Outlook on the web error 500 ("Something went wrong"): how to fix it

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"Outlook error 500" is the generic HTTP 500 Internal Server Error that Outlook on the web shows, usually with "Something went wrong". It can come from a Microsoft service incident, a mailbox or licence problem, or a damaged browser session. Try a private window first, then check service health, then have an admin check the licence and whether Outlook on the web is enabled.

Applies to:Outlook on the web (Exchange Online / Microsoft 365)
On this page

What it means

Despite the name, this is not a numbered Outlook error code. The 500 is a standard web status: the Outlook on the web service tried to load your mailbox or sign you in, and something failed on the server side of that request.

Microsoft has no formal support article for "Outlook error 500". This page is built from Microsoft Q&A community threads (not official documentation, and neither one confirms a fix), third-party guides, and one Microsoft reference page for the admin setting involved. Treat the browser steps as common troubleshooting, not as Microsoft-verified fixes.

The cause can sit on either side: a Microsoft outage affecting many people, a problem with your mailbox or licence, or a damaged browser session. The More details section on the error page can help tell these apart. The classic desktop Outlook app does not normally show this error.

Symptoms and causes

You are likely dealing with this problem if:

  • Outlook on the web shows "Something went wrong" or a 500 page instead of your mailbox.
  • Under More details you see fields such as BootResult: fail, st: 500, ehk: X-OWA-Error or emsg: ErrorUnexpectedFailure, sometimes with an exception name.
  • Desktop Outlook, the mobile app or IMAP may still work while the web version fails (reported in a June 2023 incident thread).
  • A variant: a "Repeating redirects detected" page.

The usual causes, most common first:

Microsoft-side service incident
Outlook on the web has failed for many users at once during service incidents, for example EX610644 in June 2023. A community thread on that incident advised waiting for the incident to be resolved. Everyone affected sees it, in any browser and on any network.
Outlook on the web disabled for the mailbox
The exception OwaUserHasDisabledMailboxClientAccessException points to this. The OWAEnabled setting on the mailbox controls access to Outlook on the web.
Licence problem
The Exchange Online licence is missing, expired or unassigned, the Exchange service plan is switched off, or the mailbox is still provisioning after a licence change.
Browser or session problems
Third-party guides blame damaged cookies or cache, extensions, or several accounts signed in at once. Microsoft has not confirmed these as causes. For the redirect loop, some third-party guides also mention accounts with many admin roles; this is unverified.

How to fix it

Work through these in order. They start with the quickest, safest checks and move to deeper repairs; stop as soon as the problem is gone.

1.Try a private window, another browser or another device

Easy

If it works there, the problem is probably in your normal browser's stored data or extensions, not your mailbox.

  1. Open a private or incognito window in your browser.
  2. Go to https://outlook.office.com and sign in.
  3. If that fails too, try a different browser or a different device, then move on to the service health check.

2.Check whether Microsoft has an ongoing incident

Easy

If the service is down, nothing on your side will help. The community thread on incident EX610644 only advised retrying after the incident.

  1. If you are an admin, open the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to Health > Service health and look for Exchange Online advisories.
  2. If you are not an admin, ask your IT contact whether an incident is open.
  3. If there is an incident, wait for Microsoft to resolve it. Meanwhile, use desktop Outlook, the mobile app or IMAP if they still connect.

3.Clear site data for Microsoft sign-in and Outlook

Easy

Third-party guides suggest this when only your browser fails. It is a general troubleshooting step, not a Microsoft-documented fix for this error. You will be signed out of those sites.

  1. In your browser, open Settings > Privacy > Cookies and site data (exact names vary by browser).
  2. Remove stored data for outlook.office.com, office.com, microsoft365.com and login.microsoftonline.com.
  3. Close all browser windows, reopen the browser and sign in again.

4.Admin: check the Exchange Online licence

Moderate

A missing, expired or disabled Exchange plan leaves the user without a working mailbox in the browser. A moderator answer in a Microsoft Q&A thread on this error pointed at licensing, though the original poster never confirmed it.

  1. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to Users > Active users and select the affected user.
  2. Open Licenses and apps and confirm an Exchange Online plan is assigned and enabled.
  3. Under Billing > Your products, check that the subscription has not expired.
  4. After any licence change, allow some time for the mailbox to provision before retrying.

5.Admin: make sure Outlook on the web is enabled for the mailbox

Moderate

Microsoft's Set-CASMailbox reference says -OWAEnabled $false disables Outlook on the web for a mailbox. That matches the OwaUserHasDisabledMailboxClientAccessException error.

  1. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to Active users, select the user, then Mail > Manage email apps, and turn on Outlook on the web.
  2. Alternatively, in the Exchange admin center (admin.exchange.microsoft.com) go to Recipients > Mailboxes, select the mailbox and open its email apps settings.
  3. Or use Exchange Online PowerShell (replace the placeholder with the user's address):
    PowerShell
    Set-CASMailbox -Identity [email protected] -OWAEnabled $true

6.Fix the "Repeating redirects detected" variant

ModerateChanges settings

This variant is covered only by third-party guides, which suggest a stale session first and, if that fails, an account with unneeded admin roles.

Before you start: Removing admin roles changes what the account can do. Ask the tenant owner or your IT admin before removing any role, and note which roles were assigned so they can be restored.

  1. Sign out of Outlook on the web and any Office apps, close the browser, restart the computer and try again.
  2. If the loop continues, ask the tenant owner whether the account holds admin roles it does not need, and have them review and remove only those.

Check that it worked

  • https://outlook.office.com opens your mailbox without the "Something went wrong" page.
  • You can open a message and send a test email from Outlook on the web.

If it still fails

  • If many users are affected and service health shows no incident, or the licence and Outlook on the web setting both check out, contact Microsoft Support through the admin center.
  • Include a screenshot of the error, the correlation ID and timestamp from More details, the URL, and the user's licence and mailbox status.
  • If you use an on-premises Exchange server rather than Microsoft 365, 500 errors have different causes that this page does not cover.

Sources

  1. Set-CASMailbox (ExchangePowerShell)Official · Microsoft Learn
  2. Outlook Something went wrong Error (EX610644) (community thread) · Microsoft Q&A (community)
  3. Error "Something went wrong" - Status Code 500 when accessing Outlook/OWA (community thread) · Microsoft Q&A (community)
  4. How to Fix Outlook Error 500 · cloudinfra.net

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