Fixes or workarounds for recent issues on Outlook.com

Last updated: 12 May 2020

ISSUE

Some users may not be able to see the left folder pane. 

SOLUTIONS

1. Sign out of Outlook.com

2. Clear your browser cache. Learn how to do that for Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari.

3. Close all browser tabs and windows.

4. Sign in again at www.outlook.com.

ISSUE

We are aware that some users may not be able to get support in the Outlook.com Help pane when using the Safari browser.

WORKAROUND

1. In the Safari app on your Mac, choose Safari > Preferences > Privacy.

2. Uncheck Website Tracking: Prevent cross-site tracking.

3. Uncheck Always allow cookies: Block all cookies.

For more information, read Apple's guide to Manage cookies and website data in Safari on Mac.

ISSUE

We are aware that some users may not be able to receive email from Gmail accounts. We are investigating a possible problem.

WORKAROUND

Check that you have not accidentally blocked the Gmail domain when blocking one Gmail user.

1. Open your Blocked Senders list.

2. If Gmail.com is in the list, select the next to the entry and press Save.

ISSUE

Some users may not be able to empty their Deleted Items folder.

SOLUTIONS

• If you have deleted a lot of email, it may take some time for those items to move to or be deleted from the Deleted Items folder - leave the browser window open while the deleting takes place.

• If the email still fails to delete properly, select a smaller batch to delete.

• If deleted email comes back, it could be because you have deleted a lot of email recently. Please try again later.

ISSUE

Some customers may not be able to see their Profile, Account or Sign Out options when selecting their picture on the top toolbar.

WORKAROUNDS

Some Firefox users may be able to solve the problem by clearing cookies and site data. Learn how.

If not, you can access your Microsoft account Profile at https://account.microsoft.com/profile/.

You can see all other aspects of your Microsoft Account at https://account.microsoft.com/.

You can also Sign out manually then close all browser windows.

ISSUE

Some customers may experience a delay when trying to create a new email address, or alias, for their Outlook.com account.

RECOMMENDED ACTION

1. Please sign out of Outlook.com and close all browser windows.

2. Sign in to start using your new email address/alias.

ISSUE

Customers using the contact support buttons at the foot of the support pages, or the "email us" links in support Virtual Agent, are unable to open the Help Pane.

RECOMMENDED ACTION

1. Sign in to get Outlook.com support.

   Important: If you can't sign in, go to Account support.

2. Select the ? at the top of the Outlook.com window. Once you have signed in and have a browser window open, then the links will work.

3. Learn more about how to contact support when using the Help Pane.

Blocking an item already in your Junk Email folder won't delete it. If you're still receiving email from a sender you blocked, see Receiving email from blocked senders in Outlook.com.

Blocking someone doesn't stop their email from coming to your mailbox, but it does automatically move the message to your Junk Email folder where you can review it (in case it was blocked in error). 

Learn more about Receiving email from blocked senders in Outlook.com.

ISSUE

Some browsers will have problems loading emails, time-out or run very slowly if advert and pop-up blockers are enabled, specifically:

• AdBlock

• Ublock

WORKAROUND

1. Use Microsoft Edge or another web browser.

2. Exclude Outlook.com from the AdBlock settings. At the top right corner of Google Chrome, select AdBlock and then select Don’t run on pages on this domain. Refresh your browser to load Outlook.com again.

3. Remove the problematic ad-blockers by managing extensions in Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome. or Safari.

ISSUE

Certain add-ons in the Firefox browser may prevent your Outlook.com Inbox from loading.

WORKAROUND

Visit Firefox support to learn how to Disable or remove Add-ons.

ISSUE

If you are having issues sending email, this might be due to validation issues with your Microsoft Account.

WORKAROUND

1. Go to https://account.live.com/reputationcheck to validate your Microsoft Account.

2. Ensure your Microsoft Account profile is up-to-date and complete. Make sure you accept the Terms Of Use, if requested.

If you're still unable to send or receive email, read how to Fix Outlook.com email sync issues.

ISSUE

After connecting to Outlook for Windows (Outlook 2016, 2013, 2010 versions) to your Outlook.com email account, your may experience the following:

• Your email account name shows up as outlook_[long series of letters and numbers]@outlook.com in the Folder Pane and when composing emails using Outlook for Windows.

• Recipients will also receive the email from the sender with the outlook_[long series of letters and numbers]@outlook.com format.

• When recipients reply to the email, the email bounces and you may receive the message “Undeliverable message when you send Internet mail in Outlook.”

This issue only impacts customers using Outlook for Windows. Emails sent via Outlook.com on the web works correctly and emails will be sent with the correct email address.

STATUS

The Outlook client does not currently support using a non Microsoft domain primary alias. For the time being to get the account to work in Outlook you need to change the primary alias to a Microsoft domain account, such as @outlook.com or @hotmail.com.. The Outlook Team is doing work that will enable some supported use of aliases in the near future. We will update this topic as soon as the functionality is available.

WORKAROUND

This issue occurs for users with multiple account aliases. We are actively working on a fix. In the meantime, to fix this issue, please do the following:

Note: If you do not have another alias, click the link on the page to create one "Click Add email and a new alias". Then choose the option "Create a new email address and add it as an alias"

1. Go to https://account.live.com/names/Manage and sign in to your Outlook.com account.

2. Set your Outlook.com email as the primary alias.

3. In Outlook for Windows, remove and re-add the account. See the steps in this article: Add your Outlook.com account in Outlook for Windows

Last updated: February 8, 2017

ISSUE

If Outlook is connected to a primary Outlook.com account that is also connected to other secondary non-Microsoft accounts (such as Gmail, Yahoo, etc.), when sending an email in Outlook, you are not able to choose the other secondary connected account as the "From" sending account.

If you manually type in the secondary connected account email address in the "From" field, the email is sent as "On behalf of" your primary Outlook.com account.

STATUS: WORKAROUND

Outlook supports sending from a secondary connected account for Microsoft owned domains such as @outlook.com, @live.com, @hotmail.com but has not implemented this functionality for third-party domains.

The Outlook team is listening to your feedback and investigating adding this functionality to future updates. Please vote up the request and add any feedback on UserVoice: Option to make Microsoft Outlook 2016 work with Outlook.com connected. In the meantime, please use the following workaround:

WORKAROUND

You can also add the secondary connected accounts (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) in Outlook.com as additional accounts in the Outlook profile.

1. In Outlook, choose the File tab.

   

2. Under Account Information, choose Add Account.

   

3. On the Auto Account Setup page, enter your name, email address, and password, and then choose Next.

   Note: If you receive an error message after choosing Next, double check your email address and password. If both are correct, see the next section.

4. Choose Finish.

For more information, please see Outlook email setup.

Last updated: May 2, 2017

Currently, you can't use Outlook on Windows to edit calendars that are shared with your Outlook.com account, even if you've reconnected your Outlook.com account to Outlook. We're working to make it possible to edit shared calendars in Outlook 2016 for Windows.

To edit a shared calendar, go online to your own Outlook.com calendar, open Calendar for Windows 10, or use a mobile device. Read how to Add your Outlook.com account to another mail app.

Last updated: May 2, 2017

ISSUE

When you try to accept a shared Outlook.com calendar using your Microsoft 365 for business account in Outlook 2016, you might receive the "Something went wrong" error or your sign-in might fail.

STATUS: WORKAROUND

To access the calendar shared with your Microsoft 365 for business account, you’ll need to accept the invitation from Outlook on the web, iOS, or Android. If you've already clicked the Accept button in Outlook 2016, you won't be able to re-accept the invitation from another Outlook application. The person who sent you the invitation will need to remove your permissions and then send a new invitation.