t REG_SZ /d SemiAnnual
This will modify your system registry to accommodate the sudden
Fix 2 – Revert to the previous build of MS 365
This issue has been seen in the Microsoft 365 Version 2406 Build 17726.20126+ of the current channel, enterprise channel. So, if you are continuously having this problem with the classic version of the Outlook, you can choose to revert to a former version of the tool.
If you are on your Office laptop or PC, this can be done via the Office Deployment tool. Ask your system administrator to revert it to the previous version of the Microsoft Office 365.
Fix 3 – Update the Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft has already addressed the issue with a fix. But, they roll out the updates through various channels.
Step 1 – Load up the Outlook client.
Step 2 – Then, tap the “File” in the menu-bar.
Step 3 – Load up the “Office Account” settings.
Step 4 – Switch the ‘Update Options’ to “Enable updates” option to enable all the updates.
After enabling these updates, your Outlook will get the latest update as soon as Microsoft releases the patch.
Fix 3 – Use the new Outlook client
While the classic version of the MS Outlook feels better to work with, the newer iteration of the utility serves the purpose. While Microsoft is working on a fix, you can use the latest version of Outlook for the time.
Step 1 – Launch the Microsoft Outlook (classic) client on the device.
Step 2 – Next, toggle the “Try the new Outlook” to on mode.
Step 3 – It will throw up a prompt.
Step 4 – Ignore that and tap “Switch” to switch to the new Outlook client.
The new version of the Outlook client will load up within a few seconds. Don’t worry.
You don’t have to log in to your accounts. Outlook will use the same Outlook data file, and hence you shall be logged in automatically.