Fixes or workarounds for recent issues on Outlook.com (2024)

Last updated: 2 April 2024

ISSUE

Some users with Outlook.com country domains are not able to send email to Gmail accounts. The following message is returned:

mx.google.com:
Remote server returned message detected as spam -> 550 5.7.1 [[ IPAddress]] Gmail has detected that this message;is likely suspicious due to the very low reputation of the sending;domain. To best protect our users from spam, the message has been;blocked. For more information, go toWhy has Gmail blocked my messages?

WORKAROUND

Until the Outlook.com Team can address the issue use the following workaround:
Add an Outlook.com alias to your account and send email to Gmail users using that alias. For more information, go toAdd or remove an email alias in Outlook.com.

Last updated: 6 November2023

ISSUE - Error code 550 5.7.520 Message blocked

Some users may not be able to send emails that contain attachments from their Outlook.com mailbox.

STATUS: WORKAROUND

While we fix the problem, you can send the file as a OneDrive link.

1. Reply, Forward or createa new email message or calendar event.

2. Select Attach

   1. If the file is already in your OneDrive, chooseOneDrive.

   2. If the file is not in OneDrive, choose Upload and share.

      See Also

      What to Do If You're Having Trouble With Outlook.com

3. Pick the item(s) to attachand select Share link.

4. You can also useCopy link of an Office or OneDrive file or paste it into your email.

ISSUE

Some Safari users are unable to add email addresses in the Tosection, or cannot point the cursor in the Tofield.

WORKAROUND

Please update your Safari browser to version 16 or newer. See Apple supportfor details. Learn more about minimum browser requirements.

Last updated: 9August2023

ISSUE

Some users may notice duplicate contacts showing on Outlook.com.

This is caused by the Teams mobile app syncing your device contacts folder.

STATUS: FIXED

To help you get rid of these duplicates, we have released a fix which will automatically clean up your contact list. This fix will clean up duplicate contacts for end users starting August 9, 2023. Rollout of the fix to all users will take few weeks, so, some users may see the fix applied by the end of September.

This fix will also lead to a reduction in the total number of contacts on your contact list. We will ensure that all information is retained and only contacts with matching information in all fields will be cleaned up. No action needs to be taken for the fix to be applied. To check ifyou have received the fix, reviewyour contact list to confirm duplicates have been removed.

Last updated: 4May 2023

ISSUE

Some users may notice duplicate contacts showing on Outlook.com.

This is caused by the Teams mobile app syncing your device contacts folder.

STATUS: WORKAROUND

Microsoft has released a Windows Hotfix file to remove the contacts folder synced by the Teams app.

To help fix the problem, downloadContactsCleanup.exeto your Windows PC and then follow the steps below.
Download

1. Open the Teams app on your mobile device.

2. Click on your profile iconHomeand navigate toSettings and People.

3. Turn off sync using the “Sync my device contacts” toggle.The device contacts in Outlook will be deleted within a few hours.

4. If you still see device contacts and duplicates, run the downloaded file to start cleanup.

5. Enter your personal Microsoft account email address and hit return.

6. SelectYesto the sign in prompt “Let this app access your info?"

7. Return to the command window and enter “1” and press return to start cleanup.

8. Select the number which corresponds to the mobile devicewhich has Teamsinstalled,and hit return. This should be the same device as used in steps 1-3.

9. Once complete, press any key to close the Contacts cleanup window.

Last updated: 11 July 2022

ISSUE

We are aware of an issue where the arrows to help navigate between emails are missing or have moved.

WORKAROUND

• Check the toolbar ribbon for the up and down arrows.
  

• Use theReading Pane, which allows you to click to select the next/previous email.

• Don't double-click to open an email, just click once which keeps theInboxdisplayed, allowing you to go back.

Last updated: 10 November 2021

ISSUE

We're aware of an issue where some users see the error message"Your message can't be displayed right now".

STATUS: WORKAROUND

To resolve this, please clear your browser's cache & cookies:

• View and delete browser history in Microsoft Edge

• Clear cache & cookies in Chrome

• Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Last updated: 25 October 2021

ISSUE

We have recently received some reports of users who are experiencing issues with subscribing to .ics/ical calendars.

STATUS: FIXED

The Outlook.com team has confirmed that this issue has been fixed.

Note:We wantto re-affirm thatOutlook has no plans to deprecate its supportfor .ics/ical calendars, holidaysor professional sports team schedules.We know that the ability to add calendars to view all eventsis an important scenario for our customers.

Last updated: 6 October 2021

ISSUE

Some customers may not be able to insert GIFs from the Insert Emojis and GIFs button.

STATUS: PENDING

We are aware of the issue and are working to release a fix as soon as possible.

You can always downloadyour favorite GIFs and then Insert pictures inline.

Learn more about adding and inserting images.

Last updated: 7 December2020

ISSUE

If you access your Outlook.com account through the iOS Mail app, you may be repeatedly asked to enter your username and password.

STATUS: WORKAROUND

We recommend using theOutlook for iOS app instead.

Get the app

Last updated: 10 November2020

ISSUE

Users with Outlook.com accounts are seeing emails they delete from the Inbox reverting back to the Inbox.

STATUS: INVESTIGATING

The Outlook Team is investigating the issue for a fix. We will update this article as soon as we have more information on a fix.

In the meantime, if the emails being reverted are coming from connected accounts you may be able to go to the Inbox of the originating account and delete the email to workaround the issue. For example, if you have a Gmail connected account, go to Gmail.com and delete the email from there.

Last updated: 7 September2020

ISSUE

A recent change to the Family Calendaralso removed some functionality that allowed the calendar to be viewed as a shared calendar in other applications like the Windows 10 Mail app and the Outlook desktop app as well as some third party apps.

WORKAROUND

None of theevents or information was lost in the move to the new calendar. The Family group calendar now appears in theOutlook.com groups area in the left nav on Outlook web and in the groups area of the Outlook mobile app. It is also added to your favorites automatically.

Learn more about using the Family Calendar in Outlook.com.

Last updated: 12 May2020

ISSUE

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

SOLUTIONS

1. Sign out ofOutlook.com

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

3. Close all browser tabs andwindows.

4. Sign in again atwww.outlook.com.

ISSUE

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

WORKAROUND

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

2. UncheckWebsite Tracking: Prevent cross-site tracking.

3. UncheckAlways 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 yourBlocked 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 theDeleted Itemsfolder - 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 athttps://account.microsoft.com/.

You can alsoSign out manuallythen closeall browser windows.

ISSUE

Some customers may experience a delay when trying to create a new email address, or alias, for theirOutlook.comaccount.

RECOMMENDED ACTION

1. Please sign out ofOutlook.com and close all browser windows.

2. Sign into start using your new email address/alias.

ISSUE

Customers usingthe 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 getOutlook.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'tdelete it.If you're still receiving email from a sender you blocked, seeReceiving email from blocked senders in Outlook.com.

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

Learn more aboutReceiving email from blocked senders in Outlook.com.

ISSUE

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

• AdBlock

• Ublock

WORKAROUND

1. Use Microsoft Edgeor another web browser.

2. Exclude Outlook.com from the AdBlocksettings.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 inMicrosoftEdge,Internet Explorer,Firefox,Chrome. orSafari.

ISSUE

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

WORKAROUND

Visit Firefox support to learn how toDisable 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 adding an email account to Outlook for Windows (Outlook 2016, 2013, 2010 versions) you may experience the following:

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

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

• 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 can occur when you register a 3rd party email address (e.g., an email address that is not Outlook.com or Hotmail.com) for your Microsoft Account and don't use Outlook.com for sending and receiving email.

If you typically use an Outlook.com account for email, this issue can occur if there are multiple aliases on the account and the 3^rd party email address is the primary alias. Please see the ALTERNATIVE WORKAROUND section below.

WORKAROUND

Set up your account manually as an IMAP or POP account in Outlook.

1. Close Outlook

2. Use Windows Key + R then type “outlook /profiles” (omitting the quotes) in the Run window and hit “OK” Note: There is a space between outlook and the forward slash (/)

3. In the launched “Choose Profile” box, select Options > New

4. Type a new, unique profile name and select OK

5. ChooseAdvanced options>Let me set up my account manually.

6. Enter your account password, then chooseConnect.

7. If setup fails, selectChange AccountSettings. Update the account information with the one you received from your email provider or from thePOP and IMAP server name referencetopic. Choose Connect then then select Done.

8. In the Choose Profile window, select Set as default profile and select OK.

ALTERNATIVE WORKAROUND

Switch your alias to an Outlook.com or Hotmail.com account.

Note: If you do not have another alias, select the link on the page to create one. Choose Add email and a new alias and then choose the optionCreate a new email address and add it as an alias.

1. Go tohttps://account.live.com/names/Manageand 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. To learn more about how to provide feedback, see How do I give feedback on Microsoft Office. 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.