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Microsoft Outlook 2016 is buggy on Firefox but not Safari?

Louise_Dudis
Louise_Dudis
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Mac OS 10.13.3. Microsoft Outlook 2016 is buggy on Firefox but not Safari. 1. When creating a new email and trying to add the Subject, the email disappears and Outlook returns to the Inbox. 2. After clicking on an email in the Inbox: the email appears but scrolling is disabled; the arrow does not turn into a hand; if I click anywhere in the email it closes and returns to the Inbox. I don't have these problems on any other websites. When using Safari I have none of these problems with Outlook. Thanks for your help. Louise

Mac OS 10.13.3. Microsoft Outlook 2016 is buggy on Firefox but not Safari. 1. When creating a new email and trying to add the Subject, the email disappears and Outlook returns to the Inbox. 2. After clicking on an email in the Inbox: the email appears but scrolling is disabled; the arrow does not turn into a hand; if I click anywhere in the email it closes and returns to the Inbox. I don't have these problems on any other websites. When using Safari I have none of these problems with Outlook. Thanks for your help. Louise

All Replies (1)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 25 Contributor
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Sorry, yes, there is a problem in Firefox 58 with outlook.live.com and outlook.office365.com.

Summary of the Problem

When you hide the "Reading Pane", Outlook displays messages in front of the Inbox. There is some strange behavior that seems to start after the second or third message is opened (if you close between messages).

Areas of the message that are in front of (or on top of) sender name or subject line text in the Inbox do not react normally to the mouse; instead, it seems like the mouse is operating on the lower layer. So if you click in that area, Firefox will select the message under the mouse pointer in the Inbox instead of clicking text or a link in the message.

The mouse scroll wheel similarly appears to scroll the Inbox when the pointer is over those same problem areas, which is why when you click to try to move the focus into the message you may end up in the lower part of the list.

So weird. I filed a formal bug report yesterday.

Workarounds

These are the ones I know of at the moment:

(1) If you have a wide display, you could try using the Reading pane on the right side of the Inbox.

(2) Switch to the Outlook beta layout by sliding the "Try the beta" switch that appears above the Inbox. You'll be able to switch back equally easily if you don't like it.

If you don't like the Reading pane or beta layout:

  • To navigate the Inbox, open the first message you want to view, then use the up and down arrows above the message instead of closing and opening.



    Obviously there will be times you need to close the message, so that only gets you so far.
  • When the problem appears, you can use Zoom to correct the mouse behavior in the displayed message (Command+ or Command+ or hold Command and scroll the mouse wheel; on Windows, it's Ctrl instead of Command). This is only good until you close the message and open the next one, so works best in conjunction with the previous suggestion.