I'm a new sysadmin and I've been facing an issue where some users are locking themselves out of their accounts. I've reset their logins after they forgot their passwords, but now, when they log in and change their password, Outlook is freezing and won't sync or connect properly. Is this a common issue? What might be causing it and how can I fix it? Should I delete their Outlook profiles and set them up again? If I do that, will it delete all their emails permanently?
5 Answers
It sounds like a classic case of cached credentials causing trouble. Try clearing the credentials stored in the Windows Credential Manager after the users log in. That often resolves issues with Outlook hanging unexpectedly.
If you're still having trouble, reboot their computers and then unlock their accounts. After that, let them log in. If they get locked out again, you might need to track down where an old password might be stored. Clearing the credentials manager should help too.
Sometimes, Outlook just takes a little time to catch up. If it seems frozen, give it a few minutes before panicking. If the issue persists, creating a new Outlook profile can help since their emails will re-download automatically. Just make sure to back up the NK2 file if needed!
To figure out why accounts are locking, check the security event logs on the domain controller. Sometimes it's due to old devices still trying to authenticate with expired passwords. That could be what's causing these lockouts.
You might want to check if they're on a hybrid setup with on-premises domain controllers and cloud email. There can be a delay in syncing when unlocking accounts. Try forcing a sync if that's the case, and see if that helps.
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