Office Applications only work in SAFE MODE

[GracieAllen]

Windows 10 Pro, lots of memory, lots of everything…

Office 2019 Professional


This started out in Outlook 2019, and I originally put the topic there, where it sat like feces in a punchbowl. It turns out it's NOT JUST Outlook. At LEAST Powerpoint ALSO has the problem.


In Outlook 2019, email works fine. Until about a w weeks ago CALENDAR WORKED FINE. The ONLY thing I know of that’s changed in the last couple days is Microsoft shoved a new Windows 10 update out – 20H2 if I recall correctly.



I can’t view appointments. They APPEAR to open, and the appointment is sitting behind the Outlook icon in the taskbar. When I hover the mouse over the icon, both the Outlook main page thumbnail AND the thumbnail for the appointment display. BUT I CANNOT make the appointment display on screen like it always has. It doesn’t “open”.
I’ve done the reset
I’ve removed all the add-ins
I’ve done the quick repair
I’ve done the NOT quick repair – which appears to have re-installed Office.
I’ve tried opening the appointment in a variety of ways.
AND, when I run Outlook in SAFE MODE, the appointments open.


I've given up and UNINSTALLED all of Office, cleaned off any references I found on the disk, and re-INSTALLED Office. No difference.


For 2 weeks, if I want to look at an appointment I have to run Outlook in Safe Mode.


Today I received a .pps file I needed to look at. Exactly the same thing happened. Double-click on the pps file and Powerpoint "opens" it. EXCEPT IT DOESN'T OPEN. Again, I can hover over the Powerpoint icon and I can SEE the thumbnail for the file I'm trying to view. But it WON'T display. If I open Powerpoint in Safe Mode I CAN display it.


I need somebody that can provide one of three things:
A fix - this was REALLY OLD 2 weeks ago and it's just gotten more infuriating.
A PHONE NUMBER that an actual HUMAN at Microsoft will answer in support and provide help. NOT one that goes to some idiotic robot that shoves me off to help page and hangs up.
An EMAIL ADDRESS that gets to technical support at Microsoft where an actual human, one that's competent to fix what HAS TO BE a trivial setting SOMEWHERE, to provide a fix...


It CAN'T be that hard, and I can't POSSIBLY be the only person running Office 2019 that has, or has had, this problem.

[macropod]

The usual cause of such behaviour is a rogue 3rd-party addin. Did you install anything new shortly before the problems began?

[GracieAllen]

I read that in my rummaging for reasons. I don't know of any Add-ins I EVER installed, certainly not knowingly before the problems.


And, I went in a deleted every Add-in that was in Outlook.


I don't go in and mess around with settings, so I can't see that being a problem.


As far as I know, the ONLY thing that changed on the system around the time this started was installing the Windows update - 20H2(?) 2H20(?), whatever it was.


But even if it WAS some bizarre Outlook thing, WHY am I seeing the behavior in PowerPoint for one file? My PowerPoints open fine, but this one I was sent, doesn't except in Safe Mode...

[macropod]

Originally Posted by GracieAllen

But even if it WAS some bizarre Outlook thing, WHY am I seeing the behavior in PowerPoint for one file? My PowerPoints open fine, but this one I was sent, doesn't except in Safe Mode...

Your previous post referred to PowerPoint having the same problem as Outlook, not just one PowerPoint file. Your thread title also referred to 'Office Applications' in a general sense. Those references suggested a rogue 3rd-party addin.