Technical Difficulties: How March Windows Updates Disrupted Teams and OneDrive Sign-Ins

Windows 11 Update Causes Sign-In Issues Across Microsoft Apps

Microsoft recently announced that the March update for Windows 11 is causing sign-in problems with Microsoft accounts on various Microsoft applications, including Teams and OneDrive.

The issue arises after installing the KB5079473 cumulative update released by Microsoft as part of this month’s Patch Tuesday. According to a Windows release health dashboard update, affected devices will receive warnings indicating that they are not connected to the Internet.

Applications such as Microsoft Edge, Excel, Word, and Microsoft 365 Copilot are also impacted, displaying error messages for features that require a Microsoft account sign-in.

Microsoft stated, “Sign-in attempts will display an error message similar to ‘You’ll need the Internet for this. It doesn’t look like you’re connected to the Internet,’ even if the device is connected to the Internet.”

However, businesses using Entra ID (previously known as Azure Active Directory) for app authentication will not be affected by this issue.

While Microsoft is working on a fix, they have provided a temporary workaround. Users experiencing connectivity issues are advised to restart their PCs, as this may resolve the problem.

Microsoft added, “If you encounter this issue, restart the device while keeping it connected to the Internet. This should repair the device connectivity state and prevent the issue from occurring.”

It is important to note that restarting the device without an active internet connection may cause the issue to reoccur.

Since the release of this month’s Patch Tuesday updates, Microsoft has issued two emergency out-of-band updates for Windows 11 Enterprise devices to address Bluetooth device visibility issues and security flaws in the Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) management tool.

Additionally, Microsoft has provided guidance to resolve C:\ drive access issues and app failures on certain Samsung Windows 11 laptops. These issues are triggered by a faulty version of the Samsung Galaxy Connect (or Samsung Continuity Service) app.

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