After the latest round of Office 2013 updates, some IMAP users are reporting their Inbox is not listed in their profile, is empty, or their IMAP accounts aren't syncing.
This is the result of the November 12 2013 updates, KB2837618 and KB2837643. In addition to the IMAP problems, Outlook may crash shortly after it starts, users with Exchange 2007 mailbox may have problems setting out of office replies, retrieving free/busy or using add-ins (such as Lync) that use the SMTP address property, due to problems with autodiscover.
If the only problem is with an IMAP account, I don't recommend uninstalling these updates as they add some IMAP improvements and you'll have a better IMAP "experience" with these updates installed. If Outlook is crashing or you use Exchange 2007, you'll probably want to uninstall the update.
If you have custom folders created in Outlook, confirm they are synced up to the server before changing the root folder. When you change the root folder, Outlook re-syncs the mailbox and folders that have not synced up will be lost if you don't have a backup copy.
There are two possible fixes for IMAP accounts. The first, and preferred, method is to add Inbox to the IMAP root.
Set a Root Folder
To do this, go to File, Account Settings and double click on your affected IMAP account. Click More Settings button then switch to the Advanced tab.
In the Root folder path field type Inbox. Exit the dialog and perform a send and receive. (If the Inbox is not your root folder, setting Inbox as the root won't work, as it will hide all of the other folders.)
If that doesn't work, try disabling the option to show only subscribed IMAP folders.
Show only Subscribed Folder
Right click on the IMAP Inbox folder and choose IMAP folders. At the bottom of the dialog is an checkbox for When displaying hierarchy in Outlook, show only the subscribed folders. Remove the check then close the dialog to return to Outlook. Click Send and Receive.
If the IMAP account still doesn't work, Outlook is crashing, or you connect to Exchange 2007, you need to uninstall the updates or revert to an earlier build of Office 2013.
If you are using a click-to-run version of Office 2013, follow these steps to roll back:
First, disable Updates:
- Start Word.
- Click File, and then click Account.
- In the Product Information column, click Update Options, and then click Disable Updates.
Go to Microsoft Office 2013 Click-to-Run virtualization to find the previous version number.
In the Start search field in Windows 7 or on the Start screen in Windows 8, type cmd. Right click on it on choose Run as Administrator.
If you have Office installed in a 32-bit version of Windows, type or paste this in the command prompt window:
cd %programfiles%\Microsoft Office 15\ClientX86
If you're using 64-bit version of Windows, use this command line
cd %programfiles%\Microsoft Office 15\ClientX64
Type or paste this command to revert to the previous product update, replacing the nnnn with the version number you want to revert to:
officec2rclient.exe /update user updatetoversion=15.0.nnnn.nnnn
Press Enter to begin the uninstall process.
Uninstall updates for volume licensing installations
To uninstall Office 2013 Volume licensing updates or Windows updates from Control Panel's Program and Features. Click on View Installed Updates, locate the update(s) and uninstall.
Ryan MVP says
I suggest the following workaround, which is simpler to put into practice than the proposed one and, most importantly, has a 100% success rate (at least until now – and we had to pull it off quite a lot ):
During its startup phase, Outlook should automatically retrieve all the IMAP messages from the configured mail accounts from the mail server, reconstructing the .ost files that we moved earlier. The whole procedure could last a few minutes or even a few hours, depending on the connection speed and/or the number of messages to be recovered. The good news is that the messages will be retrieved in order of arrival (from the most recent to the least recent) in the background, thus allowing us to work immediately with Outlook without having to wait for the conclusion.
As soon as the download/reconstruction process is completed we’ll just have to confirm that all the messages have been recovered: once done, we can safely delete the BACKUP_yyyyMMdd folder created previously.
jpn says
Work fine for me (Outlook 2016)
Thank you
Michael Van Dam says
Sorry for the typo "now" two problems fixed!
Michael Van Dam says
This website is awesome - no two problems fixed due to your detail.
Edgar says
Diane @ I create a new pst file and the *.pst file "Set as Default"
move person folder to new *.pst file. and withholding of folder is hidden.
You now what is solution.
Diane Poremsky says
I'm not sure i understand the problem. Is it the issue here - https://www.slipstick.com/developer/code-samples/change-outlook-folder-type-export/ ?
Heather says
Hi Diane, I have been using Outlook 2013 for a while with terrible syncing issues. E-mail never syncs automatically and sometimes when I do send/receive it just hangs. When it finally syncs, it pulls down the last 3-4 hours all in one shot. (I've adjusted all the settings for this already).
Here's my MAIN PROBLEM ...
I just tried adding "inbox" to the root directory and when i went back to outlooks, all of my sub-folders are gone (all of my work related folders, sent mail, junk, etc.). I tried removing inbox and going through that process again, but all of the folders are still not displaying. I checked the IMAP folders directories and see them all there - I clicked on the subscribed tab and they are all listed there as well.
So it seems like they are THERE, just not displaying in the folder list. I could use some help trying to retrieve this. Thanks, Heather
Diane Poremsky says
The folders are there - setting Inbox as the root just changes how outlook displays them. Have you closed and reopened Outlook? That should fix it.
Heidi says
I was having an issue with my outlook folder not syncing to the server (outlook correct, imap was 'behind' and not showing the folder). I typed INBOX into the root folder box and my Outlook reverted to the server. Now a whole folder of emails is gone, and removing 'inbox' from the root folder path does not help. Do you know if there is a way I can recover my emails?
Ron Olson says
Thanks for the Outlook tips.
I use Outlook 2013 and have multiple accounts connected including Yahoo IMAP.
I have many folders/subfolders sometimes going four levels deep. The structure was started in Yahoo (before IMAP) but expanded in Outlook. I noticed recently that while some Outlook created folders were in Yahoo/web, some were not. And vice versa.
I did the right click/IMAP Folders on my Yahoo IMAP top level folder, and enabled "When displaying hierarchy in Outlook, show only subscribed folders".
This successfully added some folders/subfolders created in Yahoo/web to show up in Outlook.
However, there were folders in the same IMAP hierarchy that showed up only in Outlook. Those have disappeared (along with the mail in them).
I did almost all my folder/subfolder structure in Outlook, so I know many of them do show up in Yahoo/web.
Any idea how I can get access to the folders/emails that no longer show up?
Thanks
Jeff says
I have Outlook 2013 with two inboxes, one in small letters with a capital "I" (Inbox) and a second inbox beneath, but not a sub-folder, in all capitals (INBOX). Root folder path: (says) INBOX. I have duplicate emails, folders and sub-folders. Please help!!
Diane Poremsky says
if you remove inbox from the root folder path, what happens? Did your mail provider tell you that you need inbox in the root path?
Michael says
I add Inbox as the root and now my Sent folder is gone and many other folders have been removed. How do I get these back? Where are they? Can I retrieve them locally? I removed the Inbox as the root, restarted Outlook and my folders are still gone. Please help!!
Diane Poremsky says
They should have come back when you removed it from the root. If you aren't using Outlook 2013 or 2016, close Outlook, go to %localappdata%\microsoft\outlook (paste that in the address bar of windows explorer) and delete the imap data file then restart Outlook. If you use 2013 or 2016 and have calendar, contacts or tasks folders labeled 'this computer only' export the contents of those folders before deleting the data file. This will rebuild the imap folder and should fix it.
The other possibility is that the folders were set to not sync with outlook - right click on an imap folder, choose IMAP folders.... click query and verify the folders are subscribed.
Geoff Chadwick says
remove office 2013 (outlook 2013) and install office 2010 (outlook 2010)
outlook 2010 uses PST files for your mail, in the outlook 2013 you will find outlook uses PST and also OST to cache your mail this is where the trouble is.
Diane Poremsky says
When you switch versions, you'll go back to the 'old' profile as they are not shared between versions. If a new data file is needed, outlook will create it. However, if you have anything in the calendar, contacts, or task folder labeled 'this computer only' you need to export them before switching versions otherwise you will lose those items.
Duncan says
Hi Diane, I have a client using IMAP Office 2013, they have created a search folder for unread mails, after opening an unread mail and closing it reverts back to showing unread, any ideas, thank you
Diane Poremsky says
Is the message in it's storage folder staying marked as read and only the search folder not showing the correct status?
Petri L says
This problem persists in office 2016.
Mike says
Diane,
Have this issue with Outlook 2013 Sent folder only retains emails for 30 days. Some emails I would like to have for 90 days to reference back to except they are gone. Using IPhone with IMAP account thru Comcast, any thoughts.
Diane Poremsky says
That is a Comcast thing - if you want to keep the sent mail, you'll need to archive the sent mail - move it into another folder or into a pst file. AFAIK, you can't change the settings in the Comcast account but check the account settings online to see.
Per-Ola says
You can set the Comcast mail to "Never" delete mails in the Inbox or Sent folders. Go to your Comcast Web mail, look under "Preferences" for "Email Deletion Schedule".
Still, local backup is always good. Peronally I back up all sent mail on an annual basis in a specific .pst file that only contains "sent" stuff.
John says
Hi
I was having an issue with my outlook folder not syncing to the server (outlook up to date - server very out of date). I typed INBOX into the root folder box and my Outlook reverted to the server and now seems to have lost thousands of emails. Do you know if there is a way I can recover my emails?
Thanks
12stevenic says
DID not work, lost all folders, still hung
bangsi says
Fantastic solution!!!!
Thanks a million as even my IT techies having serious headache dealing with this and until this morning, there are no solution provided by them.
I'll share this with them for reference and knowledge sharing!!!
Again, fantastic solution guys!!!
Happy Eidul Adha for those celebrating, like me.
Jerram says
I hope the following helps some people, as I found the Outlook 2013 IMAP sync issue rather annoying.
The above actions seemed to help somewhat, however, it wasn't until I added the IMAP account into it's own send and receive group (even though it was the only account) that the Outlook 2013 sync issue seems to have resolved. See (https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2013_release-outlook/outlook-2013-imap-doesnt-sync-automatically/bb791e16-e67e-432c-a1de-f392c033d374?auth=1).
Enjoy.
Victoria says
How do I undo this action?
It deleted a lot of emails that I need back, and now I can't delete emails I no longer need.
Diane Poremsky says
Which action did you do? If you added a root folder, go back in to the dialog and remove the folder name from root, close the dialog (using the Ok buttons to get back to outlook) then restart Outlook if necessary.
Howard says
If that doesn't work, try disabling the option to show only subscribed IMAP folders.
Right click on the IMAP Inbox folder and choose IMAP folders. At the bottom of the dialog is an checkbox for When displaying hierarchy in Outlook, show only the subscribed folders. Remove the check then close the dialog to return to Outlook. Click Send and Receive.
this worked instantly for me!!!!!
Erica says
Thank you so much. I could not find any other information online that was a clear and concise as yours...and not only that, it fixed my issue. I have been working on this all day and wish I would have come across this page sooner! Thank you again!
Glen Martin says
Diane,
Just wanted to say thanks for the info. I had an issue that just started with Outlook 2013 (MS Office Pro Plus V15.0.4569.1506) on Windows 7 (all fully patched), set up with Gmail using IMAP. I had just installed the June 2015 Windows / Office updates and rebooted, and I could no longer delete e-mails in my Gmail account from within Outlook. I could delete them from Gmail (for example, using the web interface) and they would delete in Outlook.
I only made one change suggested above (set the root folder to Inbox in my Gmail IMAP account settings), and now it works! Didn't have to reboot or even restart Outlook.
Thanks!
Krista says
I did post a fuller description on OutlookForums but my desperation leads me to summarize here.
Outlook 2013 (Win 8.1 PC). One (of 5) IMAP accounts is suddenly no longer syncing (other 4 are fine - 3 Gmail, 1 Hotmail). The broken account runs on the Outlook.com platform (so the rooting is not the solution). It is long past the KBs of Nov '13 so I figure that is ruled out? System restore points failed. "Repair" O2013 either failed or did nothing (can't be sure it happened). Delete and recreate Account does repopulate the right Folder headings - but they do not fill/sync (some get a few emails but then stop syncing entirely).
Do you have any other ideas? I'm not even sure how to uninstall and reinstall O2013 if that is the only suggestion - what does one do with those .ost and .pst files? Delete them and let them be made anew?
I'm desperate for any help. Thank you for your time.
Gregg Wysocki says
I tried this fix for the IMAP account and it was successful. However, I have a question. Do I now have to leave the "Automatic Updates" set to "OFF"? Am I going to, from here on out, have to run this version of Outlook 2013? And, what about the other Office products? Will I never be able to update them again? Or is there a way to isolate the updates that cause the problem and install all others and then go back to "Automatic Updates"?
Diane Poremsky says
You should be able ot leave the setting on at this point in time - but if an update causes problems, we recommend leaving auto updates off for a couple of months or so, to give microsoft time to fix the problem and release the update.
Omar says
You are BRILLIANT. THANK YOU
Gary says
GMail IMAP issues in Outlook 2013 and synchronization taking extremely long. Has MS come up with a fix yet since the Nov updates? Just wondering because I had a business client today who was extremely upset and began experiencing these problems last week.
Diane Poremsky says
No, as far as I know, it hasn't been fixed yet. How large is the mailbox? Is the Sync slide set to all? (That seems to be faster.)
If the problem started last week, it's probably from a windows update, but I have no idea which one would be the culprit.
Ragnar Hanas says
It is a Swedish provider, fsdata.se. I have 67000 emails in the inbox after having moved a similar number to a pst file. I had no problems with even larger number of emails in Outlook 2010. Drafts have been behaving strangely since the first installation. If I delete an open draft emai, I often get the error message that Outlook cannot find the mail. Several versions of the same email in different stages of editing are left in the Draft box after sending an emai.
Ragnar Hanas says
I have tried all the above solutions without success. My problem is that the inbox suddenly one day stops downloading emails. It does synchronize, but nothing is added to the inbox. Other folders synchronize fine. If I setup a new account with the same details, it nicely starts to synchronize and download emails to the new inbox, beginning with the most recent ones. It seems lika a ost file size issue. Mine is close to 12 Gb, but this should not be a problem as I understand from other posts. I am using IMAP with Exchange and W8.1, and a pst file with old emails connected. I also have other problems with Outlook 2013, like draft emails not being saved properly, and not being deleted after the email is sent. I looked for the KB mentioned update, but it did not seem to be installed on my computer. No problems at all with Otlook 2010. I did a fresh install of 2013, not an upgrade. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Ragnar
Diane Poremsky says
Who is your email provider? How many messages are in the inbox? I know there are issues with drafts in Gmail accounts but I thought it only affected gmail.
Thomas says
Try this as it works for me.
Click on Send/Receive Groups and Define Send/Receive Groups, Edit...
Choose your Imap account, click on Use the custom behavior defined below and Inbox
Drew Lambert says
Hi - I have Microsoft Professional Plus 2013. When i paste the above into windows explorer - it comes back as nothing is found.
Diane Poremsky says
Is that a C2R install? You don't use that method to uninstall updates from the MSI version. You just need to go to add & remove programs and uninstall updates.
Drew Lambert says
when i type cd %programfiles%\Microsoft Office 15\ClientX86 in the command prompt window - it comes back and says "the system cannot find the path specified".
Diane Poremsky says
what office suite do you have installed? Is Office at that location? If you paste %programfiles%\Microsoft Office 15\ClientX86 in the address bar of windows explorer, does it open the folder?
daniel@duoconn.com says
Thanks for the good tip. Your way solved My outlook 2013 receive and send issue
Thomas Ste Marie says
This was an Exchange account and not an IMAP. I did a little checking and i believe the issue was with the CNAME on our website and needed to update the autodiscover. Not sure why it wasn't affecting the 2010 Outlook clients but it did take care of the issue. Thank you so much for your reply though
Thomas Ste Marie says
I am having issue with Outlook 2013 receiving emails from Office 365. have it set up as a exchange account so I'm not sure the IMAP is the issue. I have two accounts that this just started happening to on July 10th so I know the issue is with Microsoft... I also have a new account with 2013 that won't set up the email account at all. Please someone, anyone have any suggestions?
Diane Poremsky says
On the new account: what type of email account is it and what happens when you try to set it up?
If you are using auto account setup, the exchange accounts are set up as Exchange accounts, but you can verify in File, Account Settings - the account type is listed to the right of the account name.
Graham says
Not sure why some installations seem to work, then all of a sudden never do again. I have been told by a local Microsoft partner that the security patches have fixed a security problem in Outlook 2013 and Microsoft consider the resulting chaos with IMAP synchronisation to not be their problem. Nothing to fix, over to the email server providers. The email providers rightly point out that they can't have anything to fix as their platforms are stable - its a Microsoft problem. So - deadlock.
I have tried numerous suggestions to fix the "broken" installations but once the synchronisation becomes a problem that seems to be it. Will try removing and "hiding" the patches, but as we all know, at some point MS will re-issue them and we'll be back to square one.
Diane Poremsky says
Disable automatic updates - you can skip a few months. Check the kb articles to see what each months update cover then decide if you want to try it again.
JT says
I just tried your solution by adding "Inbox" and my Outlook 2013 first crashed and then does not want to launch any more. It seems to be in a continual mode of "loading profile"
Would appreciate your input.
JT
Diane Poremsky says
Go to Control panel, find Mail (use the search field) and open it. Assuming this is your only profile or default profile, click Email Accounts then double click on your email account then More Settings and remove Inbox.
Who is your imap account with?
JT says
Thanks. It worked but now I can no longer see the folders under my main email account.
All this is because I've been experiencing freezing of outlook with my IMAP email and delays in synchronization when I click on the "send/Receive" email and it has delays. It seems to be working better with clicking on "sync folders" but outlook still seems to be "temperamental" to say the least. I saw your suggestion for creating a .psd but I am not sure I got right since when I do that I no longer see folders.
Thanks for the assistance.
JT
Diane Poremsky says
Did the problems start following an update earlier this month? If so, you need to uninstall the update.
Steps are at https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2770432
Nick says
Thanks. I'm having to do a complete reinstall after a Windows crash so I'll try 2013 again, though without much confidence! As a matter of interest are Microsoft aware of the severity of the IMAP problems?
Diane Poremsky says
They know there are issues with IMAP. I'm not so sure they really understand imap though, it's been a problem in every Outlook version.
Nick says
Diane, I abandoned Outlook 2013 for Outlook 2010 in the hope that Microsoft would fix the IMAP unreliability in 2013, and i am now thinking of returning to 2013. But HAS Microsoft taken to heart all the grief that the 2013 release has caused and have they re-engineered the way it handles IMAP?
Diane Poremsky says
I wouldn't say "reengineered", but they have made some "improvements". Whether they address your issues, I can't say. You can install Office 2013 C2R (all Home and most business suites are C2R) along side Office 2010 and see if the things that didn't work for you were fixed.
David Worton says
It's a disgrace. I am thoroughly unimpressed with Outlook 2013. The email client was so much better in older versions of Office; the new interface is all over the place. I'm fed up with digging through obscure tabs and so called "advanced" buttons for essential functions which could have been consolidated into a single logical account editing entry form. Auto discover doesn't work even with Exchange on older versions of Exchange Server (just about excusable I suppose, but then at least make it easy for me to configure manually). Can't get to my work account at all, although all technologies are Microsoft. Email delivery for IMAP is possible but unreliable and this is THE core function (I know the servers are fine 'cos I get my emails on my iPad and eventually I get them on Outlook - maybe but who can tell when or why). Frankly I'd be better off with web mail. This is just a very, very, very poor release which ought never to have been let out of the testing suite....
Diane Poremsky says
What version of exchange do you use at work? Outlook 2013 supports 2007 and newer.
How frequently is outlook checking for new mail?
Daniel M. Gold says
Take a look at the inexpensive product AddInTools for Office. It restores the old XP style menus. No more ribbons/tabs!
Diane Poremsky says
The ribbon is actually easier, once you get used to it.
MichaelO says
I can get my gmail messages but they are 12-24 hrs behind when they appear on Gmail. I've tried both the fixes through Outlook suggested here and they haven't worked. When I went to the KB2837618 page, it was pretty depressing to see all the things that can go wrong. . .plus then you install another update. . .then maybe you have to edit the registry. Good heavens. There ought to be a lemon law for software. . .imagine buying a car without a steering wheel or engine. . .that's what this is like--an email server that can't get instant communication emails for, well, who knows how long?
Jacque says
Thank you so much! You are a lifesaver! I had no problem after installing 8.1 and purchasing Office 365 until just a few days ago....then I stopped receiving emails for two of my five accounts that Outlook checks....couldn't figure it out until finding your post. THANK YOU!!! It's working now!
Ana says
Thank you -- the second method worked for me. "Right click on the IMAP Inbox folder and choose IMAP folders. At the bottom of the dialog is an checkbox for When displaying hierarchy in Outlook, show only the subscribed folders. Remove the check then close the dialog to return to Outlook. Click Send and Receive."
Ana
Mike Shephard says
I just upgraded to Office 365 and Outlook 2013 is exhibiting all of the lockup characteristics with my GMail account that have been so widely reported.
The KB updates you mention above aren't installed on my laptop. I've tried the amendments you recommend and none have worked. As you say, setting Inbox as the Root Folder hides all of the other folders.
Outlook continues to lock up every 5 to 10 minutes whilst synchronising a folder - it just freezes and permanently shows 'Synchronising xxxx'. I actually have to restart Outlook every 5 to 10 minutes to retrieve my emails.
To rub salt into the wound, I missed an important email yesterday which caused me serious embarrassment with a potential customer.
Since Office2010 worked fine with GMail and Office2013 doesn't, I think it's obvious where the problem lies. I really don't care whether it's a configuration issue or a bug that needs fixing - there must be thousands of IMAP email users who are affected by this.
Microsoft - we need a solution NOW.
m00tpoint says
Thank you! You just ended a hair-pulling bout of frustration! Too bad Microsoft apparently hasn't fixed these problems 5 months after you posted.
pgm554 says
There were these same bugs reported in October of 2013 and there were hotfixes and work arounds.
I spent hours on the phone with M$ for these exact same issues then.
And then they spacked and brought back the same bugs again.
Are these folks just plain stupid or what?
I just spent another couple of hours uninstalling 13 and backreving to 10 for a customer
My customer accidentally accepted the patches that I had nixed for 13 and it broke imap again.
Maybe Nadella should get his head out his @ss and quit wasting our time by constantly breaking the same things over and over.