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Troubleshooting Blank Legal Update Emails

Emily Caldwell avatar
Written by Emily Caldwell
Updated yesterday

Quick Summary:
If your legal update email appears blank in Outlook, try viewing it in your browser or mobile app. If it displays correctly there, update Outlook to the latest version. Most issues are fixed by updating or disabling add-ins.

About This Update

As of October 2025, the way legal update emails are delivered has changed.

You now have full control over your notification settings directly within the SixFifty app. This update allows you to:

  • Choose the states you want to receive legal update alerts about.

  • Customize the frequency of notifications—immediate, weekly, or monthly.

This ensures you only see the information that’s most relevant to your organization.

💡 Note: Only users with access to Research can receive legal update notification emails. These email digests are built from Research > Legal Update entries

Known Issue: Blank Emails in Outlook

Since this update, a small number of users have reported receiving blank legal update emails, most commonly when using Microsoft Outlook.

Our team has been investigating this issue, but so far, we’ve been unable to reproduce it within Outlook ourselves. It appears to be a display issue within certain Outlook environments. We’ve ensured every digest also includes a “plain text” version of the content, which should display even when the HTML view does not.

Outlook Blank Email Troubleshooting Guide

Step 1: Try Viewing the Email in Outlook Web or Mobile

If your legal update email appears blank in the Outlook Desktop app, try opening it in one of the following alternative methods. This helps determine if the issue is specific to your desktop version of Outlook.

Outlook Web App (OWA)

  1. Open your web browser

  2. Navigate to https://outlook.office.com or your organization's webmail URL

  3. Sign in with your email credentials

  4. Locate and open the email that appeared blank in desktop Outlook

  5. The email should display correctly in the web interface

Mobile Device

  1. Open the Outlook app on your phone or tablet

  2. If not installed, download from App Store (iOS) or Google Play (Android)

  3. Sign in with your email account

  4. Navigate to the email that appeared blank

  5. The email should display correctly on mobile

✅ If the email displays correctly on web or mobile but remains blank in the desktop app, the issue is most likely related to your Outlook Desktop setup. Use the directions below to update your Outlook Desktop app.

How to Update Outlook

  1. Open Outlook

  2. Go to File > Office Account

  3. Click Update Options > Update Now

  4. Let the update process complete

  5. Restart Outlook

Step 2: Try Outlook Safe Mode

Safe Mode disables all add-ins and custom configurations that might interfere with email display.

Steps to Start Outlook in Safe Mode:

Using Run Command

  1. Close Outlook completely

  2. Press Windows Key + R to open the Run dialog

  3. Type outlook.exe /safe and press Enter

  4. If prompted, select your Outlook profile and click OK

  5. Once Outlook opens in Safe Mode, check if the problematic emails display correctly

If Safe Mode Works:

If emails display correctly in Safe Mode, the issue is likely caused by an add-in.

Follow these steps to disable add-ins:

  1. In Outlook (regular mode), go to File > Options > Add-ins

  2. At the bottom, select "COM Add-ins" from the dropdown and click Go

  3. Uncheck all add-ins and click OK

  4. Restart Outlook normally

  5. If emails now display correctly, re-enable add-ins one at a time to identify the problematic one

Step 3: Other fixes to try

Clear Outlook View Settings

  1. In Outlook, navigate to the folder containing blank emails (usually Inbox)

  2. Go to View tab

  3. Click Reset View in the Current View group

  4. Click Yes to confirm

  5. Close and restart Outlook

Repair Office Installation

  1. Close all Office applications

  2. Open Windows Settings (Windows Key + I)

  3. Go to Apps > Apps & features

  4. Find Microsoft Office in the list

  5. Click on it and select Advanced options or Modify

  6. Choose Quick Repair first (doesn't require internet)

  7. If issue persists, try Online Repair (requires internet connection)

Check Email Format Settings

  1. In Outlook, go to File > Options > Mail

  2. Under "Compose messages", check the format (HTML, Plain Text, or Rich Text)

  3. Under "Message format", ensure "Read all standard mail in plain text" is unchecked

  4. Click OK and restart Outlook

Disable Hardware Graphics Acceleration

  1. Go to File > Options > Advanced

  2. Scroll down to the Display section

  3. Check "Disable hardware graphics acceleration"

  4. Click OK and restart Outlook

Create New Outlook Profile

  1. Close Outlook

  2. Open Control Panel > Mail (or search "Mail" in Windows)

  3. Click Show Profiles

  4. Click Add to create a new profile

  5. Follow the setup wizard to configure your email account

  6. Select "Always use this profile" and choose the new profile

  7. Open Outlook with the new profile

Check Windows Display Scaling

  1. Right-click on desktop and select Display settings

  2. Under "Scale and layout", ensure scaling is set to 100% or 125%

  3. If set higher, try reducing it

  4. Sign out and sign back in to Windows for changes to take effect

Disable Cached Exchange Mode (If Using Exchange)

  1. Go to File > Account Settings > Account Settings

  2. Select your Exchange account and click Change

  3. Uncheck "Use Cached Exchange Mode"

  4. Click Next > Finish

  5. Restart Outlook

Still having trouble?

If the issue persists, please contact your CSM or our support team at support@sixfifty.com, and include the following information:

• Outlook version: File > Office Account > About Outlook

• Windows version: Settings > System > About

• Error messages: Any specific error codes or messages

• Add-ins list: File > Options > Add-ins (screenshot the list)

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