If your account was moved to the new server, I have more information and instructions (with screenshots) to set up the account in Outlook 2003 and newer at "Outlook.com Migration Status".
Update March 16 2017: Migration is complete. All accounts are moved and Exchange ActiveSync support is turned off. All accounts must be added as either Microsoft Exchange or IMAP/POP3.
In the next few weeks we’ll be making some updates that will impact your @outlook.com, @hotmail, @live, or @msn email account. Those changes will prevent your email from getting delivered to the Outlook desktop application you use. When you notice that you stop receiving messages, simply follow these two steps:
The message contains links to explain how to remove the Outlook Connector account and how to use auto account setup to add it back as an Exchange account. Until you remove the account and add it back, you will not be able to use Outlook to access your Outlook.com email. You'll need to log into outlook.com using a web browser.
See "How to add or remove an email account" for the steps needed to add or remove an account from Outlook.
The big news for anyone who uses Outlook.com for email, or to sync calendar and contacts to smartphone: Outlook.com is moving to the Office 365 infrastructure in 2015.
Many of the annoying issues affecting Outlook users who sync to Outlook 2013 and 2016 will disappear with the move: Contact Groups will work, attachments in appointments will work. See "First look: Outlook.com on Office 365" for more information.
Outlook.com users will be able to use many of the features Office 365 subscribers are enjoying. This includes Clutter, which moves bulk and less important email to a separate folder. Search Suggestions and Refiners as well as Pins and Flags to quickly find the messages you need.
OWA supports link preview; after pasting a link, including links to YouTube, into your message, a rich preview is added to the message.
If MAPI service is enabled, when the account configured in Outlook color categories and flags will work as expected, as will contact groups. Mail can be imported and upload to the server, easily. Calendar sync will work.
For more information, read the announcement on the Office blog: New ways to get more done in Outlook.com
David says
I have windows 10. And office outlook 2010.
I have tried getting my outlook.com email in to outlook 2010. For some reason it won't work with auto, i will find it but keeps ask for a login from microsoft credentials. What to do? I have tried everything. even writed new codes for the same account.
i need my mail, calender and contacts to sync with my outlook.
As it sync with my phone, and i have a lot of other mails to put into outlook allso. To have it together.
John says
I can't read full emails,can't scroll ,I have an Apple laptop .I must rely on other computers that haven't been contaminated with outlook. It affects my business dealings and makes me seem incompetent .How can I remove it an get my hotmail account back to function normally or a patch to fix this.
Diane Poremsky says
you're using outlook on the web or outlook installed with the office suite? Which mac OS are you using?
Garry says
My wife's Hotmail has become frozen after a message came telling her to do something with Office365. My multiple e-mails through my MS Surface device all work fine (including the clone of her Hotmail). To make matters worse, her Hotmail is based from the Japanese MS system. Now I looted into her account through the outlook website login. All went well until the same message popped up telling us to migrate. Selecting OK from the computer, froze my computer. Again, MS helpdesk was useless as they seem to have now cancelled human support staff at the contact telephone number, directing us to "address the matter via the internet". Any guidance to resolve this saga welcome.
Diane Poremsky says
I'm guessing the message said to reconnect the account? She needs to add the account back into outlook using auto account setup and remove the old account (which would be in as Exchange activesync if she is getting that message). Before removing the account, make sure there are no appointments or contacts in the folders in outlook - they may not be uploaded to the server.
Barry says
Hi Diane,
I read your article : https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/olc-hotmail/sync-calendar-contacts-using-outlook-com/ as well and ended up here. I need help on something so decided to write to you.
All our desktop Outlook accounts are defined as IMAP with Rackspace email addresses and we need some sort of web or mobile platform to reach calendars of these accounts from. What is the easiest way to achieve this?
Thank you
Barry
Diane Poremsky says
The easiest way to sync the calendars to outlook and devices is to use Exchange mailboxes.
So you have IMAP email accounts with Rackspace and need to sync the calendar service Rackspace provides with Outlook? I'm not aware of any utility that will sync the calendar services that are typically included with web access accounts. If you mean to sync outlook desktop's calendar to mobile, companionlink can sync outlook to gmail or icloud - then the device syncs with their system.
Capitaine_choc says
Hi, any news?
Diane Poremsky says
Sorry I missed this earlier... they are down to the last 50,000 or so (all are using windows phone and have other constraints that make them slow to move.)
Tony says
Ditto Great Article!
I have issues with newest Outlook mail was wondering if this is normal or not.... and you would not mind commenting on please!
1. Under instruction from MS i have created several alias' now, but still can't login to webmail, i get "X-Auth-Error: ADDriverStoreAccessNonLocalException"
2. MS tell me that emails sent via webmail are not saved.
3. emails sent from webmail (when I could log in) are sent from the non outlook.com Primary address, when sent from exchange client setup in Outlook 2010 it sends as a random 16digit @outlook.com.au or 'on behalf of' if I change the from address...
Is there any chance you would mind confirming or denying this behaviour on behalf of MS, as it is taking in excess of 24 hrs to get incorrect answers from MS support for individually asked questions... I have to break it down for them!!!!
Many Thanks in advance for your thoughts!!!
Dan says
Since it has been taking so long to get migrated...about 6 weeks ago I attempted to share an outlook calendar. It would not allow me to do that saying the migration would be completed by Aug 31st. Well that has come and gone. I tried sharing a calendar today and it worked. hmmmm Typical MS BS.
Diane Poremsky says
Were you sharing with someone on the same server as your account? If both accounts are still on the old server or both are now on the new server, sharing will work. Note: if you are on the old server, sharing calendars can delay the migration of your account.
Richard Sweeney says
Another non-migrated Outlook.com user here.
My setup is quite simple -- no shared calendars, no Windows phone. My iPhone syncs with Outlook.com's email and People data. I use ~3 aliases; that's about as complicated as it gets for me. I use the Outlook app for email (It's quite good). I have Office 365 but don't use Outlook on PC.
I have no idea why my account has not migrated. I'm waiting for the semi-announced end of August deadline, but actually I don't have real expectations that it will migrate. Maybe never?
I've given Microsoft feedback more than once about how poorly this migration has been managed. Since the early 2016 fanfare announcement of wonderful new features and soon-to-occur migration there has been essentially dead silence. Support personnel have no info and offer no support.
Diane Poremsky says
It will migrate - but they have extended the migration for another 6 months or so. They won't say how many were migrated already, but I'm guessing they are about 80% done, but that still leaves about 80 million accounts to migrate.
Richard Sweeney says
Thank you Diane --
I have followed your website for years. Always something good to learn. While I was working (now retired) and using Outlook I almost always found the solutions to my obscure problems through your site. So -- thanks for what you do.
Still no migration of Outlook.com as of 9-5-2016. I've been thinking of making a new account to get the new version temporarily and forwarding emails from the "old" account. I do this with an old gmail account; works great. A possible work-around.
I can empathize with what apparently has been a bigger than expected task to migrate millions of users. But I'm wish Microsoft was working more closely to keep their customer base informed on this one.
Otherwise happy.... thanks again.
Jackie Smith says
I have tried everything you have advised on the matter from your site here. None of them have worked
Jackie Smith says
Some of my accounts were transferred yesterday. I have Outlook 2010 installed on two computers (from the same disc). On one computer, removing the connector and installing the accounts again, went without a problem. On the other one, I get a Pop Up to download the Connector again. Both Comps run Windows 7.
I have noticed that on the Laptop (was installed in 2015) the Version looks a bit different. On outlook itself it is 14.0.7166.5000 (that one is working). I uninstalled Office 2016 on the Desktop, reinstalled it, but it seems that it still have the same version (cox e-mail with all the Folders appeared again). This Version shows in Outlook as 14.0.6032.1000.
Under Program and Features the Version shows Product Version 14.0.6020.1000 (for the Comp where it is not working), and 14.0.7015.1000 (Laptop, where everything works without a problem).
Months back I had a problem with downloading and installing the updates for office (on my Desktop).
Seems that it is not possible to uninstall everything from office 2010.
I am waiting to see if there are updates for Office 2010 available. But it is taken forever.
I have tried IMAP......didn't work.
Today two more accounts were transferred. Both installed without a problem on the Laptop.
Diane Poremsky says
This: cox e-mail with all the Folders appeared again is probably because the profile is not deleted when you uninstall office. You could try making a new profile in Control panel, search for Mail.
Under Program and Features the Version shows Product Version 14.0.6020.1000 (for the Comp where it is not working), - you need to have the latest updates installed in Outlook 2010 or 2007 in order to connect to Outlook.com. (14.0 = Outlook 2010).
Steve Edmiston says
I've seen a vicious rumor that MS may be extending the migration into 2017. It was merely a post by a MS MVP but knowing how resource-consuming the Win 10 AU rollout has been I wouldn't be surprised. I'm just a simple, non-sharing, small footprint kind of guy but I'm not migrated.
Diane Poremsky says
I have not heard that rumor but I would not be surprised. They originally set August 31 as the last date but expected to be finished moving active accounts by the end of spring. They aren't saying how many accounts are left to move (of the 400 million active accounts) - so I can't even guess how close they might be. I know moving accounts with shared calendars or that log into older Windows phones are problematic.
C. Yusuf Mumtaz says
Any updates on the final rollout? Been waiting for the new infrastructure since they first announced that it was live. Hope it happens soon; I would really like the calendar features. Any ideas if we get new features for contacts, e.g., custom fields, additional slots for email and addresses, etc.?
Diane Poremsky says
Latest word is before the end of August. Time will tell if they make that deadline. Signing into a windows phone or sharing calendars will put your account at the end of the list.
They aren't adding new features - Outlook.com on the new server will have the features available to pst users or exchange mailboxes. Attachments in Contacts and Appointments will work, you can upload mail, and other features that didn't work over EAS or with the Connector will work.
Don Meyer says
Please help with instructions for the current system: Windows 10 and Office 365 university-personal subscription and e-mail with isp cox.net. Would like to set up my outlook 16 only to view calendars and contact on my home pc and sync with my android smart phone Wish to keep my regular e-mail address and not use outlook.com as my e-mail address. Current e-mail is viewed on outlook 16 and syncs well with my smartphone. Is there a set of instructions to accomplish this goal (do I need to set up an alias and how will this affect my regular e-mail?). thanks. Also, at what point would outlook.com process disappear and new accounts go directly to office 365 exchange for pc rather than migrate over.
Diane Poremsky says
You can do all of that. Add both the outlook.com and cox accounts to outlook and set the cox account as your default email. You can't set it to only sync contacts and calendar, but you don't have to use it for email.
you won't need an outlook.com alias.
Don Meyer says
Thank you very much. I assume that we need to add the outlook.com manually and on my outlook 16 screen I would choose exchange active sync instead of IMAP. Would I then follow the settings that you have previously described for outlook.com or exchange activesync service? User information is for my Cox account, server is m.hotmail.com and logon is my Cox logon? Final instruction is for the Hotmail connector and my Microsoft account e-mail address and password?
Diane Poremsky says
you have two choices when you use a non-Microsoft address in a Microsoft account.
1) Set it up in outlook as an ActiveSync account, using m.hotmail.com (still on old server) or eas.outlook.com (account is on new server) as the server address, using the email address & password you use with the outlook.com account. There are some limitations to contacts and appointments when you do this.
2) Add an outlook.com alias to the Microsoft account and allow it to log in. You can then add the account to Outlook using auto account setup and it will add it as Exchange server mailbox (if on the new server). This gives you the best "experience" without the limitations of ActiveSync.
Martin Hanson says
Still waiting. I did sign up for the "preference" and it seems to have no effect on my priority. Holding lots of data to import when it finally converts. Sigh.
Diane Poremsky says
Yeah, they stopped taking requests a while ago. I'm trying to get an update on the ETA, since 'spring' is come and gone. I know they are nearing the end, but don't know what the revised date to have everyone moved is. I do know that sharing claendars and using it as the sign in for windows phone can be an issue. (I don't think using it to sign into windows desktop affects it.)
Dan says
hmmmm... it's late Jun 2016 and no further word on completion? I previously signed up for the "early" migration. Heard nothing, nothing happened. Now when you go to the link, MS says they are full... Wonder what that means?
Diane Poremsky says
I think they were overloaded with requests... they expect to be done moving everyone soon, with people using windows phones or sharing calendars moved last. I'm waiting to hear back on an updated ETA since it looks like non-phone, non-sharers users still need migrated.
Tim says
Any update on rollout schedule of migration from Outlook.com to O365?
Diane Poremsky says
It's on target to be finished by the end of spring.
If your account is not blocked by any constraints, you can opt in - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/outlookpreview/default.aspx
There is no guarantee that signing up will help, it really depends on unknown things on the backend.
C. Yusuf Mumtaz says
Does this mean I may have to wait until the end of May 2016? And has anyone reported problems syncing contacts to their phone since the rollout? I have tried twenty factor resets and my contacts do not seem to sync properly (note that the I have not been transferred to the O365 infrastructure yet).
Diane Poremsky says
Unless you are using a windows phone, it should be sometime between now and the end of May. If you use windows phone or share calendars, the account will be the last batch moved which should be sometime around the end of May. The migration is going smoothly right now and on target to be finished then but if an unknown issue comes up, it could be delayed.
Victor Vesnaver says
I am about to leave a job where, like many, have enjoyed the benefits of full synchronization between all of my devices of my email, calendar and contacts via Exchange. I have my own domain address and email accounts which are hosted by Network Solutions.
I am wondering if I set up forwarding correctly between my email accounts and my outlook.com account if I can replicate the synch features I had with my company email for my personal email (pop3) accounts? I have done a little poking around and it looks like it may be possible but just as I was attempting to play with the config, they took Outlook.com off line for maintenance.
I can upgrade my email accounts to hosted Exchange with Network Solutions but $$$.
Thanks!
V2
Diane Poremsky says
Outlook.com is moving to hosted exchange... and you will be able to replicate the capabilities you have before. If you have custom domain names, office 365 offers hosted exchange for as little as $4 a month per mailbox.
Victor Vesnaver says
Thanks very much.... I knew that Outlook.com is moving to hosted Exchange but its not clear to me if I can configure forwarding on my custom POP3 accounts in a manner that will allow me to synch email, contacts and calendar via Outlook.com. Again, it looks like it may work.
I did not know that custom domains in Office 365 were possible... The $4.00/month price tag is compelling but I only have 5 or six email accounts. The challenge in trying to do it with Network Solutions is that all email accounts must move to hosted Exchange. You can't have some using POP3 with others using Exchange. Makes sense. Just thinking Exchange may be overkill for some of my users (family members) who really just use the basics of email.
Good guidance... I will poke around some more. Thanks again!
Diane Poremsky says
>> You can't have some using POP3 with others using Exchange.
Some hosts do support mixed accounts. Intermedia is one, but they charge more for the mailbox, so there might not be a savings. Also, if you monitor some addresses but rarely or never reply, you can use a shared mailbox for those addresses - there is no cost involved. If you own multiple domains, you can set them all up in one office 365 account.
Is this a personal mailbox? How many accounts are in your domain? outlook.com may again support custom domains (they are testing it), but it apparently will 1) require a subscription to office 365 home 2) may or may not allow users to transfer existing domains 3) is limited to 5 mailboxes in a single domain. I have no idea if/when this will happen - it's apparently in a trial phase right now.
Victor Vesnaver says
Thanks Diane... This is all very helpful. These are largely personal email accounts that I set up for our family years ago when we were moving quite a bit and I got tired of changing email addresses. We currently have 5 in the primary domain and then a handful of others scattered across a few other domain names. I am really trying to solve the problem for the primary domain.
I think the Network Solutions option may end up being a bit less expensive since they currently host our email so there will only be an incremental upcharge to include Exchange rather than double paying. We also own Outlook all around and while I get the value of Office365, it would just add cost in the short term. That is why the Outlook.com option would be attractive. I will have to keep my eyes peeled for that.
As an aside, I have been a subscriber for what seems like 20 years... I recommend Slipstick often and love getting the weekly email. :)
Thanks so much!
V2
Diane Poremsky says
Outlook.com is working on a premium feature and will offer up to 5 mailboxes for one custom domain. Not sure on pricing, but it will probably be about $50/yr per domain. Each domain name would need its own subscription. I have no idea when it will be released to the general public though... you could try https://auth.microsoftonline.com/PremiumOutlook.aspx and see if you get an invite. Your account needs to be migrated to the new server already.
Victor Vesnaver says
Diane:
Thanks so much for your counsel on this topic. After searching around for stand alone sync solutions and investigating hosted Exchange via Network Solutions, I called Microsoft to learn more about their base level Exchange Office 365 offering. Based on what I wanted to achieve, it seemed to be the best option and I was able to narrow the number of users to just 2 people... For $4.00 per month/user, I now have Exchange powering my email which is awesome... At the end of the day, its the same cost as my email accounts at Network Solutions with lots more functionality. Their Hosted Exchange offering was going to be more than $10.00/month with far less storage.
Thanks again for your advice!
Best,
--V2
W A K says
I have an old *.msn.com.email address. I use Outlook.com as an e-mail service. Can you, or anyone, explain to me why Microsoft is incapable of simply "MASS-EMAILING" to all concerned email address owners, what they are going to do, and when they do it, and what kind of things will get broken or interrupted by their utter "let's not ever help the customer attitude"? Why are basic and simple instructions such as what server address, TLS, SSL, ports, to use for IMAP, SMTP, MAPI, not e-mailed to the customer on a simple "as it happens, as needed basis"?
What drug, what hypnosis causes them to be so terribly inconsiderate? Even the dumbest mechanic can fix my car SO THAT IT WORKS. Even the most numb-skulled plumber can fix my toilet SO THAT IT WORKS. WHY NOT MICROSOFT? It simply boggles the mind that they want to sell "SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE", and yet they have zero idea about how TO BE OF SERVICE.
Why can't a software company like Microsoft, which provides Outlook.com, not use this very e-mail to be of service to its customers?
Diane Poremsky says
They are sending email notifications but not everyone seems to get one. The notifications have links to pages with instructions for configuring the accounts.
GP says
Diane,
I actually have 5 hotmail accounts. Three have been converted to Enterprise 365. I am using Outlook 2010. The data files for the converted accounts show up as .ost files. My other two accounts are MAPI and the data file entry says: Not Available.
I keep my calendar in my main hotmail account which has NOT been converted. When I try to make it my default I'm told I cannot because of the converted accounts (can't remember the exact reason; more than one exchange server?)
Q1: any idea when my other accounts will be converted?
Q2: anything I can do about the calendar in the meantime?
Thanks
Diane Poremsky says
1. Sometime between now and spring
2. if you add the accounts in the right order, you can set a pst file as default. But it doesn't work with the outlook connector accounts. You can set the accounts up as imap until all accounts are migrated.
See https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/change-the-default-data-file-from-exchange-to-another-account/ for the steps.
Martin Hanson says
How do we determine whether or not our account has been migrated or not? Thanks.
Diane Poremsky says
log into outlook.com - if the banner says 'outlook mail (preview)' it is on the new server.
FritoDCat says
How do I get saved E-Mails from foilders in my Windows Live account and place them in a folder that I can read latter?
noelle says
this looks like a complete nightmare for someone like me who doesn't understand half the terms used on this page.
I will have to take my computer to someone who understands such stuff rather than risk messing up my email system right away and going bald from tearing my hair out
it certainly feels like the straw breaking the camels back for me and microsoft..i guess mac is the answer
Diane Poremsky says
i have more information (along with screenshots) on setting up the accounts in Outlook 2003 and newer at https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/outlookcom/outlook-com-migration-status/
Mac won't help - and once the account is setup in Outlook, it will work fine.
Bob Pickles says
Noelle - me too - completely outfoxed by the technical terms. I want to know when all this 'migration' is complete, will I get back all my missing email folders containing much important filed information (including tax info)? Also as I am hard of hearing, why can't I email some sympathetic technical support from Microsoft?
Diane Poremsky says
Log into Outlook.com. What URL is in the address bar? outlook.live.com means it has already migrated. If it is ABC12.live.hotmail.com (where ABC12 can be any letter/number combo) it is still on the old server.
On the missing folders: when did they go missing? Did you try using the recover deleted items options at outlook.com? The more time that passes, the less of a chance you'll be able to recover them.
Ian Mitchell says
Hi Diane,
My outlook.com email account in Bigpond is set up for IMAP access in Outlook 2016. I can send and receive mail ok.
But the synching of “subscribed folders” can take a minimum of 3 minutes and sometimes 30 minutes. I have many subfolders to Inbox, and Rules in Outlook.com to file incoming messages into these folders, so need to see if unread messages are in these folders.
Can you advise how I might improve the speed?
Do you happen to know if Bigpond will be moving soon to Office 365 and thereby an exchange connection which based on my account is much faster?
Cheers
Ian
Richard says
Diane: Having a frustrating time getting synched to Outlook.com, 365/owa version. I'm using Windows 10, Outlook 2016/365. The relevant Microsoft account was using a verizon domain in the email address/user id, but I have since added an outlook.com alias for Outlook to synch to. When I use auto-discover to add the account using that alias, I get Success! messages. But the account is not added and Outlook says I have to restart it to access it. But when I restart it, I get error messages ('name does not match address book listings') and the account is not added at all. I just tried both quick repair and online repair of Office, but the exact same sequence resulted. Could you offer any further guidance?
Ian says
Hi Diane,
My partners outlook.com email account in Bigpond is set up for IMAP access in Outlook 2016. I can send and receive mail ok.
But the synching of “subscribed folders” can take a minimum of 3 minutes and sometimes 30 minutes. She has many inbox/subfolders, and Rules in Outlook.com to file incoming messages into these folders, so she needs to see if unread messages are in these folders.
Can you advise how we might improve the speed?
Do you happen to know if Bigpond will be moving soon to Office 365 and thereby an exchange connection which based on my account is much faster?
Cheers
Ian
Richard says
Diane: Until I was migrated a few days ago, I was successfully synching calendar and contacts between my desktop Outlook 2016 and my Outlook.com account. The email I use as userid for my Microsoft account is Verizon hosted. Now I am uncertain how to re-add my Outlook.com account to Outlook 2016. If using the auto-discover method, it asks for the email address (.....@verizon.net) and password, but that would make it try to grab the email from the Verizon account, wouldn't it? The manual method seems more up my alley, but that path asks for the mail server address, which I am not sure of (I am assuming m.hotmail.com is no longer correct?). Thank you.
Diane Poremsky says
Oh. Yeah, these accounts will be a problem. You'll need to create an outlook.com alias and use that to log in. You can't set it up manually as exchange.
Richard says
I tried using the (extremely long) outlook.com alias that shows in the upper right corner after I log in to outlook.com: But the auto-discover wouldn't go through--gave me "no encrypted access" error message. Any thoughts?
Diane Poremsky says
That's the outlook_bignumber@ address? Yeah, you can't use them to log in. You need to create an alias and use that.
Richard says
Diane: Thanks. I did create an Outlook.com alias for this account. Then Outlook 2016 lets me add the account and says everything is successful, but the changes won't take place until I restart Outlook. Then when I do, I get an error message, "the name does not match any in address list", and "cannot open Outlook folders, the operation failed," Then I can restart Outlook again without the error messages but the new account does not exist. I tried making the new alias primary and that does not change anything. Any ideas?
Easy10 says
This should be mentioned in the main article / the re-configure instructions. People who are using Hotmail or MSN accounts (i.e. have not set up an "outlook.com" alias and don't use the "outlook.com" alias to re-add their account will run into issues...
Diane Poremsky says
I probably mentioned it on one of the other pages about outlook.com - will update all of the pages with the information. Thanks.
Nathan says
I have an outlook.com account that was created solely for calendar sync function. I think it was migrated this past weekend as Outlook 2013 will no longer connect to the server. Probably a silly question, but when I try to click "read more" on your longer comments nothing happens, and I am unable to read the missing part. Any tips?
Troy says
Hello! We have Office 365 Home and use custom domain outlook.com mailboxes. We noticed yesterday that one of our mailboxes stopped working in Outlook. We can sign in via the web (where we see Outlook Mail (Preview), so I am assuming this mailbox was migrated to the new server.
However, I cannot figure out how to get this mailbox working in Outlook. It was previously configured as an EAS account, as are all of our other outlook.com custom domain accounts (which are still working, at the moment). I'm trying to add it and let Outlook figure out the settings itself, but it's been sitting there searching for setting for 5 minutes now with no luck. We've always had to add these accounts manually, specifying m.hotmail.com as the server.
Until this weekend, this account worked great. Any suggestions on what needs to be done?
Thanks!
Diane Poremsky says
I was told that 1) these accounts would continue to work 2) they would be migrated last. I'm trying to find out what is going on with them. I have two and neither have been moved yet, so i can't test them or repro. :(
Are you trying to add it using auto account setup? Try using manual setup and add it as an EAS account, using m.hotmail.com as the server name. That worked for an outlook.com account that was moved... it might work for the custom domains.
Diane Poremsky says
I take that back - at one of my custom domain accounts was moved in the last day or two. Autoaccount setup failed with an encrypted connection error. EAS will set up but not connect. There is an outlook.com address for my alias (clicking on the icon in the upper right) but that fails too.
Lora says
I think I'm having a similar problem. My boss and I each have email on his custom domain and through Yahoo Biz Mail, which is set up in our Outlook via IMAP.
However, in order to have a calendar that would sync between both of our computers as well as our phones, I made an Outlook.com account for his email address and synced that to both of our computers, my Android, and his iPhone with EAS, syncing only the calendar.
The calendar now seems to have stopped syncing on all of our devices including the computers as of Friday 11/20. My Android says it's an authentication error. I've tried removing the account but have been unable to re-add it - it just acts like the username and password are wrong (my phone supports EAS or Outlook.com accounts and neither works).
I'm so tired of trying wrangle these insane workarounds from Microsoft. I think I'm going to try and get him to switch to Google Apps or something.
Diane Poremsky says
Did you have the yahoo account set up as the microsoft account used to log into outlook.com? To see if your email account was migrated, log into outlook.com - does the banner say 'outlook.com' ? That's the old server - means it was not migrated yet.
You'll definitely do better with different email host - Office 365 Exchange will give you the best capabilities for as little as $4 per mailbox per month (The plans here have additional options - I recommend the $5 or $8 plan). Google apps requires a sync utility to sync with outlook. Either will sync calendar & contacts with all phones - with only one account. Sharing calendars is generally better in Exchange.
Diane Poremsky says
Just got word that there is an issue with ActiveSync scripts, which started on 11/20. It sounds like that might be your problem.
Muhammad Hegab says
Hello Diane,
Have you had any better luck with your custom domain accounts? Are they Windows Live Custom Domain accounts?
I have couple of them and I just had them upgraded recently. I removed one of them, hoping it would be added as Exchange account, but the automatic adding failed. I tried the manual, and both m.hotmail.com and eas.outlook.com seem to work, but of course it comes as EAS account.
So isn't there news or ways to make the automatic account adding to work with Windows Live Custom Domain accounts? Is the support for EAS going to end soon?
Diane Poremsky says
I have some of the old custom domains and a couple of the new ones. I can manage the new ones a little better but they are limited to 5 user accounts. Otherwise, the actual mailbox is identical.
Diane Poremsky says
When you send from the web interface, what address is in the From field? Here it's using the assigned alias -
Tom says
I use Outlook 2007 and got this notice a few weeks back and I have Outlook Connector installed. I have three Hotmail account and one them them stopped working. The other two still retrieve and send mail through the connector program. This is what I did per the instructions:
1. Open Outlook 2xxx and go into your accounts setting and remove the non-working account, then close Outlook.
2. Go into control panel and open the Mail icon and then when you get the pop-up, open Email Accounts,
3. Set up your email as if you would by selecting the MS Exchange, IMAP, POP3, etc radio button. Fill in your credentials.
4. Reopen Outlook 2xxx and you'll get a prompt (like in an office environment) when you put in your email account and password. You then will have the option of saving that password or not. You should then access your account.
addendum: I am using Windows 10 on this set-up, so I am posting this with that caveat.
Andy says
Hi Diane. I have just received this email from Outlook.com:
Hello,
In the next few weeks we’ll be making some updates that will impact your @outlook.com, @hotmail, @live or @msn email account. Those changes will prevent your email from getting delivered to the Outlook desktop application that you use. When you notice that you stop receiving messages, simply follow these two steps:
For Outlook 2003 customers:
1. Remove your email account from your Outlook 2003 desktop application
2. Re-add your email account to your Outlook 2003 desktop application
For Outlook 2007 customers:
1. Remove your email account from your Outlook 2007 desktop application
2. Re-add your email account to your Outlook 2007 desktop application
For Outlook 2010 customers:
1. Remove your email account from your Outlook 2010 desktop application
2. Re-add your email account to your Outlook 2010 desktop application
When the update happens, you may not be able to refer back to this email in your Outlook desktop application. We recommend bookmarking or saving the two links (remove and re-add) in steps 1 and 2 above that apply to the version of Outlook that you’re using. Remember, you can always access this message by logging in to your account at http://www.outlook.com at any time.
If you don’t know what version of Outlook you have, you can click here for instructions to find out.
Thank you for your understanding and continued use.
Yours sincerely,
The Outlook team
I AM VERY CONCERNED. As a desktop 2010 user, I set up my sync with Outlook.com using one of your guides ages ago which advised to retain my POP/STMP account as my "send from this account by default" and then set up an Outlook.com Sync account using MAPI. The selected (ticked account) which is the POP/STMP delivers new messages to my MAPI account. I understood by doing this it would prevent emails bouncing backwards and forwards and duplicating on Outlook.com - it does seem to have wourked although I do get the odd "an quot" message on Outlook.com. The instructions suggest we delete the Outlook.com sync account within Outlook 2010 desktop. Will this mean I will lose all my saved emails and calendar items which exist within that account folder? The Outlook.com team have been pretty sparse in covering all possible Consumer questions - par for the course though with Microsoft!
Thanks. Andy
Diane Poremsky says
I don't remember that guide - or was that to make it easier to sync calendar and contacts with a smartphone?
Are all of the messages, appointments, and contacts in the outlook.com account online? if so, no you won't lose anything. After the account is migrated, you'll remove it from outlook and add it back using auto account setup - this will add it as an exchange account. Set the exchange inbox as the delivery folder for the pop account and it should work just like it does now.
Angel says
I am having alot of trouble with my Outlook after being "forced" to move to Office 365 and now I'm completely turned around after trying to use some work-arounds online. i was unable to get any clear solutions after speaking with about 8 different people at Microsoft. I purchased Outlook 2016 because I didn't have a good time with the Windows 10 apps) but stopped downloading and contacted a tech when it said it would be removing my MS Office 2013 apps. The tech I talked to said he would just set me up with an Office 365 (2013 versions of Office and Outlook) subscription instead. He set this up initially as an EAS account so I wouldn't lose my contacts. The next day I noticed I didn't have the full functionality of Outlook 2013 as I knew it. The "add Contact group" button was greyed out, no "Out of Office" reply - The next tech I talked to said that would only work if she set it up as an IMAP account instead, which we did. The only thing it fixed was the "add Contact Group button and then I couldn't see my contacts. She gave me a work aorund to creat a rukle for out of office replies, but its very inconvenient and easy to forgot to turn on and off. She suggested adding back the EAS. So now I have two accounts that I get multiple notifications for. I can't remove the Imap because I lose my contact groups and I can't remover the EAS because I lose my contacts and calendars. I tried creating a .pst and moving stuff that way but that just adds more accounts and folders and I'm afraid and not sure which accounts to get rid of. I usually only use this computer for checking email, adding calendar items, etc./, but I also share my calendar - via outlook with my boss and he with me. on occasion I may need to check the account via outlook.com and I need to be sure that everything has synced correctly. What is my best solution here? I am open to any suggestions other than calling Microsoft again as it took 8 people before someone said I won't have the functionality of Out of Office replies without being on the Microsoft Exchange - that it's different than EAS? Is there a way to get on this?
Diane Poremsky says
Oh lordy. When you say 'forced to move to office 365' do you mean outlook.com was migrated to the mew server? If so, set the account up as an Exchange account.
If you mean you moved from office 2010 or older but are still on the old outlook.com server, even with the crappy limitations, EAS is generally the best. You'll lose contact groups until the account is migrated. Rather than imap, I would use a PST for the contact groups - the this computer only folders are only in that folder ands are lost if something happens to the data file. So.. put the groups in a Pst, remove imap and keep the eas account.
sb says
Hi. Any update on when outlook.com accounts will be moved? If I'm trying to sync calendar and contacts with Outlook 2016, should I just wait until that happens?
Diane Poremsky says
They are working on it but still have a long way to go (somewhere around 15% are moved so far). They might move all Outlook users in one big group around the end of the year or early next year since the new servers will improve the experience a lot. As i know more I will post it.
karin says
Hi there, I am having a nightmare with moving things into a new office 365 personal package and getting a bit desperate and you are clearly amazing at this and frankly my last hope! My emails area domain email (aka name@namesurname.org and name@place.org.uk) that I have been using via google apps for many years.
I had help from the desk getting the email set up in Outlook 2016 for desktop (which was tricky as it involved repairing files). But the second email won't set up at all.
This email doesn't synch with outlook.com - though I can send emails from it and it is the name@namesurname.org they come from.
My calendar was imported into the outlook 2016 and is not synching to outlook.com, nor to the gmail calendar or the same email.
My OneNotes are fine and synch to online and my phone OneNotes ap.
I can't login via the portal.office.com page but only via office.com
HELP.
With thanks
K
Kevin Beach says
Have you got the link yet for us to go to, to request early migration? I've got four active outlook.com accounts, so I'd be very grateful for the link.
Diane Poremsky says
They decided not to accept requests for early migration at this time - there are a number of issues that can prevent them from moving a mailbox right away and felt it would only add confusion. They *might* move all outlook users in one big group.
Greg Tylawsky says
Is there a way to see all of the IMAP accounts I have in my Outlook Desktop APP on my Outlook 365 Web App? Connected accounts are not a viable option. Thank You so much for your help and this great website. I use it all the time.
Diane Poremsky says
No, sorry. Accounts set up in Outlook desktop are in outlook desktop only. The only way to see them in OWA is to add them as a connected account or log into the IMAP account's web access.
Si says
Hi Diane,
I have a hotmail account I am trying to sync with my mac - email has worked fine but I am struggling with calendar and contacts. Is there a way to get them to sync with outlook 2016?
Diane Poremsky says
No, not at this time. Outlook.com is migrating to Office 365 servers and once your account is migrated, you'll be able ot add it as an Exchange account - then it will sync calendar and contacts.
Notto Jensen says
How will the migration from Outlook.com to Outlook 365 happen? Will I log in to Outlook.com and it will be changed, or do you think I'll get a notice?
Diane Poremsky says
They are supposed to send an email saying you'll be moved soon and you might receive an email pointing out new features or you might notice it when you log in and see the banner that says "Outlook Mail (Preview)" instead of outlook.com.
Craig Johnston says
Hello Diane, I've been having trouble with emails being sent from my EAS account in Outlook 2013 getting stuck in The Outbox. I'm assuming this will never work and I just need to wait for my live.com account to be converted to Exchange. Assuming this is the case, do you know how will we know when it has actually happened?
Diane Poremsky says
Did it ever work? Did you upgrade to windows 10?
Two known causes:
There were some server issues over the weekend with outlook.com - not sure if it was on the old or new server, but some users were having issues sending mail.
After upgrading to windows 10, you may need to run sfc /scannow to fix some issues.
NovatoN says
Many thanks Diane, following your confirmation that it can work I ran the sfc /scannow scan as recommended in one of your posts, and rebooted the computer, and this now works successfully! (Emails had been just sitting in the outbox while Outlook said that all folders were up to date.)
NovatoN says
I am using an outlook.com Exchange ActiveSync account in Outlook 2013, and was trying to send emails from this outlook.com email account to contacts saved in the contacts folder of my Office 365 Outlook Exchange account, also on the same computer and under the same user with both folder trees open above each other in Outlook 2013. However, outlook.com emails do not seem to be able to pull contact information from the Office 365 Exchange Outlook contacts folder and send successfully. Is there a way around this please, as I was trying hard to keep all my contacts in one single contacts folder on my computer (and synchronised to my phone). Many thanks for any advice.
Diane Poremsky says
What happens when you try? You'll need to either select the contacts folder in the address book dropdown or set exchange contacts to always be default. Each account has it's own autocomplete so that won't be shared but actual contacts should work.
Terry says
Will consumer based outlook.com accounts also be ported over to the office 365 infrastructure? Or, does this just apply to business accounts?
Diane Poremsky says
consumer accounts are being moved - everything on outlook.com is considered a consumer account, even if used by businesses.
Jonas says
Hi Diane,
my company uses Google apps and Gmail servers, and we use MAC OS. We have started using Office 2016 fro Mac via Office 365, every app works great, except for Outlook. I have tried every single ay I could think off to sync our gmail accounts with Outlook. Is there any trick to it? Thanks.
Diane Poremsky says
Mail will sync using imap but outlook 2016 doesn't support caldav and carddav to sync the calendar and contacts.
elearningcafes says
I am getting the impression from the posted comments that outlook.com works better with Office 2010 than Office 2013. Is that your impression also? If so, I will hold off upgrading to 2013. But I sure want to have email, calendar, tasks, notes and contacts sync across all my devices.
Diane Poremsky says
At this time, yes, the Outlook Connector is generally better with the old Outlook.com (but doesn't include Tasks). Once the account is moved to office 365, either version will offer excellent functionality.
Antonio Marques says
Hi Diane.
Maybe you can help me - I haven't found this anywhere yet...:
In my small PR company I have a dedicated ISP for email accounts, that I configure as IMAP on Outlook 2010. And we have a common account on Outlook.com for contacts and calendar.
In our machines we use both (IMAP email accounts and Outlook.com account for contacts and calendar) configured on our PCs running Office 2010. Problem is, we would like to upgrade to newer Office versions but from 2010 to 2013 (and now, 2016), Outlook now does not work anymore with contact groups from Outlook.com – which makes this unusable for us.
Do you know of any workaround...?
Thanks in advance,
António
Diane Poremsky says
There is no workaround for EAS account types - you can create groups online and they'll sync down as categories. When the outlook.com account is moved to Office365, the problem will be solved.