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Important Windows 10 patch fixes Office bugs

A new Windows 10 update includes fixes for some Office related bugs for Word, Excel and Outlook.

The patch is called KB4568831 released July 31, 2020 .  It’s for the latest Windows 10 May 2020 release (aka ‘2004’ or ‘Build 19041.423’).

It’s a large update which fixes many different Windows 10 bugs.  During the lockdown, Microsoft suspended their usual monthly non-security updates. KB4568831 represents a resumption of the Windows 10 bug fix or non-security patches.

What caught our eye are some Word, Excel and Outlook related bugs that this Windows 10 update fixes.  Microsoft’s explanations are …

  • an issue that might cause the Magnifier to stop working in Microsoft Excel in certain scenarios. As a result, Microsoft Excel might also stop working.
  • an issue with pasting mixed content of images and text from Microsoft Word into Internet Explorer.
  • an issue that prevents you from using sharing functionality in Microsoft Office. This occurs when Conditional Access is enabled.
  • an issue with File Explorer’s preview of .msg files when Microsoft Outlook 64-bit is installed.

Microsoft doesn’t say which versions of Office are affected. Almost certainly Office/Microsoft 365, possibly Office 2019 and perhaps earlier versions.  This is an important point that should be clarified by Microsoft.

Magnifier is the Accessibility app to help people see the display and read aloud parts of what’s on the screen.

Get the update

Windows Update should install the update automatically, a restart may be required.

To check if the patch has been installed go to Settings | View update history and look for KB4568831 under ‘Quality Updates’ (Microsoft’s latest euphemism for bug fixes).

The direct patch download is available here.

Problem caused by the update

Microsoft admits to a problem caused by the new update and that involves Excel.

“When using some apps, such as Microsoft Excel, users of the Microsoft Input Method Editor (IME) for Chinese and Japanese might receive an error, or the app might stop responding or close when attempting to drag using the mouse.”

See KB4564002 for more details and, hopefully in time,m a fix.

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