What is TPM Error in Office 365, Causes & Fixes

When some users try to activate or sign in to Microsoft 365 applications, they may come across a TPM Error in Office 365. Such an issue mainly pops up when the computer’s TPM (Trusted Platform Module) chip cannot securely verify your login credentials.

Resultantly, the sign-in & security processes hang-up, preventing users from accessing or setting up their applications, thus disrupting their daily work. Here in this blog, we will be explaining what this error is, why it occurs, the manual fixes, and a professional email backup tool to safeguard data from vanishing.

Reasons Behind the Appearance of Such an Error

Imagine you are starting your workday by opening Outlook or Word, and you see an error message all of a sudden, which you do not understand. This mostly occurs after system updates, device changes, or due to security setting issues. Many people tend to face this issue when Office can’t verify device security correctly, which is exactly when such an error shows up.

Have you ever tried updating Windows and then Office 365 suddenly stopped signing in properly? Or is your Office showing some security message and refusing to open your mailbox? Here are some more related user queries:

Q: Why do I see a TPM error when signing into Office 365?
A: This occurs when your system’s TPM chip fails to communicate well with Office security services.

Q: Can this TPM error stop Office 365 from opening?
A: Yes! This error can prevent sign-in and even block access to your Office apps.

Comprehending the TPM Error Microsoft 365

The TPM error Microsoft 365 mostly happens when Microsoft can’t verify your device’s security chip. TPM happens to be a small hardware component that stores encryption keys. When something goes wrong, people see this Office 365 TPM error, or they even see numeric codes such as error code 2146893772. Often, the error even says there’s a problem with your device’s trusted platform module. This means that the Office can’t trust the device.

Statistics Showing the Commonness of This Issue

As per Microsoft’s Learn documentation & Windows security report, TPM-related sign-in errors amplified after Windows 11 adoption, as TPM 2.0 is now mandatory for Windows 11 security updates. Microsoft community support forums tend to report a large number of Office sign-in failures weekly that are mostly related to TPM authentication issues.

An Actual Corporate Case You Can Relate To

An experienced IT manager working in a startup firm had upgraded employee laptops to Windows 11. The very next day, many users faced this TPM malfunction error Office 365 while they were opening Outlook. All their work emails got locked, causing work delays. He said: “TPM issues usually come up after system upgrades or after account credential conflicts.” This clearly indicates the commonness of such an issue.

When Do People Most See TPM Errors in Office 365

People usually see this error in the following cases:

• After upgrading Windows.
• While switching devices.
• After changing the password for my Microsoft account.
• While enabling 2-factor authentication.
• During the Office reinstallation.
• While facing Office 365 device TPM problem.

Some Doable Manual Fixes for Office 365 TPM Error

You can try and fix the issue with some manual methods, some of which are given below:

Manual Fix 1: Try Clearing TPM from Windows Security

If the TPM chip itself has become malfunctioning, it can contribute to unrecoverable Office 365 device TPM issues. This fix can reset the security chip and usually resolves TPM error Office 365 issues.

Steps:

• First of all, open Settings >> Privacy & Security >> Windows Security >> Device Security.
• Then, select Security Processor Details >> Security Processor Troubleshooting.
• After that, select Clear TPM.
• Now, restart your system.

Pros:

• You can do this for free.
• This manual fix works for small issues.

Cons:

• This may be risky to do if encryption keys have been lost.
• This can lead to data access problems as well.

Manual Fix 2: Try Disconnecting & Re-Adding Work Account

If your device has not been fully registered with Microsoft Entra ID (which was formerly Azure AD), then the device TPM Office 365 issue will remain. Removing the Office account and then adding it once again might fix this trusted platform module error when opening office 365.

Steps:

• First, navigate to Settings >> Accounts >> Access work/school.
• After that, select disconnect your account.
• Then, restart your system to fix this TPM Error in Office 365.
• Now, select Connect to Join this device to Microsoft Entra ID.

This will result in restarting the device registration and quite hopefully clear the TPM error when signing into Office 365.

Pros:

• The steps are simple to perform.
• No tools are needed here.

Cons:

• Such a way might not be effective enough for severe errors.
• These steps take a lot of time to complete.

Manual Fix 3: Try Disabling TPM Temporarily (This is for Advanced Users)

Some people tend to disable TPM from BIOS to fix device TPM problem in Office 365. TPM settings, which are disabled, usually trigger this error.

Steps:

• First of all, reboot your machine by pressing F2/F10/Delete to enter the BIOS.
• Then, navigate to Security >> TPM Configuration.
• After that, set TPM 2.0 to Enabled.
• Now, save & reboot.

Once you have successfully enabled TPM, Office would re-establish secure hardware communication with your system.

Pros:

• This can fix stubborn errors.

Cons:

• This way might not be totally safe to do.
• Such a method isn’t recommended for non-technical people.

Software Features Kit

Here are some software features that will help you the most:

• This tool is highly useful for secure Office 365 backup.
• The software works even during authentication errors.
• This software tends to support multiple email formats.
• The original email structure would be always maintained.
• Simple interface design benefits even non-technical users.
• The software saves backups to local drives, hard drives, pen drives, or PCs.
• This is a pretty safe tool with advanced security & encryption technologies.

Dos & Don’ts to Follow

Following dos & don’ts will you in this process if you keep them in mind:

DO:

• Use a professional tool to backup Office 365 mailboxes.
• Remember to backup your emails before applying any security changes.

DON’T:

• Don’t forget to take the email backup for business-critical data.
• Ignore repeated TPM warnings.

Final Clarity

The TPM error in Office 365 is actually a quite common but serious problem that can immediately disrupt your work. But before trying any manual fixes, do backup your email data using a safe professional tool.

Key Takeaways

The key takeaways from the above blog are mentioned below:

• TPM errors tend to block Office 365 sign-in because of security chip problems.
• This issue is common after Windows updates and device/account changes.
• Manual fixes tend to include clearing TPM or re-adding work accounts.
• Advanced BIOS steps might help, but they involve great risk.
• It is highly important to back up Office 365 emails before troubleshooting, so better fetch a 3rd-party email backup tool to be safe than sorry!