Microsoft 365 - Troubleshooting and Data Required to Open a Case

Audience: IT Administrators

This document will provide some common troubleshooting steps, required case information, and additional tips to use as an IT admin when working with an end user experiencing issues. Having the information already gathered will ensure efficient service will be provided by help desk staff and Office 365 support team.

When contacting the Help Desk:

• Provide as much detail as possible.
• Include screenshots when applicable (this comes in useful especially when errors are appearing).
• Let them know all symptoms or any error messages.
• Provide exact steps to reproduce the issue.
• Include any troubleshooting already completed.
• Include your workflow and the current steps being used to accomplish this.
• Date/Time the issue occurred.

Some common troubleshooting steps the Help Desk agents will look for:

• If the issue is occurring in a browser, were cache and cookies cleared and the browser restarted?
• Was another browser tried (or several browsers)?
• Was an incognito or private tab attempted?
• If the issue has to do with login, can the user log into other services with the credentials, such as MyUW?
• If the issue is with a service account access, it's crucial to know how the service account is being accessed
  • If in the web, via direct login with service account credentials, or via "linked login" or "open another mailbox" via NetID credentials
  • if in Outlook, via auto-mapped account, or via separate configuration?
  Have the account's permissions been validated in the Wisc Account Administration site?
• If the issue is occurring in Outlook
  • Has a new profile been configured/tested?
  • Has Windows Updates (if applicable) been run and all Microsoft updates installed?
  • Has Outlook been updated to the newest version (essentially, for either Windows or Mac)?
  • Can the issue be replicated via Outlook on the web.

We do have a document that has some additional troubleshooting tools that we use, either to try to fix things, to gather more information for us, or to gather more information for Microsoft, should a case need to be opened: Microsoft 365 - Troubleshooting Options.

The case information the Help Desk will request is as follows:

• Customer’s NetID:
• Email address(es)/accounts experiencing the problem:
• Contact email address (if unable to use Office 365):
• Error message (if applicable) with exact wording and/or screenshot:
• Provide step by step instructions on how the problem can be replicated (please provide as much detail as possible):
• Can the issue be replicated by someone besides the affected user:
• Troubleshooting steps performed already:
• Type of access (OWA, desktop client, mobile client):
  • --If OWA:
    • Browser and version (IE 11, Firefox 36, Chrome 41, Safari 6):
    • Operating system and version (Windows 8.1, Mac OS X 10.9, Linux 14):
  • --If desktop client:
    • Client and version (Outlook ProPlus, Outlook for Mac):
    • Operating system and version (Windows 8.1, Mac OS X 10.9, Linux 14):
    • Configuration protocol (Exchange):
  • --If mobile client:
    • Operating system and version (Windows 8 phone, iOS 9):
    • Connection protocol (Exchange, Office 365, Outlook.com):
    • Outlook for iOS/Android version (Outlook for Android v 2.0.57):
• If issue is with desktop client of Outlook
  • Attach screen shots of authenticated/configured account(s) screen: see attachments
  • Can the issue be replicated within Outlook on the web client?

See Also:

• Microsoft 365 (Windows/MacOS) - How are Office applications (Outlook/Word/Team, etc.) authenticated/configured?
• Microsoft 365 - What version of Microsoft Office/Outlook am I using?