Sending, receiving, and organizing email in Outlook.com
Open Outlook.com in a private or incognito browser window first; if it loads there, disable ad-blocking extensions and clear Outlook.com cookies and cached data in the normal browser.
Fix the continuous loading spinner
- Open a private window:
- Microsoft Edge: Menu ⋯ → New InPrivate window
- Chrome: Menu ⋮ → New Incognito window
- Firefox: Menu ☰ → New private window
- Safari: File → New Private Window
- Go to www.outlook.com and sign in.
- If Outlook opens in the private window:
- Disable extensions temporarily, particularly AdBlock or uBlock. Microsoft notes that these extensions can cause Outlook.com loading problems.^1^
- Clear the normal browser’s cookies and cached data for Outlook.com.
- Close all browser windows, reopen the browser, and sign in again. This is Microsoft’s documented browser-reset sequence for Outlook.com display failures.^2^
- If it still spins, test another current supported browser. On Windows, use the latest Edge, Chrome, or Firefox; on macOS, use the latest Edge, Chrome, Firefox, or Safari 16 or later.^1^
If it fails in every browser or device
Check the Microsoft Service Health Status site. If Outlook is not shown as healthy, wait for service restoration and try again. Microsoft also publishes Outlook.com-specific known problems and workarounds.^3^
If the service is healthy:
- If you receive a password, verification, blocked-account, or other sign-in error, use the Microsoft account sign-in helper linked from Microsoft’s support page. Outlook.com support cannot recover access directly when an account cannot sign in.^4^
- If authentication succeeds but only the mailbox keeps loading, use another working Microsoft account to open Outlook.com support, or—if the mailbox eventually opens—select Help, search for the issue, then choose Still need help? → Yes.^4^
References