Fixes or workarounds for recent issues on Outlook.com

ISSUE

Some customers are unable to send Outlook.com emails when using Outlook on their PC or Mac.

WORKAROUND

We are aware of the issue and are working on a fix.

Until then, please go to www.outlook.com to send your message.

ISSUE

Some customers are unable to open the Settings menu in Outlook.com.

WORKAROUND

If you are unable to open Outlook.com settings please click here.

Some direct links don't open at the moment - we're working on it!

ISSUE

Some customers are unable to sign out of Outlook.com.

WORKAROUND

Select https://login.live.com/logout.srf then close all browser windows.

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

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 seeing your email folders, check that they are not "collapsed" in the view. 

There is also an ongoing issue where some folders may no longer be visible in the Folders list.

WORKAROUND

1. Select > Folders to expand.
   
   

2. You can find items saved within the missing folders using search. We are aware of the issue and are working on a fix.

Read more about Working with message folders in Outlook.com

ISSUE

Some customers see an error message when they try to sign in with Safari on Mac:

Something went wrong
We can't get that information right now. Please try again later.
cId: 01234567890ABCDEF01234567890ABCDEF
app: Mail
st: 500
reqid: undefined
wsver: undefined
efe: undefined
ebe: undefined
et: ClientError
esrc: Bootstrap
err: TypeError: undefined is not an object (evaluating 'Owa.mail.bootstrapMailModule')

WORKAROUND

1. Ensure you have the most recent macOS and Safari updates. For more information on how to update macOS, go to Apple Support.

2. Use another browser.

If you're still unable to sign in, read How to sign in to or out of Outlook.com.

When viewing your sent or saved photos at https://outlook.live.com/photos, it seems like you are unable to delete the files or photos because there is no delete button. 

Outlook.com Files is another view of your mailbox, where only the attachments are shown, so you cannot delete just the attachment or photo without first deleting the email.

To delete the file or image, you must delete the source email.

For more information, read How to delete files or photos in Outlook.com.

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

Customers are currently unable to update their Microsoft Account names. An error message "Sorry, that name includes a word or phrase we don’t allow." is shown.

STATUS: FIXED

Please note that some names may still not be allowed if they contain blocked words or phrases. If you get an error when you enter your name, try a nickname instead. 

For more help, read how to Change the display name on your Microsoft account. 

ISSUE

Email sent from your connected account shows as being sent on behalf of your Microsoft account.

WORKAROUND

This is a known issue and will be fixed in a future release. Until then, you can change your From address to be the same as your primary Microsoft account alias.

For more information, read how to fix Outlook.com sends email "on behalf of" my email address.

ISSUE

Cleaning up a large number of duplicate or similar contacts does not work.

WORKAROUND

This is a known issue and will be fixed in a future release. Until then, you can still clean up contacts, but we recommend cleaning up in batches of fewer than 50 contacts at a time.

For more information, read how to Clean up or remove duplicate contacts in Outlook.com.

ISSUE

The last person to be a member of a Family Calendar is unable to unsubscribe or delete the Calendar.

PENDING

This is a known issue and will be fixed in a future release.

ISSUE

Some users are currently experiencing issues when reading email or composing new email when using Google Chrome with the AdBlock extension. 

WORKAROUNDS

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.

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 Office 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 Office 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.