A user was trying out the new Office 2016 and ran into a problem. He wanted to configure his Exchange account manually, by entering the server names, but Outlook 2016 doesn't have that option for Exchange accounts:
I recently upgraded to Office 2016 from Office 2013 and the Exchange account wouldn't work. I deleted it from my profile and went to add it back. However, under "Add Account" there is not an option to set up an Exchange account. There are only two options: 1) Outlook.com or Exchange ActiveSync compatible service or 2) POP or IMAP. The Microsoft Exchange Server service option is missing. Why is it missing and how do I add my Exchange account to my profile?
This is the new Outlook 2016 dialog for manually adding an account.
Exchange accounts can only be added to Outlook 2016 using auto account setup (even with the new dialog, above). If autodiscover records aren't published, your administrator will need to publish them so Outlook can find the account.
This is a change from Outlook 2013. If you want to use Outlook 2016 with an Exchange account, you'll need to let Outlook set the account up automatically.
Test for Exchange connectivity issues at Microsoft Remote Connectivity Analyzer
Tools
Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant is a new tool that helps users troubleshoot and fix issues with various Office 365 apps and services. The app diagnoses common Outlook issues like account setup, connectivity issues, password issues, or Outlook stops responding or crashes. To identify the root cause of these issues, the app runs checks such as: Checks licenses, Verify users' credentials and that Office 365 servers are reachable, Checks for updates to Outlook clients, Checks authentication, Network checks, Protocol checks | |
The Priasoft AutoDiscover Testing Tool is a great free utility for testing and reviewing AutoDiscover for both Office 365 and Exchange On Premise. Using our solution you have full control to test responses as different versions of Outlook, without Outlook required to be installed! Extremely helpful when you have a mix of Outlook clients you are supporting in your environment. Free. |
If you are upgrading from Outlook 2013 and your Exchange account wasn't moved to the new profile, you might be able to restore the old profile. This method does not work 100% of the time, but it takes only minutes to try.
I recommend deleting any Outlook 2016 profiles of the same name or renaming the profile before adding this key to the Outlook 2016 profiles.
- Right click on the Start button and choose Run.
- Type regedit in the Open field and click Ok.
- Browse to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\Profiles - Right click on your profile key and choose Export.
- Find the .reg file you just exported (default location is in Documents)
- Right click and choose Edit to open it in Notepad.
- Go to Edit, Replace or press Ctrl + H
- Find \15.0\ and replace with \16.0\. Find and Replace the profile name if desired.
- Save and close.
- Double click to run and add it to Outlook 2016's Profiles.
If this is the only profile you have, open Outlook. Otherwise, go to Control panel, find Mail and set Outlook to ask which profile or set this profile as the default.
Do not disable MAPI over HTTPS if you are using Office 365 Exchange Online.
If your Exchange Server does not have MAPI over HTTP enabled, you'll need to set a registry key to disable MAPI over HTTP. This will cause Outlook 2016 to fall back to RPC over HTTP.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Exchange DWORD: MapiHttpDisabled Value: 1
If you don't want to edit the registry, you can use this ready-to-use registry file: MapiHttpDisabled
Connection tab is Missing
After the account is automatically configured in Outlook, the connection tab is missing. Why?
It's not needed when you use MAPI over HTTP as Outlook "talks" to the Exchange server over HTTPS.
Autodiscover is slow
If Outlook is slow finding the autodiscover records, you may need to tell Outlook to exclude the root domain or other records.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\AutoDiscover\ DWORD: ExcludeHttpsRootDomain Value: 1
The other records you can exclude, also under the Autodiscover key are as follows. Use a value of 1 to enable, delete the key if you no longer want to exclude these checks.
DWORD: ExcludeScpLookup DWORD: ExcludeHttpsAutoDiscoverDomain DWORD: ExcludeHttpRedirect DWORD: ExcludeSrvRecord
Create a local Autodiscover.XML File
If your company doesn't publish autodiscover in DNS, you can try creating an XML file. Paste this into notepad and save as autodiscover.xml. Don't forget to change the domain in redirecturl. A sample file is here.
redirectUrl https://autodiscover.domain.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml
Next, edit the registry to add an autodiscover reference:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\AutoDiscover REG_SZ: domain.com Value: C:\path\to\autodiscover.xml
Now try adding your account to your Outlook profile using Auto Account Setup, entering your name, email address and password. If the Exchange server is properly configured, your account will be configured in Outlook automatically. Note: you'll get a redirect warning and may need to supply your username and password twice.
If the Exchange server is not properly configured, you'll need to create an autodiscover.xml containing all of your account information. If you have access to a computer with Outlook 2013 or older, you may be able to use the autodiscover file it used.
Type or paste %localappdata%\microsoft\outlook in the address bar of Windows Explorer to open Explorer to the folder where the autodiscover file is stored. It will be named something like this: 9a2b291a2545a44e9fa74ac13aad98c2 - Autodiscover.xml. Copy it the folder you entered in the registry, delete the previously created autodiscover file and rename the copy to autodiscover.xml. A sample autodiscover.xml for my Office 365 account is here. You can try editing this XML but will need your LegacyDSN.
If this doesn't work, your administrator will need to properly configure the server.
Gary Leventhal says
I can not open outlook 2010. I get the error message "Microsoft Exchange is Unavailable. Outlook must be online or connected to complete this action." I understand from reading that my email somehow got switched to the exchange version incorrectly. I have seen guidance on how to fix this problem in more current versions of outlook but not in outlook 2010 which does not seem to offer anything other than the opportunity to add an email account (not to edit and existing one). I assume if I delete my current account and add it back all the associated file folders in outlook will be lost, which would be a disaster for me. Any suggestions for solving this problem would be appreciated. Thanks
Gary
Ron Kauffman says
Hello,
To assist users with creating Outlook rules or looking at the end-users mailbox, our Help Desk staff would give themselves full mailbox access via the Exchange console. Once they do this, they are able to create multiple mail profiles in Outlook 2010/2013. Yet with Outlook 2016, we can't do this even having full mailbox permissions.
We are still an Exchange 2010 environment.
Is there a workaround?
Thanks
Ron
Ron Kauffman says
BTW, the issue is not the initial setup of the Exchange mailbox account. It's adding additional mailbox accounts without having to enter user credentials since they have full mailbox access.
Thanks
Ron
Diane Poremsky says
You are adding it as an account and trying to sign in with your own address / password? When you get to the password page, there is a link for 'Sign in with another account' - click it in enter the correct address and password.
Dale L Birmingham says
I cannot get the "more choices" or the "use another account" when setting up Outlook 2016 on a domain with a Windows 10 Pro notebook. It just asks for "username@domain.com and password. How do I get the prompt to "use another account" or "more choices"? I am connecting to an Exchange 2010 server. DNS is good, autodiscover is good (at least it passes on testing remotely) Outlookanywhere is enabled, EWS in IIS is enabled for Windows Authentication. I can't seem to find any answers searching for the prompt. It the prompt would allow me to use DOMAIN\username then I know it would work.
Diane Poremsky says
After you add the address and get to the password page, click the link to sign in with another account
Dale L Birmingham says
It never shows up. Just says "save credentials", no more prompt for more choices. I was able to add the account once, deleted it, now cannot get that prompt back for that particular email addy. I can do others and the same thing happens as well. This happens on and off the domain with Outlook 2016. Tried all the registry hacks to no avail.
Lubabalo Ntoni says
Somewhere in Africa, the local Autodiscover.xml file did it. You, sir...are a genius!
Jeff Henderson says
Thank you so very much! This page was priceless. Worked all day yesterday on one of our remote employee's laptop (Dell Latitude 5220 running 32-bit Windows 7 Pro), trying to recreate her Outlook account with Office 365 Outlook 2016 and our corporate (SavvisDirect) hosted Exchange server 2010. Kept getting an EAS error, endless password request loop, etc. Made the "ExcludeHttpsRootDomain" registry entry yesterday without success.
Expecting continued fruitless efforts today. However, landed on this page and downloaded the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant for Office 365 program linked above on the laptop, and after a few minutes it had the employee's account properly configured! Literally astonishing. Would recommend folks having this problem start by using the program noted above, May help you to avoid a lot of registry work. Thanks again, Diane!
Marv says
Having an issue getting 2 Office 365 email profiles working on one Windows 10 PC with Outlook 2016. Setup the first profile / email account successfully when the newly installed Outlook 2016 first started up, account synced perfectly. Then went to Control Panel, Mail (Microsoft Outlook 2016) (32 bit) to add the second profile but have had no luck getting autodiscover to find the account. I've tried all the registry fixes including successfully setting up the second account on a PC with Outlook 2013 and then copying the autodiscover.xml file created to the uncooperative PC and editing the registry to point to it. Any suggestions?
Diane Poremsky says
do you get any error messages?
Dave says
I just wanted to thank you for this page. It's the only one out of 30 or so I tried that assisted me with my Outlook 2016 vs Exchange 2010 mail profile setup crash. Autodiscovery was more than slow, it unfailingly crashed with a "Windows Common Shell dll not working" message.
Spurred on by your info, I finally pinned it down to our local internet proxy settings. Adding autodiscover.ourdomain.com to our proxy server exceptions list solved this problem. This hadn't been previously necessary for Office 2003, 2007, 2010 or 2013 on our domain. Much relief!
Deb says
Hi Diane, I recently purchased a godaddy package and it included MS365. I created a new email and deleted 2 emails...1 was aol.com which is my main email, but I never used/read email from outlook application so we deleted aol. I had no idea doing that would delete my entire on the computer only outlook. My email of course has repopulated, but I can't find my contacts which i desperately need. I hope I didn't delete everything and it is hiding somewhere on my computer. I have 2013 outlook and run WIN10. I've used online software recovery and they said the file was corrupted. Thank you in advance for your help.
Diane Poremsky says
do you have a copy of the aol imap data file? if you have a copy of the data file, you can recover the calendar & contacts using ost to pst software. When the account is deleted, it deletes the data file, so you'll need a backup copy if you have one. Windows deleted file disk recovery software might be able to recover the file - its stored in %localappdata%\microsoft\outlook
Deb says
In my outlook file there are many files including ost, pst, bak, bitrecover.pst. bak file is 6million kb. I went to kernel and also used another company which did free trial and they said if my calendar/contacts weren't in there...they were corrupted and they couldn't recover them with their software but maybe someone else could. I don't remember which company I used that recovered some of them which is why I think they're in my computer somewhere. I am on disability and have memory issues so it's critical to retrieve my contacts. I did a system restore a few days earlier than when this happened on the 30th on October, but that didn't help. I called MS and they remoted in and told me the MS store could help as they had tools and all I needed was to bring my thumb drive in. That was incorrect information. They couldn't help without my hard drive.So appreciate any help you can pass on. Thanks, Diane!
Diane Poremsky says
Sorry I missed this earlier. My experience on this: "I went to kernel and also used another company which did free trial and they said if my calendar/contacts weren't in there...they were corrupted and they couldn't recover them with their software but maybe someone else could." is that is they can't recover the missing folders, they either weren't in that data file or cannot be recovered.
>> I don't remember which company I used that recovered some of them which is why I think they're in my computer somewhere. I am on disability and have memory issues so it's critical to retrieve my contacts.
If they were recovered, they'd be in a pst file.
On the ms store, i'd be surprised if they could help, even with the disk drive. They don't know Outlook all that well.
Bruno says
Since Microsoft has implemented this new account addition dialog box (v1707/1708) that when I add a new exchange account, I will always ask for the password without ever accepting it. When I cancel, it gives an error and says that there was a problem and could not configure the account. Someone can help me? I'm desperate. I have the same problem on all my clients.
Diane Poremsky says
Do you have auto discover records set? Which version of exchange do you use?
Willem says
"This is the new Outlook 2016 dialog for manually adding an account"
Microsoft is constantly working to make your pages outdated within months ;-). In our case (v 1708 with O365 Business qtr) it doesn't even show the selection of account types on first attempt, it just asked for the email address. In the next step it made the wrong choice: it went to accounts.google.com. That's where our MX-record pointed to until we changed the DNS settings for Office 365 a week ago. The O365 Admin panel said we passed all DNS tests.
With a manual selection of the account type we got it working.... a bit. But when using Outlook, users got pop-ups from Windows security to enter their password all the time, and it wouldn't accept the correct password.
The ExcludeHttpsRootDomain setting you mentioned above cured all this. Thanks!
The connectivity analyzer for Office 365 > Outlook autodiscovery stills says "The Microsoft Connectivity Analyzer failed to obtain an Autodiscover XML response." for our domain. But as long as our Outlook works, we're happy.
Diane Poremsky says
Yeah, these frequent changes are killing me. :)
Monteiro says
Hi Diane,
After setting up an Exchange 2010 account on Outlook 2016, it keeps prompting for the password. Beside that I can receive/send emails even if it still keeps asking for the password.
Other thing I just noticed is that the message in the older versions was "connectig to the "server", now it says connecting to "user@domain.com"
Is there any workaround for this issue?
Diane Poremsky says
Sorry I missed this earlier. Are you still having problems? One of the recent update should have fixed this (assuming the cause was the same).
If S/R works, it doesn't sound like the password dialog is for your mailbox.
Joe Kay says
Hi Diane,
I have been looking for the solutions to this problem of Outlook 2016 just kept going to my onsite server, no matter what I did on the server, ie remove the autodiscover and close the exchange, outlook would just get the info from the onsite server. You simple registry fix sorted the problems, so a very big thank you :)
Göran says
Hi Diane,
I don't have a problem with auto discovery, but my Outlook 2016 Crashes every time after I add a second Office 365 Exchange Account!
I can add it using auto discovery, then I restart Outlook and it works fine, but the second time I try to start Outlook, I only get error messages, like "Unable to access your profile" or something similar.
I've tried everything: de-installing and re-installing Outlook and Office 365, purging all saved files from Outlook on my PC, even hidden ones, and wait for Outlook to download the Office 365 Exchange Account data again to my PC; all with the same result.
This I've tried on 3 different PCs, all with Outlook 2016, Office 365, Win10.
Do you have an idea what causes this?
Many thanks in advance!
Diane Poremsky says
is this a company computer? So adding it the first time works? After it is added, look at the account settings - what is it using for the server and username? does the username have smtp= in front of it?
Göran says
No, it's not company computers. And yes, adding it the first time works. These are all hosted exchange accounts on Office 365, E3 Plan.
My standard account always works. As soon I add another account Outlook asks you to close and restart. This works the first time and I can see the second account and Oultook start to sync all the data with the Exchange Server, adding an .ost File.
However, the next time I try to start Outlook it doesn't work and I need to use that little program for Mail Setup to delete the account, so Outlook can start again (you know the little app where you can edit your Email Accounts, Outlook files and Profiles).
Alas, I can't say what my Account is using for the server and username, as it is a standard hosted exchange accounts on Office 365 by Microsoft. The setup is automated so I never have to bother. I don't have any smtp= in front of my username - it's just my email address with my own domain name.
Diane Poremsky says
>> Alas, I can't say what my Account is using for the server and username, as it is a standard hosted exchange accounts on Office 365 by Microsoft.
in this case, it's an Https url (this replaces a server name with mapi over https). I'll look into it.
Grisel says
Hi Diane,
In the company we used Office 365 but we decided to change to Office 2016, and when configuring the mail we have the problem because we have the two options: email account and manual configuration or types of additional servers, in this last option we have 3 options: Office 365, POP or IMAP, Exchange ActiveSync. I understand that we should configure it with IMAP, but it does not accept the incoming and outgoing servers.
When we try with the first option: "Email account" we only enter name, email account and password, and i can read the emails.
But I think this is not the most optimal way, since the mail arrives with difficulty and does not update as it should. We do not have exchange server.
Diane Poremsky says
When you use auto account setup, what type of email account does outlook create - pop3 or imap? If IMAP, does it use the same servers you tried to use when you manually configured it?
Did you change the port # under More Settings when you did it manually? do you get any error messages?
Thyogo says
Hi Guys,
I have a win8.1 VM with VPN that I only use to access outlook (2013). All works fine only when connected to VPN but since I'm just using it for mail I wanted to find options so the odd thing comes now:
Outside VPN (in the VM) or in my phisical machine (win10) I can apparently connect to the exchange server (through an alternative RPC proxy and Exchange server link I was provided by the company) but not through outlook (tried 2010, 2013 and 2016). Here are some tests I did:
- Using the manual settings in https://testconnectivity.microsoft.com/ I can sucessfully connect
- Using the manual settings in Microsoft Connectivity Analyzer I can sucessfully connect
- Using EM client just with the /ews/exchange.asmx works perfectly
- Using different outlook versions, in different PCs and variations of configurations here in proposed I don't manage to put it working.
Aditional notes:
- AutoDiscovery is only available when connected to VPN, so I already tried the local XML trick but not luck. Account is created fine but then when I restart outlook it gives that error complaining about the OST file (which is 0 bytes)
- The RPC proxy server is different from the actual exchange server
Any ideia or hint?
Thanks
Alec says
Hi Diane,
I started using a new laptop with Windows 10 Enterprise and Office2016 Pro provided by my company. The Exchange server I used previously with Windows 7 Pro Office 2013 is the same and everything went rather smooth.
Now I have miss two features I appreciated:
- hovering over the messages the delete icon appeared (now an unmovable menu appears on the right of thr reading pane)
- in the bottom line the information about the connection to the Echange Server was displayed and this was handy when using Internet connections.
Can you please clarify if Outlook 2016 has this features?
Thank you in advance,
Take care, Alec
Rich says
Can you provide insight into how I can get Outlook 2016 to use a manually created autodiscover.xml file on a Mac? Your instructions above were tailored to windows and editing the registry file. Sorry, I forgot to indicate that I was trying to do this on a mac in my last post.
Mike Hall says
Hi Diane,
I have a similar problem to others here, but can't seem to extract a solution from answers that you've already given:
My MS account was originally set up with a non MS email address, but I have since added an xyz@outlook.com alias to facilitate setting up Outlook 2016 desktop with full exchange functionality.
I'm using Outlook 2016 with another, (Fastmail), IMAP mail provider, and wish to use outlook.com/exchange as my calendar & contacts database. I can set up the IMAP mail service OK, and if I add an xyz@outlook.com account then calendar & contacts also sync correctly. All is well!..... but.....within 24 hours I find that if I try to reply to any mail sent to my Fastmail IMAP account then the default 'from' address is "OL_123456778@outlook.com" (or something very similar) rather than my Fastmail address as it should be. The only way I can get this to work correctly is to add my outlook account as an EAS account, which you don't recommend as it will be deprecated later next year.
Do you have any other suggestions at all Diane?
Many thanks
Mike
Diane Poremsky says
The fastmail mail is in its own data file, correct? There is a bug where the outlook.com account hogs all replies. Microsoft is aware of it but i don't know what the resolution will be or when. If there are no aliases, Outlook works as expected.
Mike Hall says
You are correct - The fastmail IMAP has its own .ost data file and outlook does too. The Fastmail a/c has the black 'default' tick under the email tab, and the outlook account has the default tick under data files.
It's good to know that it is a known problem, so I guess I'll just keep using EAS until the Outlook bug is fixed or EAS is deprecated, (whichever comes first!).
George Aslanidis says
Hello Diane,
solution with local xml file, worked fine to me.
Thank you!!!
mark says
can you tell me which part I need to change in the file? where the file shall be storred?, sorry I am beginner in this thing.
Diane Poremsky says
See https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/exchange-account-set-up-missing-in-outlook-2016/#autodiscover - there is sample XML file to download -change the url for autodiscover to the correct one for your server. You can put it anywhere - you need to edit the registry, adding the path to the xml file.
Pierre de Grenoble says
Hello Diane,
I can see in slightly different dialog box than the one you attached for adding an account. My options are:
1. Office 365
2. POP or IMAP
3. Exchange ActiveSync
As my Outlook.com account has been recently migrated It to the Office 365 infrastructure, it looks like my new "Office 365" option would refer to it and that the "Exchange ActiveSync" one would refer to any other EAS compatible service.
So the former option "Outlook.com or Exchange ActiveSync compatible service" would have been split in the two ones above for migrated accounts.
Am I right or was this new dialog introduced by an update of Outlook 2016 (Office 365 Family subscription)?
Thanks in advance to clarify.
Diane Poremsky says
they changed the dialog a couple of builds ago. They really need to re-word it to say "office 365 or outlook.com" (and may, once the migration is finished). It's still auto-account setup - you need to enter the email address and password.
Diane Poremsky says
BTW >> So the former option "Outlook.com or Exchange ActiveSync compatible service" would have been split in the two ones above for migrated accounts.
Not really, just renamed. They left that in for the accounts on the old server - after all are migrated, they'll remove it in an update and sometime later, block Outlook from connecting with EAS (because it's not well suited to Outlook - the native exchange service is 1000X better). On the Office 365 business side, EAS is not an option but they tuyrned it on for outlook.com accounts to make the migration easier for end-users.
Astrud says
I have my own domain email set up as a connected and primary account in Outlook.com. And I had my Outlook 2016 client using EAS until Microsoft's migration to Exchange hit me this week. So I read another post that Diane made that I could add a CNAME for autodiscover.outlook.com on my domain and also add a registry entry on my laptop under Autodiscover Redirect Servers for autodiscover.mydomain.com. I made these changes and they appeared as if it had worked perfectly - the autodiscover worked and Outlook said the account had been set up successfully - but I had to close and re-open Outlook. But upon re-opening Outlook I get the error "The name cannot be matched to a name in the address list." and then "Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window. The set of folders cannot be opened." I am getting desperate to try to get this issue resolved - any input would be greatly appreciated.
(I have also used Microsoft's Remote Connectivity test and it comes back successful with warnings - The Autodiscover service was successfully contacted using the HTTP redirect method. But Attempting to test potential Autodiscover URL https://moxleyconsulting.com:443/Autodiscover/Autodiscover.xml
Testing of this potential Autodiscover URL failed. Testing TCP port 443 on host moxleyconsulting.com to ensure it's listening and open.
The specified port is either blocked, not listening, or not producing the expected response.
But I'm not sure whether this is relevant or not to my particular error)
Diane Poremsky says
Sorry I missed this earlier. Is it still not working? It can sometimes take 24 hours or so for everything to catch up.
You can still use EAS to connect - it's not as robust and you'll have all outlook features if the account is setup as exchange mailbox - but it will work. The other option is an outlook.com alias to set the account up in outlook if autodiscover doesn't work.
Brian says
If the reg file is used to revert to RPC, will this enable Connection\Exchange Proxy settings options or will only autodiscover still be used?
Diane Poremsky says
the Connection dialog is gone - you need to use autodiscover. Using the reg uses settings used by outlook 2013 if you autodiscover doesn't work.
Christine says
windows 10 outlook 2016 suddenly not working. Unable to open it. Says it can't open/can't open set of files. failed. I can't open it safe mode. Suggestions?
Diane Poremsky says
Are there updates waiting to be installed? If so, install and reboot. Is this with your outlook.com account? If so, was the account moved to the new server right before the problem started?
Brad says
I have an issue with the autosetup that I haven't been able to find mention of anywhere. We are going to move to Office 365 soon and as soon as we added our domain to the Office 365 portal and created the accounts, Outlook 2016 started prompting for login (office 365 logins) to try and reconfigure Outlook. Mind you, we haven't yet changed our DNS records, we just created the accounts in Office 365 in preparation for the migration. If we hit cancel Outlook continues to work and we get prompted several times a day. If we provide working credentials for our Office 365 account it tries to reconfigure Outlook and breaks the profile (it will no longer launch Outlook at all until we delete the profile).
Does anyone have any information on how Outlook 2016 it talking directly to Office 365 and how do we make it stop?
Diane Poremsky says
That is definitely weird (unless it's related to the new easier setup, but that dialog should only come after you click Add account). Outlook shouldn't "see" office 365 until the DNS records are changed.
Is your office 2016 through Office 365? If so, maybe it's something with logging in to activate.
Is this a hybrid Exchange setup?
Brad says
It is going to be a cutover migration, not hybrid. We don't use AAD Connect or DirSync (but we plan on putting in AAD Connect after the migration).
The Outlook 2016 version that I have on my home laptop was installed from Office 365 on a different subscription (personal email address), but behaves similarly when I setup a profile using my work address.
It seems like there is some kind of "feature" in Outlook 2016 that checks Office 365 for an account matching the email address, and if it find it, tries to configure for it.
Diane Poremsky says
I'll see what i can find out from support.
>> If we provide working credentials for our Office 365 account
You have the mailboxes set up with your domain added or do they still have only the onmicrosoft address?
Brad says
We do have the domains setup and the issue started as soon as we changed the primary email address from [domain].onmicrosoft.com to [domain].com.
Also, you registry entry worked! It prevented the password prompts from popping up asking for Office 365 credentials. I didn't have an office key under the HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft so I instead created DWORD ExcludeExplicitO365Endpoint =1 at this location:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\office\16.0\outlook\autodiscover\
Then I restarted Outlook 2016 and the issue went away.
Thank you!
Diane Poremsky says
Thanks for the update. Now I have an article to write. :)
Brad says
One more thing to add. I later found out that our DNS provider was having issues, so our service records for autodiscover wasn't behaving as it should. It is very likely that because we didn't have a working autodiscover record, it was trying Office 365 as it couldn't find anything else. We used a single name cert for Exchange so we didn't have an A record or CNAME record, but instead used an SRV record to point mail configuration to our servers. With this SRV record not working, it was likely the culprit that causing the Direct Connect to kick in.
Thanks again for you help!
Diane Poremsky says
That is a possible reason it used the o365 endpoint - you could test it by removing the reg key from one computer, but it's really better to have it blocked until the migration is finished.
Diane Poremsky says
Do you have autodiscover working for the old server? Are any of the values in this kb set https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2212902 ?
Direct Connect to Office 365 is the likely cause (this is the official name of the new, easier setup i mentioned. It was added to Outlook 2016 version 16.0.6741.2017 and later versions) I thought it only pinged the server at setup - but it apparently pings it often.
Try setting a policy to use DWORD ExcludeExplicitO365Endpoint = 1 (under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\office\16.0\outlook\autodiscover).
Mike says
Hello,
My outlook does not want to remember the email that I used to send from, its a shared mailbox that has been add automatically. In previous outlook versions you only had to set one time a from email address and later on you only had to use the drop-down menu to choose that email.
Diane Poremsky says
it definitely should stay remembered in the from field once it was added. Does it disappear immediately after you use it or only after outlook restarts?
Yos says
Hi, Diane.
I have laptop and Tab connected to Ms.Exchange Activesync office server. I'm using outlook 2016 on my laptop, and it's OK so far, I can receive and sent office's email normally. It downloads emails to the laptop so it can be viewed offline. Meanwhile, my Tab using its native email app. For both devices, I can view incoming emails. I can also view emails that I sent with laptop from the Tab email app. But it doesn't do vice versa. My emails that I sent with Tab, can't be viewed from laptop. When I checked through web-based office email, the sent emails are there. Are there any settings that I should checked to my office admin?
Diane Poremsky says
if the messages are uploaded to the server, they should sync down too. I'll see if the problem occurs on my android.
George says
Dianne
I hope I am posting this in the right place. You seem to the only person with any real answers to outlook issues, and you have certainly been of invaluable assistance to me in the past.
Here's a kicker for you. Both my Secretary and myself use outlook.com email. Both of us use the Office 365 ProPlus outlook program on our windows computers for mail and contacts. BUT my contacts have "add new group" greyed out and hers do not.
Looking for a solution, I found that her mail server is Microsoft Exchange and mine is Exchange ActiveSync. All installations hereinafter used the same automatic mode.
Logic told me to try to change mail servers so that mine would match my secretary's, so I thought, let's first see if I can add another outlook.com account on my 365 outlook program to see if it will even use Microsoft Exchange. I added my daughter's outlook.com on my 365 outlook program and it DID use Microsoft Exchange.
So I next removed my oulook.com account, and reinstalled it, thinking it would either use Microsoft Exchange or give me that option. Nope. It put me right back on Exchange ActiveSync.
Any idea what I can do to force my outlook.com account in 365 to use Microsoft Exchange instead of Exchange ActiveSync?
Many Thanks in advance
Diane Poremsky says
it sounds like her account was moved to the new servers and yours was not.
More information: https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/outlookcom/outlook-com-migration-status/
Jeff says
Hi Diane,
I am trying to look for the setup location of Exchange Server 2016 in the registry but to no avail. For Exchange Server 2013, I was able to find HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ExchangeServer\v15\Setup. But I cannot find this in registry.
Thanks,
Jeff
Koll says
Hi, I had an issue today. Was trying to set up exchange account with Outlook 2016 and it keep giving me An "Encrypted connection to your mail server is not available..." message. The tricky thing is any account created before yesterday works but any new account I create on the server doesn't. Clearly restarting server should solve the problem but I would like to know why this happens and how I can stop it from happening in the future.
Diane Poremsky says
What version of exchange? aAutodiscover or dns issues are the usual cause. See https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2989972 for more information and other causes.
Tanner says
Running into an issue where a user is working offsite (workgroup) and connecting to an Exchange 2010 server onsite (domain). Just upgraded her to Office 2016 Home and business from 2013 and the email account doesn't seem to be linking to the Exchange server. I am getting "Log onto Exchange ActiveSync mail server (EAS): The server cannot be found". She is able to login to webmail (OWA) just fine. We can even ping the server (using VPN connection). I am a little stumped.
Diane Poremsky says
Do you have autodiscover set up? does https://testconnectivity.microsoft.com/ have any clues?
Arie says
Addition: by using 2 O365 and 2 non-O365 (only SBS2011 with self-signed certificates) e-mail accounts on 1 (non-domain joined) machine I could not use the options of deleting virtual directories in SBS2011 but this works good. Although it completely defies the MS idea of autodiscovery...
Arie says
Hi, Thanks a million. The local xml autodiscover file did the trick for me. Very easy to copy the xml file from user on domain-joined machine (SBS2011) to a non-domain joined machine. It worked like a charm.
Saved a lot of frustration and time here, thanks again.
Raafat says
Hi,
Thanks too much grateful. The first way solved my problem and retrieved my profile again on office 2016. It saved my time also. Thanks again. :)
Michael says
Thank you so much for this!
Solved my issue when going to my new laptop.
Couldn't get Outlook 2016 working with my work exchange server using RPC over HTTP.
Our IT firm had no idea. Even the tech at Microsoft couldn't help me.
And I had searched for a solution myself online to no avail.
So they had me unistall it and then go back to Office 2013 which I was not happy about. It kept on hanging with my emails as I guess I have to much info in them.
So decided to do one more google search and found this page.
Since I have my personal email on a separate profile from work, it was easy to make sure I updated the right account/profile.
So followed your advice...exported the profile and made the 15 to 16 fix.
Then reinstalled Office 2016 via my Outlook365 account.
Imported the file back into the registry, and used your MapiHttpDisabled file, importing that into my registry. And it works! Yay!
Normally don't respond back...but this time I had to. This is a life saver.
Thanks Again!
AGrobb says
That XML fix of yours works great!
Helped me out in a pinch when a client decided to upgrade to 2016 without consulting us first.
Michael says
I am struggling with establishing an email account for a user. Some details…long running exchange 2010 (14.03.0294). All outlook accounts use http over RPC (outlook anywhere), both internally and externally. The user is a long time internal user who is now accessing his email using Outlook 2016 (16.0.6741.2021) over the internet I have no trouble with the autodiscover…it seems to work fine. When starting outlook 2016 for this account, it opens fine and shows Online with Microsoft Exchange in the status area. After a very short period of time, the user is peppered with password prompts that will not end. Authentication uses NTLM. Interestingly enough, if the user ignores the prompts, everything works just fine and the status of Outlook 2016 never changes. I’ve recreated the issue on different workstations and accounts, so it is not a workstation dependent issue. If I run O2010 or O2013 to access this same client externally using outlook anywhere, this behavior does not happen…it works as it should without any password prompts. Is this a bug with the latest version of O2016? As a note, I have tried the removing of credentials on the system (Windows 10). Successfully run the RCA. Any thoughts? Thks.
Diane Poremsky says
Are all accounts configured the same? Is this the only outlook 2016 user?
Tom says
I recently upgraded to Outlook 2016 from 2010. There is no way I can make it work with outlook.com account. After few minutes there is server connection error and desktop outlook disconnects from outlook.com. I am on old MS account (not this new exchange one), tested with fresh created MS account and there is some sort of new outlook.com (different layout) and this account works fine with mine outlook2016. Is there a chance to have "old" ms account (outlook.com) working with outlook 2016. I published post on MS boards, but there is no help there.
Diane Poremsky says
The newly created account is on the new server and Outlook 2016 set it up as an Exchange server account, not an ActiveSync account. If you use auto account setup, Outlook 2016 should have set the old account up as an ActiveSync account. What type of account did it set the old account up as? You can try setting it up using the manual option - choose ActiveSync and enter m.hotmail.com as the server name.
Tom says
Old account was normal MS account (outlook.com) and I used it with Outlook 2010 with Hotmail connector. Then I changed ssd and needed to reinstall W10, so I thought to go with new install of Outlook 2016 and my nightmare started... I tried to add account manually as you suggest, but no success either.
Diane Poremsky says
You are trying to set up an outlook.com account in Outlook? What exactly happens when you try? Any error messages? Do you use 2 factor authentication?
Patanjali says
The server name required seems to change over time (back in Jan 2016, you cited snt404-m.hotmail.com, which only worked for setup, and never thereafter!), and it is generally very difficult to find what it currently is at any time. m.hotmail.com is working for the time being, though presumably only as long as we are on the old Outlook.com.
Is there an MS published page that states what it should be?
Diane Poremsky says
I'm not aware of any official ms document. m.hotmail.com is used by the old server - and after connecting, autodiscover pushes the server your account is on out to the device. As they migrate accounts, the server may change as they consolidate accounts not yet migrated, to one server.
The new server uses eas.outlook.com.
Patanjali says
Thanks for the prompt reply.
Actually, the behaviour is very strange.
Using 'm.hotmail.com' as the Server name works at the start, though viewing the account settings immediately after shows it changed to 'snt404-m.hotmail.com'. Send/Receive updates it.
However, after closing Outlook 2016, then going in again, the account is shown as 'Disconnected'. Send/Receive doesn't do anything for it. Only re-entering 'm.hotmail.com' works, and only for the current session.
Not really the best functionality for using MS's premium email client with MS accounts with domains that businesses want to use and control. What are they thinking?
Diane Poremsky says
does it connect and sync if you create a new appointment.
Patanjali says
Thanks for the prompt reply.
Actually 'm.hotmail.com' is immediately changed to 'snt404-m.hotmail.com', though the account will continued to be updated with Send/Receive (if included), but only until Outlook is closed.
Next time, the account is always 'Disconnected', until doing the 'm.hotmail.com' thing again.
Actually, it is all poor interoperability design, considering it is between MS's premium email/calendar client and their major user email.calendar cloud.
Alan says
Anyone got a script please to create an Outlook 2016 profile? My scripts for Outlook 2010 don't work... Tia.
Diane Poremsky says
PRF's don't work with Outlook 2016. You need to use auto account setup.
Alan says
No, my previous script for Outlook 2010 with Exchange mailboxes was using Profman but the script no longer works unfortunately, the parameters you pass to configure MSEMS seem to be different for Outlook 2016.
Bartosz Jedrzejczak says
Thx,
The excercise with the profile worked out nice.
But Sill cannot get the Lync / Skype for business working. It works fine if I use Office 2013, but after upgrade I get an KB2566790 error, that suggest to change the DNS entries that is not possible form the end user perspective... ANy ideas how to deal with this?
Diane Poremsky says
No, sorry. The admin needs to make the changes. I don't think you could use hosts to point it to the right server, but it's really something that needs fixed with the correct dns records.
Bob Hoffman says
Was having trouble with auto discover and Outlook 2016 with Office 365 account. The registry key to disable MAPI worked like a charm
Chris Goodloe says
I'm having problems setting up my work email in Outlook 2016 (office 365 home) on windows 10 bootcamp partition. I was able to set it up via auto discover with no problems on the Mac (El Capitan) side. This is puzzling b/c outlook is a windows product, what gives?
Diane Poremsky says
it should work... do you get any error messages? What happens when you try? FWIW, the admin could block outlook by version #, but it's more likely something blocking the connection.
Nef says
Thanks a bunch, Diane. Every time I upgraded to Outlook 2016 it would erase my Mail profile and could not add it since Exchange is no longer an option to setup. Tried the export Profile trick and worked like a charm. You are a life saver.
Mark says
Outstanding Article Fixed a Huge issue for me. Thanks
Hector says
Hello Diane, i have a 365 office home in windows 8.1, Configure my domain in outlook 2016 (imap) but have a two problems;
First: when send an email, in some case the recipient receiving my domain, (thats i want) but in other case the recipient receive other adresses from my gmail. ( i have my gmail foward to my domain and my domain sycroninsing with outlook via imap)
Second: when send email from outlook, this email is hide or delete from outbox, how i can storage, my sent emails.
Sorry for my english.
Diane Poremsky says
Is the gmail account configured in Outlook? Is the domain account on Google Apps? If so, google could be replying from the account that the message was sent to.
Are you looking for the sent messages in the correct Sent folder? IMAP accounts use a different Sent items folder. Can you find the messages if you use Search?
Peter says
Hello. I have set up my exchange email account on Outlook 2016 with auto detect. Mail works fine. The problem is, I can't access the calendar or contacts of the exchange accountc. What to do please?
Diane Poremsky says
What happens when you try? When the account is set up as Exchange, calendar and contacts should sync down automatically.
lava says
What if I don't manage the DNS for the domain, then what?
Diane Poremsky says
The person who manages it will need to add or correct the autodiscover records.
NoMicrozoz says
Microsoft, the never-eneding s***t!
Steven says
I'm having trouble with the outlook 2016 auto-discover feature connecting only to my old local SBS server (which we were previously using as a local exchange, and we are still using as a local data server), and I can't seem to point the auto-discover feature to the new cloud hosted exchange service....
Any tips?!
Diane Poremsky says
Try using a local autodiscover file - i now have instructions near the end of the article.
Gareth Gudger says
Did you ever remove Exchange from your SBS server? You can also set the Autodiscover SCP record internally to $null through PowerShell.
Craig says
Sick to the back teeth with Microsoft telling users how they should operate. EAS worked. Now I have two choices. 1/ Spend money and waste time configuring Exchange 2010 to work with the new requirements adding unnecessary cost or 2/ Ditch Exchange 2010 and go to a cloud environment such as Google Mail. Given there was no warning or option provided during the Office 2016 install and now I have no access via Outlook I am of the view that Microsoft can take a leap.
Diane Poremsky says
You could revert to your previous version of Outlook... and if you are considering google business mail, you should look at office 365. Price-wise, both are about the same price (Office 365 email is as low as $4/mo per mailbox, google is $5.)
Honestly, configuring Exchange for autodiscover isn't a waste of time and it shouldn't take long.
Mike_H says
Hi Diane,
I'm writing to seek your help. I work in a corporate environment and we use Outlook 2013. Until 2 days ago my computer had Office 2013. I had manually configured Outlook to connect to the Exchange server. Then I upgraded to Office 2016. No I can no longer connect to our email system. I'm thinking about reinstalling Office 2013. I plan to create a profile to manually connect to Outlook again. Next, I'd like use the technique you describe above (steps 1-4). Afterwards, I'd install Office 2016 and perform steps 6-10. Do you think this might work?
Diane Poremsky says
It might work.
Honezk9 says
Diane, do you have any references to set up autodiscover? I have autodiscover setup and it works great with outlook 2010 but it doesn't work with outlook 2016. I have exchange 2010 in an SBS environment. We have just added outlook 2016. My exchange sever and clients are fully patched. I seem to be missing something, but cant seem to find it. I am mainly concerned with my internal 2016 clients accessing the exchange 2010 server on the LAN. The mail domain is name.com, the internal domain is name.local. Any guidance would be appreciated.
asdf says
I don't know why MS thinks, that that the person who manages an exchange server is the same guy, who has acces to the DNS settings? And has up to 24-36 hours to wait, until the new DNS settings propagate, after facing with this problem for the first time. Why on earth have DNS settings _anything_ to do with setting up an Exchange account in Outlook in the first place? Just to make things more complicated? I don't get it. I'm 15 meters away from the mail server, i'm on the very same network, and i can't set up an exchange account in outlook on brand new computer? Really? Whoever thought this autodiscover thing was a good idea is a complete moron.
After spending a good amount of time why the heck i can't configure Outlook 2016 to use an Exchange account, the quickest and easiest soulution for me was edit the computer's host file. It will work until the public IP of the mail server is the same as the current one (=forever in my case). You can also use this as a temporary solution until de desired new DNS settings propagate, so at least you don't have to wait hours/a day to configure an Exchange account in Outlook 2016 because of this stupid nonsense.
xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (public ip of the mail server) yourmallserver.yourdomain.com
Diane Poremsky says
When you add an exchange account to outlook, you need more than just the server name or ip - it gets this information from autodiscover. More information is here -https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124251.aspx
David B says
Further to my post below, I can't tell you how angry I am, now I manage several Small Business Exchange boxes. Guess what everyone of these machines hosts multiple email domains, because that's what small businesses do and oh yes guess what because they are small businesses and don't have truck loads of cash they have an ADSL line with 1 IP address. Given you can only have 1 SSL per IP how is it possible to setup Autodiscover for another domain, I'm all ears....
Total morons does not begin to describe what I'm thinking at this point. They've actually made me redundant.Oh and before some smarty pants says well just get more IP addresses, there's no such thing as "JUST" with small businesses.
This is pretty much what will happen in the UK when talking to a broadband supplier.
Me "Hello there, I'd like to have more than 1 IP address please"
Them "I'm sorry we don't offer more than 1 static IP address, the internet is running out of them didn't you know, we thought as an IT professional you would know this"
Me "Yes I apologise I was aware of this but Microsoft in its wisdom has made changes that require us to have more than 1 IP address."
Them "Ahh right well we don't offer more than 1 IP address, how about you buy another Business broadband line with us that will give you another IP Address"
Me "My client doesn't want to buy another broadband connection, they don't see why they should"
Them "Looks like they have to, hmm ok we can sell them a fibre line and they come with extra IP addresses, you'll have to explain why you need more than One though, the internet is running out of them!"
Me "Ok how much is a Fibre line"
Them "Oh not that much only "£300 per month"
Me "But they only pay £20 per month now and there's only 5 people in the office"
Them "Looks like they have no choice, if they want us to put a Fibre line in there is a 12 week wait"
Me "Oh............"
Me talking to business owner and explaining
Business owner "You're mad we're not paying £300 per month for something that costs £20, you're fired"
Me you could move to Office 365
You're still fired, we have a perfectly good server and you now want us to pay a monthly fee for something we already have, you're mad get out of here"
I'm slitting my wrists this very minute.....
Diane Poremsky says
>> Given you can only have 1 SSL per IP how is it possible to setup Autodiscover for another domain, I'm all ears....
You can use a wildcard SSL.
David B says
Hi there Diane huh? How does *.domain.com help me me with anotherdomain.com a wild card will only help on sub domains not totally different domains, happy to be told I'm wrong. My point above is about multiple domains not subdomains.. Small businesses just don't subdomain (Not in my experience anyway), but they do have several totally different domains that they want to use...
Diane Poremsky says
Sorry, it's not a wildcard SSL in the manner, it's called an "Subject Alternative Name" or SAN SSL. It's also possible to use CNAME's for the additional domains pointing to A record of the main domain or use SRV records, again, the additional domains point to the main domain. This article details how to do it -
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/5787.exchange-2010-multi-tenant-autodiscover-and-dns-configuration.aspx. The SSL is for the main domain when you use this method.
JohnL says
David.... couldn't agree more. We are still struggling with this finding Exchange again issue. We were hit by a ransomware attack halfway through a major IT upgrade process (10 users) necessitating reinstallation of Server O/S and various other A/V, backup and office software.
The level of frustration I currently have with MS, Dell, Symantec, McAfee, HP and a variety of other major corporations has no bounds - both in terms of their first line support and their upgrade 'policies'.
JohnL says
I should have added a warning to others. Our version of Exchange 2016 was downloaded as part of our Office365 allowance of downloads of Office Pro. About 2 months ago when we last downloaded it was the previous version, which included the option to join an Exchange account still available in Outlook. The information that it was 2016 apps is easily missed! We did... but we wouldn't have guessed that this option would be removed.
David B says
Dan if you're using Exchange the use the Exchange Management shell to archive to PST way easier than using Outlook.
Link below tells you the steps.
https://www.codetwo.com/admins-blog/exchange-mailbox-backup-pst-pros-cons/
On another note which moron decided you needed to use auto discover to connect to Exchange, days of setting this up to follow. If you're a SMB IT Support guy it will be a nightmare, infact I'm thinking loads of SMBs will go why do I have to pay you to sort our DNS out we didn't need it before and you suggested Office 2016, that's going to go down well.
Thanks for this walk through I'd have been totally stuck. Now all I have to look forward to is telling my clients why it's going to cost more than they thought just to use MS Offic
e.......
Dan B says
Here is the rub for some of us. When an employee leaves, we archive their mailbox to a pst file and save it forever. We create a profile, set it to prompt for credentials, use the reset password and directly enter the mailbox to archive. With 2016 it appears we can not do this any longer? We would have to add it as an additional mailbox after granting full access permissions on the Exchange server and then archive? Do I understand this correctly? Or would we still be able to choose a different name in the auto configure screen and set the prompt for credentials?
Diane Poremsky says
Unless there is a GPO that prevents you from creating a profile using an account that is not logged into the computer, it should work to enter the former employees address and password in the auto account setup wizard.
zbang says
Anybody has a solution to set multiple profiles in Outlook 2016 with Exchange 2010 ?
Diane Poremsky says
It should work fine, as long as autodiscover is configured for the exchange server.
zbang says
Hi Diane, thank you for your reply. Autodiscover is correctly configured and there is no option to set multiple profiles in Outlook 2016. Set an additional profile (manually) is not possible anymore.
Diane Poremsky says
Multiple profiles: you need to add profiles in control panel, mail (search for mail if using category view).
Outlook 2016 supports multiple exchange accounts in one profile and as long as autodiscover is configured correctly, it should work.
zbang says
Hi Diane,
Has I said, we don't want multiple exchange accounts in one profile.
We need multiple profiles with one exchange account per profile.
Diane Poremsky says
Then use the control panel mail applet to set them up - if you enable the option to show the profile selector you can create the a new profile when outlook is started.
zbang says
In Outlook 2016, using the control panel, there is no Microsoft Exchange Server option, only these :
1. Outlook.com or Exchange ActiveSync compatible service
2. POP or IMAP
3. Other
In Outlook 2013, options are :
1. Microsoft Exchange or compatible (that's what I need)
2. Outlook.com or Exchange ActiveSync compatible service
3. POP or IMAP
That's the problem ...
Diane Poremsky says
Correct - in outlook 2016, you need to use the auto account setup to set up an exchange account - and it will, if you have autodiscover configured.
Sam says
Hi Diane,
Would you mind clarifying a point? I also would like to have multiple profiles with one exchange account per profile. You said that this should work, as long as auto-discover is set up correctly. However, auto-discover will only allow the logged-in user as the user for each mail profile. In other words, I can't create a new mailbox for someone other than myself. I believe this is the gripe of many here - that we can't set up a mailbox for another user.
An issue I'm having (which may be related) is that when I upgrade from Office 2007 to 2016, Outlook hangs when trying to open the profile. I have a hunch that it's because on that machine, in 2007 I had multiple mailboxes for different users. Since 2016 doesn't like this (since you can only auto-discover now), that the profile isn't able to migrate from 2007 to 2016, and it hangs and eventually errors out. Do you have any thoughts about this?
Thanks!
Sam
Erik says
There must be a way to automate the account creation completely without any user interaction. Even if the user only need to click next, this generates a tremendous work load on our Servicedesk and the bottom line no 2016 until this is restored.
Diane Poremsky says
While it's not 100% automatic as is, users only need to enter their email address and password. Nothing else. Outlook finds the autodiscover records and sets the account up.
I don't believe the Office 2016 OCT configures the outlook profile (the OCT for older versions did).
Erik says
Our user only have to click next two times and finish when they are presented with the profile creation wizard at first start up, all the info is populated automatically. This is the problem, some user just don't do this without calling Servicedesk. Sorry to say but OCT profile creation is not working with Outlook 2016. Why Microsoft is taking this approach with 2016 is a mystery, sure we can use autodiscover but remove the possibility to in some way create the Outlook profile without any user interaction is just plain stupid.
Diane Poremsky says
According to Microsoft, setting 'Automatically configure profile based on Active Directory Primary SMTP address' in GPO (Outlook > Account Settings > Exchange) or OCT should eliminate all prompts. The description is not clear that it does that - do you have it set and it still requires the Next buttons?
The description reads (in part): This policy setting controls whether users who are joined to a domain in an Active Directory environment can change the primary SMTP address that is used when they set up accounts in Outlook. If this policy setting is enabled, users can create a new profile by entering a profile name. The profile is created without using the New Account wizard. No user interface appears as the profile is created, which might cause users to think that the computer has crashed.
armando says
Has this been resolved? I also get the two clicks on outlook account creation. The OTC allows one to create a profile but it does work and gives an error when the account is created. I also don't want the users to have to click as it will create many calls to the service desk in a large environment.
Diane Poremsky says
What is the error message? The best solution is to solve the errors... Users will need to click, but it should just work (after you address the cause of the errors).
zbang says
Hi Everybody,
Autodiscover is correctly set and we don't have any problem using Outlook 2016.
Our concern is to use different profiles created manually, and it's not possible anymore since Outlook 2016.
How can we manage multiple mailboxes without opening all of them at the same time ?
Thank you for your help !
dembala says
Is there an example of such an autodiscover record that you can share here?
dembala says
Pajeman, how does this work out in a hosted exchange context, when the mail address is not necessarily gives you the server address. my mail address is hosted by a company and the exchange I am connecting to is at another company.
Diane Poremsky says
If the autodiscover records are properly configured for your domain, outlook will find the correct server information to use.
billemery says
the autodiscover records outside the network work fine. autodiscover.domain.com
for phone and other devices that use autodiscover. it;s inside the network that it doesnt work. probably have to setup a record for autodiscover.domain.com in the internal dns server. right ?
Diane Poremsky says
Do you use a different name internally? You will need autodiscover set up on the internal DNS, but what domain you use for the internal server will determine what you use as the server name.
pejman says
You can't add an Exchange account manually. When Auto Account Setup opens, simply supply your name, email address and password and Outlook will be configured automatically via the Autodiscover service of your company's Exchange server.
Note that Outlook 2016 requires Exchange 2010 or later.
Dan says
Well, Microsoft's foolishness aside, the registry hack described here worked perfectly for me. Saved me from having to bring my personal laptop into work and join the domain just to be able to access my e-mail. Thanks for the tip!
Mark says
Did you have to erase the other profiles on your OutlookÉ (if you had other profiles on there already)
Thanks
Diane Poremsky says
You shouldn't need to remove profile, unless you want to.
Tom says
It took me hours to find out what Microsoft has changed...
Since there is no quick way to fix that (hosted Exchange account) I had to go back to Office 2013
That took another hour....
Very bad job Microsoft :-(
Data hunger with Windows10 and now forcing specific technique for keeping a running system run... Both no good ideas...
Maybe it getting time to consider a change...
Lawson Gold says
This is the dumbest move I've seen MS make for a while.
We have no need of ActiveSync. Our profiles are fine and have no need of 'more stability'. They could have easily offered both EAS and traditional Exchange options - and having to offer users low-level regedit solutions for what is version *fifteen* of your software is...well, dumb.
Asserting (or actually, *insisting*) that it's EAS-or-bust is right up there with 'well, of course you'll be using metro'. Dumb.
Diane Poremsky says
EAS is not an option for Exchange accounts - it only works with Outlook.com accounts. Exchange accounts are configured using autodiscover, in part to make it easier for end users to set up their exchange account.
bill emery says
autodiscover was only an A record in the dns autodiscover.domain.com
and setting up exchange server to do activesync for phones etc . I suppose you could setup
an autodiscover,domain.com in the local dns server and point it to a local ip. I have never done that as I haven't had to
bill emery says
agreed, one person in the org tried to install office 2016 and the outlook couldnt find the exchange 2010 server even by ip address ! accordingly, the individual is going to apply for a refund on the office 2016 and we will not be installing it again
al12bAleksandras says
I also lost access to my mail. Manipulating the registry did not help. I'm just a user, what do I do in this situation? I can not understand the purpose for which I was deprived of the possibility to configure mail access.
Diane Poremsky says
If you use Exchange 2007 (or BCM), you need to stay on Office 2013 - there is no hack that will make it work. If you use a business version, see https://community.office365.com/en-us/f/172/t/409681. Users with consumer versions can install 2013 by logging into the account portal.
Ed Mark says
Hi Diane,
Good day,
If the manual configuration of outlook remove how can I set the autodiscover for my 3 email domain example the autodiscover configured with webmail.domain1.com and all virtual sites. then for the other 2 email domain have same exchange proxy also the for domain2.com and domain3.com which I cannot use autodiscover since the primary ssl certificate prompt for site mismatch when email domain2 and 3 try to login for example in owa webmail.domain1.com. What are the possible work around on this by the way this 3 domain email are in the same forest under domain1.
Hope you understand my question.
Looking forward to have a attachment so I can show you the configuration.
Thanks,
Ed
Diane Poremsky says
It won't popup the prompt for you to accept the mismatch? I'm not sure if there is a workaround in this situation - other than a wildcard certificate.
Balazs says
Hi Diane,
How is Outlook supposed to be able to connect to a hosted Exchange server without me telling it where it is? My mail address' domain is not even hosted at the my mail provider. I have to tell Outlook what the server address is.
This is insane...
Balazs
Diane Poremsky says
Autodiscover will find the MX server and outlook can use it to setup the account. It web host and email host can be two different hosts - but the DNS records will know where to direct email. If the records are incorrect or incomplete, you can revert back to outlook 2013. Information for business users is here - https://community.office365.com/en-us/f/172/t/409681 (Home/Personal subscribers can install 2013 from their office account page.)
pp says
I had the same problem and it turned out to be on the exchange server. The UploadReadAheadSize property of the Autodiscover service on the default web site was set to zero by default. Setting this property to an appropriate value solved my problem. The property can be set under system.webServer/serverRuntime.
Inda says
Hi Diane,
Do you know the different of the work of Microsoft outlook in Windows and Mac?
Reason I'm asking is that our company implemented Symantec VIP Access for Outlook. It will block sync to outlook while in the internet connection, but it works okay in Mac without having connect to VPN.
I'm sure there is work around in Windows so we can sync outlook without having connect to VPN.
Kindly advice. Thanks.
Diane Poremsky says
Mac 2016 uses EWS to sync with the Exchange server - this, more or less, syncs using OWA. Outlook 2016 for windows uses MAPI over HTTP (or RPC over HTTP if enabled for use with older servers) - both should get through firewalls unless the actual app is blocked. Outlook Anywhere access to the outside world needs to be enabled on the exchange server - this is probably why it doesn't work.
Brian Wade says
I must say, as an average punter who spends, what for me, is a lot of money on MS software, I am not at all impressed with Ms Poremsky's attitude. Microsoft have clearly taken their eye off the ball here as judged by the floods of contacts to the MS support groups about the Outlook 2016 /Exchange 2007 bug. It is a bug. It is all very well an administrator writing reams about editing the registry etc. but ordinary users buy software that they assume will work. I subscribe to Office 365 on the basis that I will have stable product that continues to do it's job. I have no control over the server software used by others.There was no warning in the notification that Office 2016 was ready for download that it would not work with Exchange 2007. Why should anyone expect a problem, even the basic mail program in Windows 10 and the free app on my Android phone connect with anExchange 2007 server?
It is very flippant to say" You need to stay on Outlook 2013", it is too late and Office 365 does not give the option to roll back Outlook once it is installed and all suggested options involve removing the whole Office 2016 suite, not just Outlook. My question is, given this situation, "what is the point of me throwing good money in the direction of Microsoft, supposedly in the name of guaranteeing the latest versions of software when all I get is software that doesn't even work as a basic mail application and a support network who are too superior to even recognise the problems their organisation are causing".
Diane Poremsky says
As of this week, Consumers can get 2013 in their account portal; business subscribers see https://community.office365.com/en-us/f/172/t/409681
Kevin Breeden says
Hello, Diane, I'm having the same problem. I cannot set up my exchange account in Outlook 2016. I'm an Office 365 home user and purchased an exchange account directly from Microsoft. I just did the upgrade to Outlook 2016. No matter what I do, auto-detect does not find my account so that it can be added. All worked fine with Outlook 2013. Any help would be appreciated.
Diane Poremsky says
If autodiscover is not configured or doesn't work, you'll need to roll back to 2013. It's no available in the consumer account portal.
Jacques says
Ridiculous answer. Period. I would be ashamed !
Chris says
Hi Diane,
Thanks for the detailed response. I'm in the exact same position: upgraded from 2013 to 2016, and my company's e-mail doesn't yet support autodiscover. I tried your steps, but I don't think they're working for me.
Is there ANY way to roll back to 2013? I'm a paying 365 subscriber...is there possibly a link somewhere? I've tried using system restore with my computer and am also waiting on a call from Microsoft from yesterday.
Thanks in advance,
Chris
Diane Poremsky says
You can roll back - consumer subscribers can install 2013 from their account page; business subscribers see https://community.office365.com/en-us/f/172/t/409681
ZFigas says
Hi,
We check everything, tomorrow.
Greetings from Poland
Zb.
ZFigas says
Hi,
I understand but please consider how many people have same problems.
Do not you think that something is wrong?
Regards
Zb.
Diane Poremsky says
Of source something is wrong - but is the problem with outlook or with exchange? Is autodiscover configured? Are all updates installed on the exchange server? Those are the most common causes of Outlook not being able to conne3ct to Exchange. If the admin is unwilling to fix the server side issues and the potential solutions in this article don't work, then you need to stay on Outlook 2013. I don't foresee Outlook changing.
ZFigas says
Hi Diane,
You are explaining this as a very advanced user. Take into account that most do not know what you're writing for example "try exporting the registry keys for the old profiles", "You should also disable MAPI over HTTP."
Greetings
Diane Poremsky says
The step-by-step instructions are in the article (including a screenshot). If you are unable to access the registry (not uncommon in larger corporate environments), you'll need to speak with your administrator.
R says
Exporting does not help. Did as you wrote. Here is the screenshot of my registry.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dzh52u6dsi3aom7/%D0%A1%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%88%D0%BE%D1%82%202015-09-23%2015.44.56.png?dl=0
Didn't in my registry any iformation about MAPI over HTTP. Here is screenshot/
https://www.dropbox.com/s/idbzuz43fly4chz/%D0%A1%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%88%D0%BE%D1%822%202015-09-23%2015.44.56.png?dl=0
Any ideas?
Diane Poremsky says
Yeah, the registry doesn't work for everyone but i don't know why. The MAPI over HTTP value forms under the Exchange key, not forms registry.
R says
No information about MAPI over HTTP under the Exchange eather. Please see screenshot below.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pp4fbh5ugz7wsoa/%D0%A1%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%88%D0%BE%D1%823%202015-09-23%2015.44.56.png?dl=0
R says
Hello,
I've upgraded my Outlook 2013 to Outlook 2016 and niw I cannot set up my exchange account that was autodetected in Outlook 2013. We use Exchange 2010. Is there any way I can setup my account?
R
Diane Poremsky says
If autodiscover is not enabled, try exporting the registry keys for the old profile, change the version to 16 then run the reg file. You should also disable MAPI over HTTP.
S.V. says
I can't sync Outlook through OWA anymore. Not Good!
Diane Poremsky says
What version of Exchange are you using? Exchange 2007 is not supported in Outlook 2016 - they traditionally only support 3 versions of exchange, which would be 2016,2013,2010.
S.V. says
The Server is Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 14.3.158.4001
The auto discover is not set and we only can access using OWA. But it was possible to sync Outlook 2011 through OWA. Now it is not working, as the exchange account setup is missing.
Diane Poremsky says
You weren't really syncing through OWA, you were using Exchange services. Manual configuration is gone in Outlook 2016 and autodiscover is required. Depending on the reason why autodiscover isn't working, you might be able to configure an XML file for Outlook to read.
https://your_server_name/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml
Get the sample xml from here: https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/office/Sample-Exchange-Autodiscove-263028b4 and use your correct server in this line:
James says
Trying to configure a fresh profile of Outlook 2016 using Autodiscover is useless.
It can take 20+ minutes to configure and sometimes doesn't at all. What on earth is it trying to do?!
We use Office 365 and have our autodiscover DNS record pointed to autodiscover.outlook.com.
Diane Poremsky says
Which build are you using? It shouldn't take more than a minute or two but i know some builds are slow, because of checks and failures - it checks a number of urls and take forever timing out - there are some keys you can set to skip some protocols. one common failure is checking the root (domain.com, not autodiscover.domain.com) - this key disables it
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\AutoDiscover\
DWORD: ExcludeHttpsRootDomain
Value = 1 to exclude
others are:
ExcludeScpLookup
ExcludeHttpsRootDomain
ExcludeHttpsAutoDiscoverDomain
ExcludeHttpRedirect
ExcludeSrvRecord
danbarbulescu2014D says
Hi Diane,
Thank you so much for your help.
I find these informations:
Server version: Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1
Version .NET Framework access server to client Exchange: 2.0.50727.5485
Nom of mailbox server: EXCHANGE.totalstay.com
Server mailbox version Microsoft Exchange: 14.1.218.0
Version .NET Framework du serveur d'accès au client Exchange: 2.0.50727.5485
Public session: Yes
Internal POP: EXCHANGE.totalstay.com
Port: 995
Security: SSL method
Internal IMAP: EXCHANGE.totalstay.com
Port: 993
Security: SSL method
Could you tell me if can I do something?
It's so kind of you.
Manny thanks again.
Dan
PS: I use AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko)
Diane Poremsky says
That is Exchange 2010. Try using the disable Mapi over HTTP reg key so Outlook will connect using RPC over HTTP. If that doesn't work, you'll need to use POP3 or IMAP and get email only, not Exchange servers to sync the entire mailbox.
danbarbulescu2014Dan says
Hi Diane,
I've buy Office 2016 and I can't set up may mail account (using Exchange server). It seems that Outlook 2016 can't connect to a server which haven't SP2 or later pack. After a couple of calls to my webmaster, he confirm me that our server had not uploaded SP2 and they will not do it soon.
Did you know if is possible to set an account from Outlook 2016 manually?
Manny thanks Diane,
Dan
Diane Poremsky says
If the account won't connect to the server due to service packs, then no, you can't work around it. What version of Exchange are you using? I'm not impressed with that service provider's attitude.
Diane Poremsky says
BTW, depending on the version of Exchange and the reason it won't connect, you might be able to set Outlook to use RPC instead of MAPI over HTTP by setting this key on your computer:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Exchange
“MapiHttpDisabled”=dword:00000001
mikeymolMikey says
I am using an Outlook.com account. It configures it as an active Sync Account. Mails come in, but I cannot send. I have tried using POP3 settings, and I get the same issues. Have you experienced anything similar?
Diane Poremsky says
Any error message? Did it every work?
Karsten says
I think the missing possibility to make a connection to exchange manually is a bad thing. Especially for tests If I have a test Exchanegserver. Or what about testing differnt Outlook Users. I have about 20 mapi profiles for test purposes.
Diane Poremsky says
Testing users won't be a problem as long as the domain has autodiscover records.
Yassin Somaia says
Gentlemen and respected brothers
To pay attention to the subject (e-mail address)
Domain should be an example of a domain: domain.loc
In the form of an automatic user, the name of his mail: Yas@Syria.loc
And you have your name in the institution your e-mail is: Yas@domain-sys.com
When the device is automatically integrated into the domain, it will be connected to the e-mail server
However, if the device is not included in the domain, it is necessary when setting the settings User Name: Yas@domain.loc
And not in the name of the mail from which it is sent Yas@domain-sys.com
Thanks