Opening email

Check Microsoft’s Service Health Status first, because the same “Something went wrong—refresh application” failure across multiple devices, two users, Wi-Fi, and mobile data is consistent with an Outlook.com service-side incident rather than one device or connection.

1. Check Outlook.com service status

Open the official Service Health Status page:

https://status.cloud.microsoft/m365/referrer=serviceStatusRedirect

Microsoft directs Outlook.com users with access problems to this status page.^1^

• If Outlook.com shows an incident or service degradation, no repair on your phone or computers is required. Wait until the status returns to normal, then try again.
• This exact refresh error has previously affected multiple Outlook users at once and required Microsoft to resolve the server-side problem.^2^

Since refreshing and changing devices and networks have already failed, do not keep repeating those actions.

2. If service status is normal

Try opening Outlook.com directly in a private browser window:

1. Open InPrivate in Microsoft Edge or Incognito in Chrome.
2. Go directly to: https://outlook.live.com/mail/
3. Sign in with one account.
4. Repeat separately with the other account.

If Outlook opens privately, clear the normal browser’s cookies and cached data for Microsoft/Outlook sites, then temporarily disable browser extensions such as ad blockers. These can interfere with Outlook.com loading.^3^

If both accounts still produce the same error in private browsing, this is unlikely to be an ordinary browser-cache problem.

3. Distinguish sign-in failure from mailbox failure

Try signing in to the Microsoft account itself:

• If the Microsoft account cannot be accessed, use Microsoft’s sign-in troubleshooter. Microsoft documents this route for Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live, and MSN accounts.^4^
• If account sign-in succeeds but opening the Outlook mailbox fails, contact Microsoft Support at: https://support.microsoft.com/contactus/

Select Outlook and Sign-in/Mailbox, then provide:

• The exact message: “Something went wrong—please try recommended action below—refresh application.”
• That refreshing has already been attempted several times.
• That it fails on phone, computer, and laptop.
• That it also fails over mobile data with Wi-Fi disabled.
• Whether both affected addresses are personal Outlook.com/Hotmail accounts or work/school accounts.
• When the problem began.

For a work or school account, contact the organization’s IT administrator instead; they can check the account and tenant-specific Microsoft 365 service health.

References

1. Fixes or workarounds for recent issues on Outlook.com | Microsoft Support
2. I can't access my email currently - Microsoft Q&A
3. outlook.com - Microsoft Q&A
4. How to sign in to Outlook.com | Microsoft Support