All outlook.com accounts are migrating to Office 365. Outlook.com accounts can be configured as Exchange accounts in Outlook 2010 and up. Outlook 2007 users will be able to set the accounts up as Microsoft Exchange until October 31 2017, after which they will need to upgrade or use POP3 or IMAP. Outlook 2007 supports only one Exchange account and users with more than one Outlook.com or Exchange account in their profile will need to use IMAP for the additional accounts (or new profiles). Outlook 2003 users will still need to use POP3 or IMAP. See "Outlook.com Migration Status" for the steps to remove the connector accounts and set it up as Exchange or IMAP. Articles on the new Outlook.com.
You can use IMAP or POP3 with Outlook.com accounts if you don't want to use Microsoft Exchange, such as, if you only need email or are using Outlook 2003 or Outlook 2007 and more than one Exchange account. You can access your Outlook.com email with any email client that supports IMAP, including Outlook 2011, Thunderbird, and more.
If you are only using Outlook.com for email and don't need to sync Outlook.com calendar and contacts to your desktop, setting the account up as an IMAP account could be a better option. Outlook 2007 doesn't support multiple Exchange accounts in one profile but you can add additional Outlook.com accounts to your profile as IMAP.
To set up an Outlook.com IMAP account in Outlook, you'll need to use the manual setup option. Server settings are below; don't forget to set the Outgoing Server tab (in More Settings) to authenticate with the mail server.
These steps work with migrated Outlook.com accounts. Note that Outlook 2003 users will need to use port 25 or port 587 and SSL, not TLS, to send mail.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Incoming IMAP Server: | imap-mail.outlook.com alternate servers: imap.outlook.com or outlook.office365.com |
| Server port: | 993 |
| Encryption: | SSL |
| Outgoing SMTP Server: | smtp-mail.outlook.com |
| Server port: | 587 |
| Encryption: | TLS |
Note: if imap-mail.outlook.com seems slow to download mail, try using outlook.office365.com as the incoming server name instead.
How to setup an IMAP account
You'll need to use the manual setup option when you configure an Outlook.com IMAP account in Outlook.
- Select Manual setup or additional server types and then click Next.
- Choose POP or IMAP from the next screen. Click Next.
- Enter your display name and email address and the Outlook.com IMAP server names. Use your email address for the account name and enter your password.
Incoming mail server: imap-mail.outlook.com (imap.outlook.com or outlook.office365.com will also work)
Outgoing mail server (SMTP): smtp-mail.outlook.com
- Click More Settings.
- On Outgoing Server tab, enable outgoing authentication, using the default of same as incoming.
- On Advanced tab, select SSL under Incoming Server (IMAP) and TLS for the Outgoing server. Change the Outgoing server to port 587. (The Incoming Server port should update to 993 automatically when you choose SSL).
- If you prefer to Purge your mail yourself, and not automatically when you change folders, change the setting at the bottom of the Advanced tab.
- Click Ok to return to the Add Account screen
- Adjust the Sync Slider if you want to sync more than the last 3 months to Outlook.
- Click Next to test the settings and exit the dialog.
Outlook 2011 for Mac
Outlook 2011 users will new to use a manual setup, at least short-term. Autodiscovery will eventually be updated to choose IMAP, but for now, use the manual method with the server names above. You'll need to change the SMTP port and both SSL boxes should be checked, as seen in this screenshot.
More Information
Announcement on the Office blog: Outlook.com now has IMAP
Mo H says
I was having no issues for the longest time after the server problems got resolved in 2017. Now, for the last few days, it keeps giving errors when trying to connect to IMAP servers, error ID 0x800CCC0F. It sometimes connects, but only around 1 out of 10 tries. When it does connect, it fails on some of my mail folders. This is a brand new problem. Is there another glitch with Outlook.com? Is anyone else having issues only recently? (November 1-20, 2019)
Diane Poremsky says
Are there any sync issues messages - Ctrl+6 to switch to the folder list and check the sync issues folder. (Ctrl+1 gets you back to the mail folders)
Mo H says
using windows live mail (older client), but should work with any standard IMAP. Has been working fine for 2+ years. I have seen other comments today that indicate the servers may be down. Can you confirm this or have any other status info?
Abhinit Dutta says
I got my settings figured out, thanks to you guys.
C.J. says
Diane,
(short story)
I completely removed (fix-it) Office 2010 and reinstalled. Updated it to SP2.
Found your "How to add outlook.com accounts to Outlook 2010" and followed instructions.
(situation)
I have several hotmail accounts which were migrated to exchange some time ago (and were working in prior Outlook 2010 install).
I added my primary one (as imap). This resulted in two PST data files being created - one for my default hotmail account *and* one named "Outlook Data File". The .pst file for my hotmail/outlook/exchange account seems to be "filling up" as I type this.
Question #1 - I was expecting my hotmail/outlook.com data files to be OST as they were previously. Did I do something incorrect?
Question #2 - why do I have the "Outlook Data File"? it does not seem to be attached to any email account.
Question #3 - the "Outlook Data File" is marked as the default. How can I change the default data file to the one for my primary hotmail account? NOTE - when I highlight it, the "Set as Default" option is greyed out.
Question #4 - I *do have* an ISP (pop3) account and its .pst file from the prior install. Can I add that pop3 account to Outlook, then close outlook and replace the 'empty' new .pst file with my saved/full .pst file?
Question #5 - should I trash all my Hotmail accounts and created Outlook accounts?
Thanks so much,
-cj
Diane Poremsky says
>> Question #1 - I was expecting my hotmail/outlook.com data files to be OST as they were previously. Did I do something incorrect?
If the account is an imap account, in outlook 2010, its a pst. If the account was added using autoaccount setup, it should be an Exchange account and will be am ost data file (and calendar & contacts sync).
>> Question #2 - why do I have the "Outlook Data File"? it does not seem to be attached to any email account.
When you use an imap account in outlook 2010 or older, you need the pst for calendar and contacts.
>> Question #3 - the "Outlook Data File" is marked as the default. How can I change the default data file to the one for my primary hotmail account?
you can't set the imap data file as default in outlook 2010 (and older). If the account is added as exchange, it could be set as default (and usually sets itself as default.)
>> Question #4 - I *do have* an ISP (pop3) account and its .pst file from the prior install. Can I add that pop3 account to Outlook, then close outlook and replace the 'empty' new .pst file with my saved/full .pst file?
You can add it to the profile and set it as default then remove the new one that was created. File, open, outlook data file - then Account Settings to set it as default.
>> Question #5 - should I trash all my Hotmail accounts and created Outlook accounts?
Keep them if you use them, but i would add them as exchange (using auto account setup), not imap. Or at least add the most important one as exchange and the others as imap (to reduce the number of calendar & contacts folders in your profile.)
Nasr Samie says
Dear Diane
Hi Diane,
I use Office 365 with both a gmail and and an IMAP e-mail account. Both accounts have been setup on OutIook365 and my gmail and IMAP account e-mails are syncing on my laptop and Android phone (i have the Outlook app loaded).
However my gmail calendar only reflects on my Android phone and does not sync with Outlook on my laptop. Please note that my Outlook Calendar on my laptop denotes "(This computer only"). Also on the Outlook app on my phone I can only book appointments using my gmail account and not with my IMAP account also my IMAP account calendar does not sync on Outlook.
I understand that I can use Outlook.com to sync the calendar for my IMAP e-mail account to my Android Phone/Tablet in the background.
I have tried setting up the IMAP e-mail account on Outlook.com and received the following error message "A TLS API error occurred. Error = 0x80090326"
I have mailed Microsoft support on 3 separate occasions with no response. The e-mail ticket number on my last e-mail is 5240071. It has been 3 weeks now.
Could you please assist or advise urgently as I am at my wits end.
Kind regards
Nas'r Samie
Nasr Samie says
Hi Diane,
I use Office 365 with both a gmail and and an IMAP e-mail account. Both accounts have been setup on OutIook and my gmail and IMAP account e-mails are syncing on my laptop and Android phone (i have the Outlook app loaded).
However my gmail calendar only reflects on my Android phone and does not sync with Outlook on my laptop. Please note that my Outlook Calendar on my laptop denotes "(This computer only"). Also on the Outlook app on my phone I can only book appointments using my gmail account. How do I resolve this?
I understand that I can use Outlook.com to sync the calendar for my IMAP e-mail account to my Android Phone? If so, how? I have read up on your various notes on this but I have very little technical proficiency so I am not connecting the dots... Please Help
Patty J says
Forgot to mention I also have office 365 - if that something you need to know.
Patty J says
I am at wits end. We have a out of state server with our email set up .. my computer has acted up a few times. My email worked for awhile, went on line remotely for help.. became completely confused with Outlook Live and the outlook acct. I already have. I dont need the Live version. This is an email for our business. Thats it. I dont use Edge - dont like Bing. I stayed with google chrome. I reset my password.. however it appears it was for the LIVE version. This is making my HAIR HURT! All I want to do is reset up my OLD OUTLOOK email using my old imap and pop3.
This should not be this difficult. I also noticed that my office is not working right.. it gets hung up sometimes in excel and in word- says not responding. I do not want to use cloud... which may be another issue.
Diane Poremsky says
>> Outlook Live and the outlook acct. I already have. I don't need the Live version
Do you have a Microsoft account set up for your email address? If so, go to https://account.microsoft.com and add an outlook.com alias to it and delete your work address. This will not affect logins - except you'll use the new address, not the old. If you use it to log into your computer, nothing will change except the address. (I needed to do this with my own account.)
Brian says
I have no idea what the hell I'm doing and usually find a friend to reconfig my system. I dumped Verizon email and went with Gmail on the advice of many. I'm Jethro Bodine from the Beverly Hillbiillies compared to all of you. So I found some short instructions to add a gmail email account to Outlook 2003, and I was able to "remove" Verizon incoming thingie, but now I am lost. I want gmail to be my Outlook default email and be able to forward articles and links from Websites and Forums using gmail just like I did when I had Verizon. If someone smart who is REALLY bored,,,,,,,,,,,,, knows how to help a caveman like me,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Diane Poremsky says
When you use outlook 2003, you need a PST file set as default for calendar and contacts but can set the imap account as default for sending email. If the only account in your profile is the imap it should be the default email account for sending and the PST should the default. New messages, forwarding and replies should work like before.
Are you getting any error messages when you try to forward links?
I'm not in my office today or I'd make you a video showing how to do it.
Judi Reid says
I use Office 365 for Business with an @mybusinessname.com as my main email address. I also have an outlook.com account which I use for another business and I am having problems with using both within my desktop Outlook mail program. (Office 2016,)
If both are set up as Exchange accounts my Outlook profile corrupts regularly, and I have to set up a new profile. I also have a gmail account and another account set up as IMAP.
Appreciate any help in sorting this out as it is not feasible for me to run 2 separate profiles and keep logging in and out.
Diane Poremsky says
You defintely shouldn't have problems with the accounts in Outlook 2016. I'm assuming both are setup as Exchange?
You don't have the business address set up as a Microsoft Account, do you? They no longer allow Office 365 business accounts to be used as Microsoft accounts because it causes problems, but it was possible to do this years ago. If you do have the business address added as a microsoft account, add an outlook.com alias to the account and delete the business address from the microsoft account.
Jess H says
Diane:
I have a POP email account set up in Outlook 2003 with a email provider who’s getting out of the email business.
I also have an existing Outlook.com account that I access by webmail, so I set up IMAP in Outlook 2003 to replace the POP account.
I followed your steps for migrated outlook.com accounts according to this article., At the top of the article, a banner reads: “Note that Outlook 2003 users will need to use port 35 or port 587 and SSL, not TLS, to send mail.”
(disabled) the POP account before I added the IMAP account. IMAP is the default account now. ( I haven't removed the POP account yet in OL)
In another titled article ‘Outlook.com Migration Status’ : https://www.slipstick.com/outlookcom/outlook-com-migration-status/
a note says ‘Update March 23 2017: use port 25’ under the section that reads: To remove and re-add the account in Outlook 2003
A reply on March 23, 2017 that you posted in that same article said you tested smtp port25 successfully. You configured the port to 465 and autodiscover ‘fixed’ it and it’s now on port 25:
https://www.slipstick.com/outlookcom/outlook-com-migration-status/#comment-205424
The contradiction on the smtp ports for OL 2003 in the two articles is making me to think the smtp server for OL 2003 is not port 25.
This is what I currently have set up in OL 2003:
Incoming IMAP Server: imap.outlook.com
Server Port: 993 (SSL) encryption
Outgoing SMTP Server: smtp.outlook.com
Server port: 25 (SSL) encryption
OL 2003 receives email, but I can’t send.
I don’t know whether on the client side there’s any way to turn off autodiscover. If there’s a way, I’d like to try to configure OL 2003 to port 35 or port 587..
Do you know what has changed since you tested Outlook 2003 on port 25 back in March successfully?
Diane Poremsky says
You are correct, the port # is a typo - it should be port 25. Will fix that immediately.
>>
This is what I currently have set up in OL 2003:
Incoming IMAP Server: imap.outlook.com
Server Port: 993 (SSL) encryption
Outgoing SMTP Server: smtp.outlook.com
Server port: 25 (SSL) encryption
OL 2003 receives email, but I can’t send.
>>
that is correct... or should be. I will test it here and verify it still works and also try 587.
Many isp's block port 25 or capture the traffic and use their own smtp server but if they are killing their service, i would hope they weren't doing this. 465 and 587 will normally bypass this - but the hack they use to allow 2003 to work with office 365 doesn't always work with those ports.
Jess H says
My ISP is Comcast Xfinity. They've blocked /captured port 25 since 2011. The old POP account that I still have set up in OL 2003 is Verizon. though it’s a POP account, never had an issue with port 465 while Xfinity being my ISP
I haven’t tried removing the POP account yet because I have a test message stuck in OL.
I’m curious , if by just ‘disabling’ POP account and not removing it, could it be that simple? The test message sent from IMAP account went to the outbox of the POP folders and being held there.
Also, as I was troubleshooting, I checked in Send/Receive progress and clicked on the error tab.
found this error:
Task 'imap.mail.outlook.com - Sending' reported error (0x800CCC7D) : 'Your outgoing (SMTP) server does not support SSL-secured connections. If SSL-secured connections have worked in the past, contact your server administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).'
P.S (I’m temporarily having email imported from Verizon into Gmail )
Diane Poremsky says
Unfortunately, Outlook.com only supports port 25 in Outlook 2003 at this time. I don't expect this to change going forward as the # of outlook 2003 users is dropping.
IMAP always puts the outgoing email in the default data file's outbox... but its trying to use the smtp server for the imap account. If your isp blocks port 25, you'll need to either upgrade office, use a different email client, or use Outlook on the web.
Tarun says
I am trying to migrate my email account with contacts from outlook.com to office365. In order to migrate everything accross, I thought best would be first to connect my outlook.com to Outlook 2016 (provided part of Office 365 substription). However, I have tried all possible combination or outgoing and ingoing server setting as described so far but nothing seems to work. I am based in UK. Any other solutions?
Diane Poremsky says
Don't use manual setup.
Add the new account to outlook desktop using auto account setup.
Add the outlook.com account to outlook using auto account setup - this will add it as an Exchange account. Now you can select all, then move or copy to folder. (Use a list view on the calendar folder.)
John says
I have six Hotmail addresses I tend to for family. All were rendered worthless for IMAP access.
The solution is using:
outlook.office365.com - port 993 SSL
smtp.office365.com - port 587 TLS
I actually finally dumped my hotmail account I've had for nearly 20 years because of this issue and also Hotmail's refusal to allow users to shut off the spam mail filter and went with Zoho.
Mo H says
Diane wrote:
Apparently the problems with imap-mail server is affecting mostly only US customers, the server is fine for the rest of the world... and it began with the problems on march 21. But that is all i know so far.
---------------------------------------------
Even that is BS. If you take a look at twitter for the last 2 weeks or so, you can see that many people from foreign countries are reporting weird server and sync issues but they don't know exactly what the root of it is. I saw one guy in India and another in the UK I believe. At least one person declared on twitter he was quitting outlook.com for good after the help desk was clueless.
I wrote on another blog that it wouldn't surprise me if this is on purpose to steer customers to the newest MS products/systems. Of course they would never/ could never admit to anything like that. But they sure killed off XP, didn't they?
Diane Poremsky says
I didn't say 'only US' - but the information I have, it seems disproportionately affecting US customers.
FWIW, the MS support that consumers get is often clueless.
Outlook.com s running on the newest product; while exchange services is the best option for connecting, IMAP isn't going going away. Outlook.office365.com is the imap server for business accounts - imap-mail was used for both the old and new outlook.com server bu clearly, something is screwed up. As long as outlook.office365.com works, use it.
victor baron says
Right or wrong, the change to the office365 server resolved the speed issues for me.
Thanx!!
Mo H says
Robbie Stewart,
YOU ARE AN ABSOLUTE GENIUS. (ALL CAPS INTENTIONAL).
I changed my incoming imap to outlook.office365.com, and the whole sync took about 5 seconds. It used to take like 5 minutes before it would quit with errors. This one change made ***all **** the difference.
Wow. Just wow. :)
Diane Poremsky says
that was my experience too - i have a question in to my outlook.com support contact to find out what is going on and why the one they say to use is so much slower.
Robbie Stewart says
Hi everyone,
I too, have been having some issues with these servers listed in this article also. I believe that it has something to do with the migration from IPv4 to IPv6 as these servers aren't trace routing back to an IPv6 IP address, at least not over a Comcast Xfinity connection, which has Incorporated IPv6, so here's what I changed mine to instead:
imap.outlook.com - port 993 SSL
smtp.outlook.com - port 587 TLS
Also, according to this:
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/POP-and-IMAP-server-name-reference-8361e398-8af4-4e97-b147-6c6c4ac95353?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US
You can also use these servers also:
outlook.office365.com - port 993 SSL
smtp.office365.com - port 587 TLS
I trace routed these also and they also come back as having an IPv6 address. Also, in the above referenced article, you have to select "Outlook.com" from the drop-down box.
Diane Poremsky says
Outlook on the web's options at https://outlook.live.com/owa/?path=/options/popandimap use imap-mail.outlook.com.
Robbie Stewart says
Yes Diane,
These are the settings that you are supposed to use according to your above link that you posted, however they are not working correctly, as to what others and myself have posted on this forum, and Microsoft seems unwilling to address the issues on their Answers Desk help forums, hence the reason why I posted the updated servers for which are IPv6 compliant and are working correctly. If you don't know what IPv6 protocol is, I'd suggest you spend a little time reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv6
You can check your connection to see if your Internet Service Provider has enabled IPv6 protocol yet by going to:
http://test-ipv6.com/
http://helpdesk.test-ipv6.com/
The second link is to a troubleshooting site that Internet Service Providers will sometimes direct you to for troubleshooting issues with IPv6 connectivity. Most ISP's including Xfinity and AT&T have enabled IPv6, but Spectrum and Frontier have not, yet. If are on Xfinity or AT&T and are not getting an IPv6 IP Address, then you may need to replace and update either your router, modem, or both.
Now, how did I figure all of this out? Real simple. I use a trace route program called Ping Plotter to run a trace route pate back to Outlook's mail servers that you mentioned in your prior posting. You can download the free version of it at:
http://www.pingplotter.com/products/free.html
I also ran a trace route on the mail servers that you listed and that's where I noticed the problem with IPv6 connectivity at.
Anyway, I've listed my sources here and you all are free to try this experiment with your Internet Service Provider for yourself. Mine was done from Comcast Xfinity, which is IPv6 compliant.
Diane Poremsky says
its more than just ipv6 - something is goofy with the imap server connection. (My internet is ipv4 - Spectrum business.)
Robbie Stewart says
Well Diane,
You know that and I know that. Unfortunately, Microsoft does not yet realize this, yet. Unless Microsoft either fixes this in your prior posting:
https://outlook.live.com/owa/?path=/options/popandimap
or officially updates this page that you referenced to the new servers, like they did here on this page:
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/POP-and-IMAP-server-name-reference-8361e398-8af4-4e97-b147-6c6c4ac95353?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US
I promise I will raise this issue personally with Microsoft the next time I have to make a trip out to corporate in Redmond, Washington. It is on my list of things to discuss with them. I am also currently raising this issue with them as a member of the Windows 10 Insider Program at:
https://insider.windows.com/
Even though you are on IPv4, you can still use the updated servers that I've listed and they should work for you a lot better then the current official ones for the time being, especially since you run a business. As the old saying in business goes, "time is money." I have tested these servers on an IPv4 only Spectrum connection and they are working.
I feel your pain on IPv4. I have several family members who are also subscribers of Charter (now known as Spectrum) and please know that I'm also raising the IPv6 issues with them in trying to get them to upgrade their network infrastructure to IPv6, simply because ICANN ran out of IPv4 addresses about 2 years ago, and Spectrum needs to get in line with the program. My late father was also a subscriber to Charter's Internet service for several years before he passed away two years ago.
Diane Poremsky says
i have 10 static ips, so it will be a long time before i'm moved into ipv6. :)
Mo H says
I thought I was already ipv6, but according to that test site, I am still ipv4. So while this might be related, there still is something screwy going on with the official imap servers.
I have always maintained since this problem began that it was a server problem. MS is not willing to concede anything.
Diane Poremsky says
Apparently the problems with imap-mail server is affecting mostly only US customers, the server is fine for the rest of the world... and it began with the problems on march 21. But that is all i know so far.
Dirk says
Thank you Robbie Stewart. I reinstalled Windows, and had to re-install Live mail.
I used imap-mail.outlook.com like a lot of sites told me to, but it took 2 hours with a lot of errors (server not responding, closing live mail, restarting it). Even after it finished downloading all my messages (so after everything had finally synced) it would take me a few tries to load the bodies of new messages.
I tried imap.outlook.com like you suggested, and so far it works like a charm :)
Mo H says
Is there any place we can go to get a status of this problem/resolution where someone is familiar with this exact issue with IMAP servers and can speak intelligently about it?
Diane Poremsky says
You could contact their Answer Desk but it's no guarantee you'll get someone who knows anything about it or understands the issue. Otherwise, consumers don't have a lot of options.
Rick says
I want to thank ALL of you for the updates - I thought I was the only one having issues with Outlook and IMAP. I even deleted all accounts and restored them only to have the same issues.
THANKS AGAIN
Rick
Mo H says
This is officially a thing. I thought it was just me, but now I'm hearing it is affecting many others. Accessing outlook.com accounts using IMAP has been acting up for a few weeks now. I recall the day the service was actually down- could not even log in on the web. After this got "fixed" the IMAP problems persisted.
I even had the question if it was only WLM, or did it also affect other email clients like Thunderbird. Well now I have my answer- victor baron says it happened on Thunderbird also.
I also had the same thoughts as Ron Webber. It seems MS is doing this on purpose to discourage use of local clients to access IMAP..... unless perhaps that client is Outlook/MS Office.
Anyone have any thoughts/ideas or additional info on this mess?
Diane Poremsky says
it's a bug - I have a query into outlook.com support to find out what is going on. It appears to be unrelated to the desktop client and I understand that outlook is also a slug with it (if using IMAP).
victor baron says
I can confirm that the problem exists with Outlook also. I think I tried everything but two tin cans and a string!
Mo H says
I echo victor's remarks. If it were only the client, then other clients with IMAP would work normally. I would like to use Thunderbird, which presumably should work, but that is confirmed to have the same issue. Outlook is known to have the issue. So why would eM client be any better?
I can live with dumping WLM, but this IMAP issue needs to be fixed. Is MS aware there is a serious problem here? On twitter, they appear to deny , bury, or shift attention at any mention of this.
Diane Poremsky says
eM won't fix this specific problem, but for the future when Outlook 2003 and WLM (and 2007) no longer work with Office 365 - or just for now, because the older apps may have vulnerabilities... or because you want to sync calendar & contacts but don't want to spring for a new office suite. It's modern and very outlook-like. It syncs calendar & contacts with outlook.com/exchange/office 365, yahoo, and gmail. It's free if you only use two accounts.
Diane Poremsky says
BTW -
>>Is MS aware there is a serious problem here? On twitter, they appear to deny , bury, or shift attention at any mention of this.
Yes, they are definitely as of today. I don't know if they were aware of continuing problems since March 21 - they knew about issues on March 21 but said it was fixed several hours later. I'm not sure who mans twitter, but it's not unusual for support to either misunderstand the issue or not be aware of what the product team is working on.
Mo H says
Thank you for your feedback. I had a chat session with outlook.com support about 2 weeks ago and they said that WLM was no longer supported and told me to use Outlook or the MS Mail app in windows 10. Basically blamed it on me and denied that anything at all was unusual with the outlook.com servers, IMAP or otherwise. If it also happens with Outlook then I'm surprised that MS is not being very intense about addressing this. There are scattered reports but nothing official.
The only meaningful thing they said was that they were in the process of upgrading the security of the servers and WLM probably couldn't handle it. But again, that should not affect Outlook (or Thunderbird). And I'm not so sure that's the reality of what is happening.
Diane Poremsky says
>> WLM was no longer supported
Not supported does not equal 'not work' but it does mean that Microsoft will not assist you should you have problems. AFAIK, WLM will still work as an imap client - the big thing is does it support SSL and TLS? That will determine how long it works.
>> they were in the process of upgrading the security of the servers and WLM probably couldn't handle it
This would be the only reason it wouldn't work... as I mentioned, as long as it supports SSL/TLS, it will work. They are, for the short term, providing SSL for SMTP so Outlook 2003 will work as an IMAP or POP client. This could go away at any time. If WLM only supports SSL, not TLS, then it will die when Outlook 2003 does.
WLM will definitely not support calendar & contact sync with Outlook.com, so you are limited to IMAP and email only.
It really is better to upgrade to a modern client though. (If i didn't use outlook, i would probably use eM client.)
victor baron says
Hate to activate an old thread but I'm stumped. Been using IMAP server for quite a while with Windows Live Mail with no issues. In the last two weeks - all FOUR of my systems are having serious problems accessing my email. Using the web interface, absolutely NO problem but I prefer the 3rd party programs. I also tried Thunderbird and the problem persists with that so it's not WLM. When I check mail, a connection appears to be established and it is indicated that WLM is checking the deleted, sent , inbox, etc but it takes FOREVER for this to work and most times I'll get "your server hasn't responded -wait?" type of message. Whether I check from home or office, on a W10 Pro or w7 pro system, the result is the same. Sometimes after several reboots, it just might work a little faster.
I am getting no error messages other than timeout and nothing in event viewer.
Any thoughts, anybody??
Thanx
Diane Poremsky says
The accounts are all on outlook.com? There were some issues the lost couple of weeks, such as some people had problems signing in and calendar sync was acting up. I'll see if i can find out any thing specific about imap issues.
Initial information is there were issues with imap around March 21 but those were fixed within a few hours.
victor baron says
Thanx Diane! Yes, all were imap-mail.outlook.com.
I appreciate you looking into it.
Ron Webber says
Diane, about a week ago the outlook IMAP server dramatically slowed down to the point it was almost not functioning. MyPOP3 account works fine. I prefer using Thunderbird as my client, and wondering, is it possible that MS is discouraging the use of local clients for IMAP? I receive notes "Server xxx@outlook.com has disconnected or may have gone down." Is there another port I can use for imap-mail.outlook.com other than 993?
Any help would be most appreciated.
Ron
Diane Poremsky says
993 is the only port. There were issues with the the accounts recently - not sure if it always included imap. What server name are you using? If the account was created before the move to the new server, the server name might be incorrect. The correct names are available in outlook.com options.
Ron Webber says
The IMAP server imap-mail.outlook.com. I should add, there are two individuals that I know that are having the same problem. The connection issue began about the same time for the three of us.
Ron
Diane Poremsky says
I'm pretty sure it's an issue on the service side - there was a problem around March 21 2017 but to the best of my knowledge, this was fixed. (I'm trying to find out more about it.)
Mohit Sharma says
i uesd outlook, outgoing mais are going but incoming mailes are not coming
what i m doing
Please advise.
Diane Poremsky says
Do you get any send & receive error messages? Is the account a POP, IMAP, Outlook.com or Exchange? Do they arrive if you press F9 or the Send & Receive button?
Mark Horner says
i used the above settings and connected which is great but i would like to sync contacts and calendar items also can this be done.
My outlook 2016 desktop just will not connect with the new server. it is a 365 home account i have and keepstrying to connect with my works exchange account?
Diane Poremsky says
Is this an outlook.com account? If so, you can sync calendar & contacts. Auto account setup should add outlook.com/hotmail accounts to outlook as a microsoft exchange account - Exchange ActiveSync account types are no longer supported.
If it's not outlook.com, you need to use an outlook.com account - calendar & contacts in other accounts won't sync to anything.
Robert says
I don't want to do anything except connect my other Email so I don't have to keep logging in & out each time. Why is this not working? The password is correct, & what is Username? All I needed before was Email address & password. Why change this? All I get now is annoying error messages with NO reason specified.
Diane Poremsky says
You should only need the email address and password now too - unless you enabled multi-factor authentication. Then you will need the app password.
Paul says
Is Yahoo mail is POP3 or Imap protocol server??
while creating an account on outlook mail there is option comes to set server setting. what should be filled in the server setting it is very confusing for the number of people answer is Yahoo is IMAP to connect mail to connect mail to yahoo server
Diane Poremsky says
Yahoo supports both pop3 and imap. Default for autoconnect is imap but users can manually configure pop3.
(Please don't post links to fake support sites.)
den walker says
POP access settings and instructions for Yahoo Mail
POP (Post Office Protocol) is 1 way to get Yahoo Mail in a desktop or mobile app. POP downloads copies of your email, so you can move and delete them in the app without affecting the original emails.
POP settings for Yahoo Mail
Incoming Mail (POP) Server
Server - pop.mail.yahoo.com
Port - 995
Requires SSL - Yes
Outgoing Mail (SMTP) Server
Server - smtp.mail.yahoo.com
Port - 465 or 587
Requires SSL - Yes
Requires TLS - Yes (if available)
Requires authentication - Yes
Your login info
Email address - Your full email address (name@domain.com.)
Password - Your account's password.
Requires authentication - Yes
Robbie Stewart says
The only way that POP3 works in Yahoo is if you pay them $19.99 a year for premium access. Use IMAP instead. They don't charge for IMAP access.
Diane Poremsky says
When did they start charging for pop? They used to charge but in 2013, dropped it for POP (their ad-free option is $50/yr.)
Guillermo Castaneda says
I have been trying to set up my LOTUS NOTES 9 as a mail client for my OUTLOOK account, but with NO success !!
It looks that there must be other parameters than those described in this document to make the connection work.
I will appreciate your help on this very important matter.
Regards
Guillermo
Diane Poremsky says
Is imap enabled on the Notes server? Outlook no longer supported connecting to Notes (in the past, Notes had an addin that enabled it - that was discontinued some time ago).
If notes doesn't support IMAP, you can use it with outlook (and would only get email, not calendar & contacts).
Thank you says
Thank you for your guide.
Jennifer says
I can't get it to authenticate for anything. I have double checked the IMAP, POP3 and SMTP configurations. I have checked in my outlook live settings that the POP3 is checked, (to use it), and still my Thunderbird won't authenticate with my hotmail account. Extremely frustrating. I loathe outlook live. really. very bad. very bad program.
Michel Westdijk says
I have Office 2011 14.7.0 running on Mac El Capitan. I have IMAP installed and have have nice folders. Since a week or so I get the message AUTHENTICATIONFAILED] Invalid username or password.
It only goed wrong for receiving mail. Sending is OK. IMAP server is set tot imap-mail.outlook.com and port 993 and SSL.
I have tried everything and looked on fora, but I can't find solution.
Getting almost desperate ;-)
Diane Poremsky says
Is it still a problem? There were issues with the server that *should* be fixed now.
Ing. Cedeño Cruz Miguel says
I can't send or receive hotmail in my Outlook 2011 with impap (993) and smtp (587). It was working OK until friday November 18, 2016
Diane Poremsky says
There were issues with the servers over the weekend - the problem was fixed on Tues (Nov 22). Is it still not working today?
Calv says
The problem began lasts weekend also and it is still not fixed. I have checked all the server setting and still am unable to receive messages.
Diane Poremsky says
Do you get any error messages? Which version of Outlook and how is the account configured in Outlook? (It should be added to Outlook as Microsoft Exchange for best results.)
Anton says
Hi Diane, am trying to import yahoo mail to outlook 2016. The set up process above is clear, BUT, when getting to the test stage I get a "enter user name and password for the following server, and the server is identified as imap-mail.outlook.com. I have tried the yahoo password, my outlook password, and used the MS app password combination, to no avail. Which password should do the trick here?Thank you, AG
Diane Poremsky says
Do you have two-factor authentication enabled on the yahoo account? (either actual 2 factor or the option to text a one time password) if so, you need an app password from Yahoo.
Blackswan says
Hi Diane,
Thanks so much for the guide which I had followed through! However, it's not working for my hotmail a/c which I had set up under Imap.
When I did a Test Account Settings, it failed to log in to my inbox & kept prompting me for password even though I've retyped & confirmed it's the right password. Please advise! Thanks!
Yash says
Hi Diane,
I think I have previously exchanged a couple of ideas with you. My accounts, it seems, were amongst the last to be migrated. Some things seem to have changed, obviously.
I went through a couple of discussions hoping to find my answer. If I understood correctly:
1. OWA does not allow other outlook (or hotmail) accounts to be added?
2. OWA allows only upto 5 connected accounts?
I remember very well, my account was really working fine with all the accounts connected, surely more than 5 with atleast 1 hotmail account, even after the migration. Only now, have had problems.
Alas, looks like thats the way it is now.
Actually, what i need is to be able to receive (which is solved by a simple "forward") and send using only one account (eliminating certainly more than 7-8 accounts). Also, would prefer connected gmail account like behavior, where sent messages appear as new messages in inbox. Is there a way of achieving this? Have tried rules, but it doesn't work..!
Thanks and regards,
Yash
Frank says
I've been using Office 2007 for several years and using Outlook as my email client and Google as my server. Not sure what happen about 6 months ago but the exchange with the Google server was causing username and password issues. No matter how many times I would go into account settings and define the criteria for exchanging email with the server it would continue to fail. The only solution that I could get to work on one computer was to create another email account, not my primary, and calling it the default account. On google email I had to setup another email account. On the client I could not use a password on the logon information and on the new account that I established I had to use a password, same password that you had to define on the google server.
On google I had to modify the new email account making it the default and under gmail account settings the new email had to be the default and it had to be treated as an alias to make everything work. So basically the primary email sends a copy to the alias, new account, which in turns sends it to my outlook client.
If I read your article correctly it sounds like I need to change my settings from a POP3 to IMAP environment following your instructions?
Any help would be appreciated....
Diane Poremsky says
IMAP is recommended with Gmail/Google accounts. Are you using two-factor authentication? If so, you need to use an app password in outlook.
Frank says
Hi Diane, not using two-factor authentication so where might I go from here? Thanks...
iestyn mullins says
Hi Diane - I recently lost (11/16/17) network connectivity to one of my @msn.com accounts on both my Mac and PC. After deleting the account and attempting to re-ad it I see the message "An encrypted connection to your mail server is not available. Click Next to attempt using an unencrypted connection".
I have 2 msn.com accounts but this is the only one that fails on both my Mac and PC. I made contact with Msft and they're now having an engineer call in a couple of days. Before I attempt to follow your steps I wanted to ask what caused my msn.com account to lose a network connection on both computers at the same time, whereas my other msn account is working fine. Did something change at Msft?
My operating sytem is Windows10 and I use MS Office 2016 (365).
Thanks in advance for you help (I've used my msn.com account that works),
Iestyn
Diane Poremsky says
Is it working yet? It sounds like the account was moved to the new server when it stopped working. It can take 24 - 48 hours for DNS to fully update - after that it should work.
Per Ahlsen says
Thanks, finally a solution to my problem. 2 thumbs up.
Glenn says
Hi Diane,
I cannot set up a Outlook.com mailbox in Outlook 2016 for an email address that has a non-Microsoft domain name (eg. someone@xyzmail.com).
Outlook 2016 retrieves the Autodiscover settings for xyzmail.com and then tries to connect to the xyzmail.com server rather than Outlook.com using the someone@xyzmail.com Microsoft account name that has always worked.
Can you advise how to solve this please?
Diane Poremsky says
You have two choices: recommended is to add an Outlook.com alias to the outlook.com account and use that to log in. The other option is to add the account as an Active Sync account using the manual setup option and eas.outlook.com as the server name. Using an outlook.com alias will give you a better sync experience.
Manuel says
TY!!!! I had tried several things and just could not get my gmail account to work on Outlook and kept getting error on the outgoing testing, the settings you suggested did the trick, ty!
John Mooney says
Hi,
I have all the latest updates for MS Office Outlook 2016.
I am using IMAP via Bravenet
My Outlook is Synchronising with my server and I am automatically losing my Inbox emails that are older than 10 days. The option to set the retention days used to be available in Outlook but not anymore.
Is there any way around this?
Thanks in advance for your assistance.
Diane Poremsky says
If file, account settings double click on the bravenet account - is the sync slider set low? The lowest setting is one month - so it doesn't sound like it is this setting.
Is there a setting on the bravenet server to delete older mail?
Are you opening the account on another computer, using POP3? Default settings with pop3 are delete from the server in 14 days, older versions delete from the server as the mail is downloaded.
Are you accessing the account using a smartphone?
Prem Chandiramani says
Hi,
I have an email account that is setup as an IMAP/SMTP account, is there any way to add a calendar for this type of account? I've got two other accounts which are Exchange Activesync and the calendar for those work well but i'm struggling with a calendar for my IMAP/SMTP account.
I have three accounts in total.
Thanks very much in advance for your help.
Diane Poremsky says
IMAP does not support a calendar (exception: if you use 2013 or 2016 and the imap data file is set as default it will create a calendar and contacts folder but the contents of those folders won't sync to the server).
Prakash Mehta says
Thank you very much Diane. It was really helpful
Alex says
I have been sending and receiving my Live mails (Hotmail ) into Outlook 2007 on my desktop via Outlook Connector for years. But, sadly, it all stopped 10 days ago. I attempted to set up a new IMAP account in my Outlook using the parameters outlined above but without success. Does anyone know the settings for live.co.uk accounts please?
With many thanks, Alex
Diane Poremsky says
if you install all updates for outlook 2007, you can use auto account setup and set it up as an exchange server account.
That said... log into Outlook.com and go to options then find the POP/IMAP page - the correct server names are listed there.
Stipe says
I have major issues with adding an additional accout to my existing account in Outlook.com I have a custom domain in outlook.com and have for many years used an *@outlook.com address added as connected account. 2 days ago I did some updates and by mistake removed the connected account and now it is simply impossible to add it back again. Outlook simply does not accept the addition despite it being an *@outlook.com account.
I have tried the automatic addition, IMAP, POP and all the tweaks. It simple just responds "We are unable to reach your e-mail provider...". Not that I´m only using the web based Outlook client. Checked spelling, pw, ports, servers numerous times.
Any clue what is wrong?
Diane Poremsky says
so you have two separate outlook.com accounts - one a custom domain, one an outlook.com address? You can't add an outlook.com as a connected account - if it worked before it was either setup before and maintained in the migration or added while one was on the old server. I'm not sure if they plan on changing this - I would love it if they could merge the addresses into one account tho (because i stupidly set up additional accounts instead of aliases when they added new domains).
(POP3 support is disabled by default and needs enabled in POP and IMAP settings. But that doesn't make a different in this case.)
Jason says
I just want to say thank you so much for publishing this guide. I struggled for (literally) hours trying to get my Hotmail account running on Outlook 2010 and then finally I found this. All perfect now. Thanks again :-)
Nick says
Dear Diane
I am on Office 365 using Outlook and I have recently configured an outlook.com email address as a Microsoft Exchange account so I can synchronize my contacts and calendars (with my laptop and iPhone).
I do not use outlook.com for emails since I have two longstanding email addresses. However, all my emails and replies now default to my outlook.com address. How do I correct this? (Naturally, the Outlook account is NOT ticked as the default one.)
Thanks.
Nick
PS, at risk of sounding sycophantic I always find your advice invaluable - much better than the official MS stuff.
Diane Poremsky says
Well, it definitely shouldn't do that. Are you delivering mail to the outlook.com data file? (I need to try and repro this.)
Diane Poremsky says
I wasable to repro this...waiting to hear back from my contact. Probably won't be before Tuesday though.
SPrivitor says
Diane - I have 2 hotmail accounts. One I use for personal, one I use for business. The business account also has an alias attached to it so it looks like all the emails I send from this account are coming from my business account. For various reasons, I have it set up this way. I have about 40K emails that I keep on the accounts. Outlook 365 works very nicely as far as syncing because of MS Exchange; however, the alias part does not work well in 365. So I am reverting back to simply using outlook.com. It is cumbersome to sign in and out of each account. Other than forwarding, is there a way I can manage the 2 accounts together on outlook.com. I've tried "connecting" another account under options using the IMAP settings for hotmail.com, but it won't let me add another hotmail/outlook account. I am simply trying to manage the 2 accounts together and when I email or reply to an email, I need it to be from the account that received the email. Any thoughts?
Diane Poremsky says
The business account is a free outlook.com account? Are you using outlook 2016 (subscription version of office) ? As of earlier this year, outlook 2016 handles outlook.com aliases. if the alias is configured to sign in, you cancreate an account in outlook 2016 using that address.
I'm not aware of any way to link two outlook.com accounts, except by forwarding.
On signing in and out - either use a private browser instance or a different browser for one of the accounts.
Dave says
Hi Diane, getting frustrated with trying to get my hotmail account fixed. I did my other hotmail account as an exchange account which worked. Now I'm having problems with my other personal hotmail account. I deleted the connector and tried to add it as an IMAP account. I set up the email using advanced input.I used my microsoft port numbers from my account which was 993 SSL n 587 TLS. I did get the account established but it is offline and I don't have my other boxes except inbox. I'm not sure what to do next to get online.. My other email accounts are OK. I have win 10 and 2007 MS Outlook.
Thx Dave
Diane Poremsky says
Did just happen recently? There were sign in issues on the 6th - not sure what all was affected, so it might not be your problem. Microsoft recommends making a new profile when this happens - you could try a second profile with this account just to see if it works-if so add your other accounts to the profile.
Mike Daugherty says
I have Win10 Pro, but unfortunately, as an early beta user, I never received an update to a current Outlook ver. - I am stuck with Outlook 2012. I was getting that error msg associated with not being able to send or receive mail - I forget the error number, but I found it on-line and that specific error required my changing my email from a POP3 to an IMAP account. As you can see I use a live.com address, which I have used for many years. However, due to the age of the program, there is no manner in which to change the outgoing server from SSL to TLS, under the Advanced tab. Is this an issue in and of itself, or should I not have changed the servers in the first place, and tried something else to fix that error code? Due to the older version of my email prog., I am not certain what I did was necessarily the correct fix. Thanx!
Diane Poremsky says
Try port 25 and SSL - it should work (it did for me in outlook 2003). You should consider upgrading to a newer client as they will eventually close port 25. eM client is pretty good and free for up to 2 accounts.
Pierre de Grenoble says
Three years ago, a quite weird behavior of Outlook.com still happens for folders sync: it does not sync the Drafts folder! Maybe this will be changed with Outlook Mail, the new flavor for the Microsoft messaging service. AFAIK Microsoft the only provider that does not offer to sync this folder!. I do not know why.
Here in France Outlook Mail is currently but slowly deployed for French users. I will see when my account is migrated.
Cheers from France
Diane Poremsky says
it was a limitation of EAS - the move to the new server and removing the account then adding it back using auto account setup should add it as Microsoft Exchange and then everything will sync.
Pierre de Grenoble says
Thank you Diane for this feedback. I am very excited to move to the new service although a lot of people blame it on forums. I will follow your tip to have my Drafts folder synced as I am used to share it with three machines. Currently it does work fine with Outlook 2013 and 2016 Desktop versions but nope with the modern app Mail for Windows 10 (Desktop or Mobile).
And congratulations for your site, it's a reference for my daily work with Outlook!
Susie Brew says
Brilliant instructions on how to set this up - Microsoft could learn a thing or two about how to do this. Many thanks
Robert McGechan says
Hi Diane, I want to stop using outlook because I cannot get them to sync with my phone, but I cannot remove my hotmail account it is the primary account. I have tried various methods of syncing but none work except using Yahoo. Please provide step by step instructions on how to remove it. The only other way I can see is to delete and reinstall 365.
Diane Poremsky says
See https://www.slipstick.com/exchange/primary-account-removed-outlook-2010/ for the steps to remove it.
Why happens with the sync? Outlook.com should sync very nicely between the phone and the desktop especially since its on the new server (the primary account error message is the clue).
Steve says
Thanks very much Diane - it worked perfectly - I wasn't setting up the account under settings correctly.
Steve Hillary says
Hi Diane, I've been though all your replies and none seem to address the problem I'm having.
I'm running Outlook 2007 and have a Hotmail account with Calendar and Contacts that have been migrated plus a personal email account with a local ISP. The issue is that while mail syncs perfectly, the Hotmail Calendar and Contacts will not reflect, let alone sync to Outlook 2007. My personal mail is also fine.
I've set up the Hotmail account in Outlook as an IMAP account for the simple reason that Outlook 2007 gives an error if I select an 'Exchange Account' - it says that an Exchange account cannot be setup if Outlook is open and it must be done from the Settings options - I've done this but you still need to set up the account into Outlook somehow which is won't allow.
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks for you time in addressing this frustrating issue of migration.
Steve
Diane Poremsky says
Calendar and Contacts will not sync with IMAP. You need to use Exchange. Close Outlook. Go to Control panel and find Mail. Add the exchange account to your profile there. I have a tutorial at https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/outlookcom/outlook-com-migration-status/
Lee says
Hello Diane. I have a similar issue that after 4 hours I have not been able to resolve and am going around in circles with!. I use Outlook 2010 as does my wife, and we have been happily sharing a microsoft calendar. My account has migrated and I have removed the hotmail connector.
I am unable to setup the MS account via autodiscover. It works fine manually, but of course I then do not have access to the calendar. Every tme the autodiscover fails with the message it cannot find an encrypted connection, I continue and it also fails with an unencrypted connection.
I have found articles offering registry fixes, having tried these there is no change,
Has Microsoft left me and my wife with a calendar chock full of information that we can no longer share? It's poor form to say the least.
Any advice very greatly received!
Lee.
Diane Poremsky says
Sorry I missed this earlier. Is it working yet? I've seen newly moved accounts have problems with autodiscover for about 24 hours or so then it magically starts working.
MV IL says
I cannot for the life of me get my hotmail email to integrate with my MAC mail system. It worked until I changed my password (for security reasons) several days ago. I checked the server names and ports and they are all correct. I keep getting the message that smtp-mail.outlook.com is offline. Any suggestions?
Diane Poremsky says
was your account migrated to the new server? Are you using port 587? That server is used for sending mail, does incoming mail arrive ok?
Andrew Mann says
It works - thank you! Upgrading to Outlook 2016 from 2010 has trashed the settings for every single one of my 5 different accounts from different email hosts. At least I've got my personal hotmail account working again.
Todd says
How to sync email, contacts and calendars from Outlook.com/Hotmail to Windows Live Mail? Servers set to IMAP.
Diane Poremsky says
Email should work fine but Calendar and Contacts won't sync with live mail once the account is moved to the new servers.
These are the server names for the new server:
Server name: imap-mail.outlook.com
Port: 993
Encryption method: SSL
Server name: smtp-mail.outlook.com
Port: 587
Encryption method: TLS
Meta Doc says
Would like to add more than the default 10 exchange account email addresses to Outlook 2010. Supposedly, this this can be done by altering the DWORD: MaxNumExchange value to 15 (that's the max) at registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\Microsoft\exchange
but I don't have that key in Windows 7 running Outlook 2010. Any suggestions to bump the 10 up to 15 (would love to have more than that, as have over 25 email addresses, but would be happier at 15 than 10).
Diane Poremsky says
If the key does not exist, create it - Outlook doesn't usually create keys for default values.
Meta Doc says
Thank you, Diane!! It worked! Had to add it to another key (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\Microsoft\exchange) but it worked. I was anxious about adding it without an "official" sanction. So much better now, as the IMAP folders are quite slow and unwieldy. Thanks! Wish I could add more than the 15 accounts. Do you know if there is a way to do that by adding a second profile, which might permit 15 more email accounts (say one for my Gmail accounts as opposed to my Hotmail accounts)? Could you have both profiles opened at the same time, or would you have to chose between them when launching Outlook?
Diane Poremsky says
The 15 account limit is only for Exchange accounts- gmail and other non-exchange accounts should work fine but you can make multiple outlook profiles in Control panel, mail. You can only have one profile open at a time.
FernandoDiban says
I have Outlook 2016 and my main email is not Outlook.com, i have a pop3 configured for my main email account.. when I add Outlook.com it takes over my main email, when i try to send a file, right click the file send to>mail recipient it defaults to Outlook.com even it is not set as the default in the profile. tried removing the account and re adding it, with same results.
thanks.
Diane Poremsky says
Are you using Outlook.com calendar and contacts? if not, add it as IMAP, not Exchange.
If you are using it's calendar and contacts, you can set any account as the default for email in file, account settings. If you want a pst as default, you need to add the outlook.com account via the control panel - https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/change-the-default-data-file-from-exchange-to-another-account/ - but I'm not sure it works with outlook.com accounts as they don't support online mode.
Anthony Roger says
Diane,
I "upgraded" from Office for MAC 2011 to Office 2016 for MAC a month ago and began using Outlook 2016 for MAC with it. For various reasons I have decided to revert back to Office 2011 for MAC and to use Outlook 2011 for MAC again. Now, for some reason, after reinstalling Office 2011 for MAC, I cannot set up any of my MS email accounts (1 Hotmail, and 3 msn) as IMAP within Outlook for MAC 2011---I get the 17897 error message that "Authentication Failed because Outlook Doesn't Support Any Of The Available Authentication Methods." I have spent hours searching to no avail - and I'm certain that my IMAP settings are correct, esp. for authentication: imap-mail.outlook.com 993/SSL & TLS; SMTP-mail.outlook.com 587/SSL & TLS - authentication either as "use incoming server info," and/or "User Name and Password." I disliked Outlook for MAC 2016; however I was able to setup each of my MS email accounts as IMAP - so now I'm stuck with this threshold issue having reverted to Outlook 2011 for MAC. Have you seen this problem - or do you know anything about its solution? Thanks. Anthony
Diane Poremsky says
I don't think i have an image with Outlook 2011 on it to test - incoming uses SSL, outgoing needs to use TLS. Also, don't select "Always use secure password" - that doesn't work with most mail servers.
PDR says
IMAP offline does not show embedded pictures, in outlook 2013. Is there a way that I can enable the. For past few days I have been trying, to check for a parameter / configuration setting but somehow could not locate. Is there one ?
Diane Poremsky says
It would be in the download settings - click on the InfoBar (it should say ' click here to download pictures') then choose change download settings. See https://www.slipstick.com/problems/picture-placeholders-displaying-outlook-email-messages/ for other causes
Richard says
I am currently using Windows 7 and outlook 2010. I am trying to sync my calendar but it is not allowing me too. My mail folders are up to date and I am using the imap/smtp setup. Any suggestions?
Diane Poremsky says
sorry, I missed this question earlier.
IMAP is email only. You need to use Exchange account type (new server) or Outlook Connector (old server) if you want calendar and contacts to sync.
Jung says
Hi Diane,
I use outlook 2010 in one computer and 2016 version ( the one from office 365) on the other computer. Both are syncing the same hotmail account of mine. But unfortunately, the 2016 version sometime not syncing some emails in inbox while the 2010 version is okay. Do you have any suggestion what that might be happen to my 2016 version?
Thank you for your time
Jung
Diane Poremsky says
Not sure why they aren't fully syncing - but I'm not really surprised with the massive migration to the new servers.
It's recommended to use Exchange account type with 2013/2016. Auto account setup will either set it up as ActiveSync or Exchange, depending on which server the account is on. (Exchange also works with 2007/2010 if on the new servers).
Gail says
Hi i want ti download outlook.com but i want to keep my same email addy..i am in eMclient and do NOT like it..how can i export my address book and keep my same email addy from client to outlook..i'm desperate..thx..
Diane Poremsky says
you can export as a csv file and import into another client. if you use outlook 2007 or newer, they can sync outlook.com calendar & contacts.
Christopher says
The out going mail server for outlook.com; smtp-mail.outlook.com is not working ?
Diane Poremsky says
Is it still not working today? It could be a temp issue.
Any error messages?
What version of Outlook? (Outlook 2003 is buggy as it doesn't support TLS and needs to use SSL instead.)
This is the correct smtp settings for the outlook.com accounts on the new server -
Server name: smtp-mail.outlook.com
Port: 587
Encryption method: TLS
pisces says
I use Outlook 2010. I changed all the settings to imap but I cannot recieve any messages sent to my outlook.com account without going to the mailbox online through my browser. I set it up manually, because when I set it up automatically using exchange, it would not connect at all.
Stephanie says
I am using Outlook 2003 with the Outlook Connector. I uninstalled the Outlook Connector and reinstalled, pursuant to the instructions below. Then I added the IMAP account however my email account is not showing up in Outlook. I also added an account in Outlook Connector.
Webmaster says
If your account was moved to the new server, the outlook connector will not work. You can only use IMAP or pop3.
The IMAP account is not listed in account settings?
Alan says
Hi, thank you for the tutorial. Question, i am trying to add a "@vista.aero" domain account into Outlook but i cannot find the way. Could you help me?
Diane Poremsky says
What happens when you try to add an account using the domain?
Hendrik says
Hi,
I just installed outlook2016 on a fresh PC with WIN 7, did everything as described but cannot connect to my hotmail.com (or simple outlook.com). I click save password before testing, but it keeps popping up teh same window with user name and password filled out, but with the save clicked away ... Hotmail is not set as POP.
Bug with IMAP in outlook2016?
Diane Poremsky says
Was your account moved to the new server? Did you set the account up or let Outlook's auto account setup do it?
Hendrik says
Auto setup, I think, many years ago. I always did get to my free (gratis) hotmail via internet explorer. It says "Outlook.com" in the upper left corner for some time now. Should I switch to a paid hotmail account?
Diane Poremsky says
if the banner says outlook.com, then its the old server. The web address will be *.mail.live.com for the old server and outlook.live.com for the new one.
No, switching to a paid account won't make a difference for this, it just removes ads if you log in online. I suspect it's a transient error, possibly related to the migration.
Robert J says
I am trying to set up an IMAP account with WIN10 & OFFICE PRO 2016. My Outlook.com account is one of the old ones (https://snt146.mail.live.com/default.aspx). So Exchange ActiveSync does not allow me to drag e-mails from OUTLOOK 2016 to the OUTLOOK.com e-mail account and drop them in folders there. The solution appears to be setting up the OUTLOOK.com account with IMAP. I am unclear exactly what the Incoming mail server name should be from looking at your e-mail above.
Diane Poremsky says
Try
Incoming IMAP Server: imap-mail.outlook.com
Server port: 993
Encryption: SSL
I was told it works for the old server accounts too.
Graeme Rees says
Dear Dianne,
I am successfully running Windows XP / Outlook 2003 / IMPAP / Hotmail server but the sychronization and email updating with my P.C is painfully slow and it often hangs up compared to the old Hotmail connector that I used over the previous 3-years.
...... Are there any changes to the IMAP set up that can be made to speed up the process???
(PS: Hotmail connector was very / very good so why was it discontinued??)
Diane Poremsky says
The new Outlook.com server doesn't support Delta Sync, which is how the connector synced. I'm not aware of any way to speed IMAP up, but it shouldn't be slow either.
Are you wedded to Outlook 2003? If you don't need the programmability features and don't want to upgrade Office, try eM client. It's free if you only need 1 or 2 accounts - looks a lot like Outlook (newer versions) and syncs outlook.com calendar and contacts.
John says
Thanks Diane for these instructions. I've been trying to link my Hotmail account to outlook for a while and Outlook connector didn't seem to work with my Outlook 2007.
But I find that outlook disconnect every 15 minutes saying the server was not found. As well i from time to time am receiving "5.3.4 552 5.3.4 Header size exceeds fixed maximum size". This happen 3 times one day file was less then a meg.
Any ideas on these issues?
Diane Poremsky says
it sounds like your account was migrated - if so, you can set it up as an exchange account as long as all updates are installed. More info: https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/outlookcom/outlook-com-migration-status/
Ron says
Hi Diane,
follow up to my recent post below. I was able to pull off this report from Outlook Connector regarding the sync failure incase this is any help to you in responding to me.
Outlook Hotmail Connector Version 14.0.6123.5001
Account: xxxxxxxxxx@hotmail.com
Session timed out. Automatically re-signed in at 1/30/2016 3:51:06 PM
Mail: Error at 3:51 PM.
Calendar:
Contacts: Last successfully refreshed at 3:51 PM.
Errors :
Time: 1/30/2016 3:51:06 PM
Error in Mail
There is an error synchronizing your mail account. Please verify your account is configured correctly by first accessing your mail on the web.
Error: 3219. Server. An error occured in looking up the user's information in mserv.
Time: 1/30/2016 3:51:07 PM
Error in Mail
Error with Send/Receive.
There was an error synchronizing your folder hierarchy. Error : 80041004.
Time: 1/30/2016 3:51:07 PM
Error in Mail
There is an error synchronizing your mail account. Please verify your account is configured correctly by first accessing your mail on the web.
Error: 3219. Server. An error occured in looking up the user's information in mserv.
Diane Poremsky says
Did you do this - " Please verify your account is configured correctly by first accessing your mail on the web. " - that message often means they suspected the account might be compromised and want you to log in to verify it's you.
Ron says
Hi Diane, I need to sync my Hotmail calendar, contacts and email to Outlook 2007. I was using Outlook Connector successfully until recently. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling Outlook Connector and also tried uninstalling and reinstalling Office 2007. I have more than account (a Hotmail and Outlook.com) and have the same problem with each. It stopped syncing the calendar and email at all and only partly syncs the contacts. I also tried removing the profile folders on the hard drive (after uninstalling Outlook Connector) and that didn't help.
Syncing my calendar and contacts is my real priority (Hotmail and Outlook.com are not my primary email accounts. I purchased domain names thru a web service which I use for my email). I have been bouncing back and forth between Google and Microsoft account for accessing calendar and contacts on other devices but have been challenged when trying to sync them to Outlook on my PC. I thought had had the solution with Outlook Connector until it recently stopped working. Any suggestions to getting it working again would be appreciated. Also, if you have any suggestions for syncing Google calendars and contacts to Outlook, that would be appreciated as well.
I would like to continue to use Microsoft Office as my primary computer software to manage email, contacts and calendar but it becoming increasingly harder to do. You seem to have the most intelligent discussion about syncing with Outlook than anyone else I've found addressing this issue online. Thanks for sharing
Diane Poremsky says
Was your account moved to the new server? If so, you need to use auto account setup and let outlook find the correct settings. Since you use outlook 2007, you need to make sure you have all updates installed.
https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/outlookcom/outlook-com-migration-status/
K Quiana says
Thank you! I tried 5 other articles before finding this, and I was losing hope - you made it totally understandable.
M says
Thanks a lot for this! it worked!
Mike says
Hello, hoping someone could assist me. I am using RainLoop webmail on one of my servers to also sync my Outlook.com mail. Upon using the correct settings, I receive the following error:
stream_socket_client(): unable to connect to ssl://imap-mail.outlook.com:993 (Connection timed out)
I also receive the same error for tcp://imap-mail.outlook.com:587
Anyone else been experiencing problems like this?
Thanks,
Mike
Diane Poremsky says
Do you know if your account was migrated to the new server? If not, try smtp.live.com as the smtp and see if it works. I think the imap server is imap.live.com but i'm not 100% sure on that.
JimW says
Hi Diane,
Say, I am new to SlipStick Systems forums. I thought I posted a comment (actually a question), and it said something about it being "reviewed" ... that was a few days ago, but I wanted to check because I do need help...
In short, I wonder if I should upgrade from Outlook 2003 to 2007 or even 2010 in order to get the outlook.com connection working again. (Outlook 2003 doesn't seem to offer TSL for the SMTP port, and I am guessing this is the essential problem)
I'd rather not buy new software, but I find the outlook.com email cloud interface good but not providing the efficiency I expect of myself as a heavy Outlook (on the PC) user.
Thanks!
Diane Poremsky says
You did, but comments are moderated because it makes it easier for me to find them and answer. I get as many as 50 a day and I often get a few days behind in answering. Sorry about that.
I would definitely update to a newer version. I don't know if you can find a copy of 2007 or 2010 though.
Outlook 2003 doesn't support TLS but the enabled SSL on both port 25 and 587 so it can send mail. As Outlook 2003 usage drops off, they will close those ports.
Diane Poremsky says
oh, and one more thing, I have set up instructions at https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/outlookcom/outlook-com-migration-status/ - I'll add the steps to this page too.
JimW says
Email from Microsoft in the fall warned me that my Outlook connection to my outlook.com email account would stop working soon, and indeed, MS was right ;=( The message said to just remove my old account and add it back. This was not right, at least not for me ;=( ;=( Alas, it had been quite a while since I switched from gmail to outlook.com as my primary email cloud service, so I couldn't remember exactly how I had set up the connection before. I believe I had succeeded when I installed and activated 'Outlook Connector', but I don't recall whether this nifty add-on for Outlook required my already establishing an email account in Outlook (as described here)...Alas I am still using Outlook 2003 (why spend the $s and update when it totally meets my needs), and so when I try to set the Advanced features for an IMAP connection to use port 587 with TSL encryption, there is no pulldown menu (as shown in the excellent description above) to choose TSL. Only SSL is available for encryption in Outlook 2003 and when I run 'Send/Receive', I just get errors. So, this is probably(?) why I am having trouble. I have tried using 'Outlook Connector' without any email account active, and it yields no errors on 'Send/Receive' but also yields no results ;=(
I have ordered a cheap copy of Outlook 2007 with hopes that will solve this problem (and also behave closest to my familiar Outlook 2003). Diane, do you think this will address my problem? Or am I just doing something else wrong in reconnecting? (BTW, at some point I am going to ask which of all those .PST files that are generated in all my attempts to reconnect can be deleted... but that is probably not causing my troubles...)
Diane Poremsky says
Is this an outlook.com/Hotmail/live address or a custom domain? Custom domain users are having issues.
Steps for Outlook 2003 (including screenshots) are at [post2post id="53457"] - with 2003, you are limited to IMAP (or POP, if you enabled it) and email only.
Outlook 2007, with all updates installed, will allow you to connect using Exchange services - and will sync calendar, contacts, and notes. Definitely a much better option and it will work.
JimW says
My outlook.com account was working fine until mid November. I got an email announcing upcoming changes that said I just needed to remove my old Outlook email account and recreate it. No luck! One problem is that in Outlook 2003, I can't specify TSL instead of SSL (no pulldown menu) when I specify port 587. Do I need to upgrade to Outlook 2007? I don't like spending the money when 2003 is fine, but I do depend on the outlook.com link to my Win7 Outlook program. (Also, about the same time, my Motorola Android was forced to get the new outlook.com app, and I can no longer tell the device's calendar app to include my outlook.com calendars... still, this is my secondary concern, but I just mention it in case the two coincident problems are related.)
Diane Poremsky says
>> I can't specify TSL instead of SSL
With Outlook 2003, use SSL and port 587 or 25. Either should work, unless your isp blocks 25.
>> Motorola Android was forced to get the new outlook.com app, and I can no longer tell the device's calendar app to include my outlook.com calendars
if you remove the account from the phone and add it back as exchange or outlook.com, it should work in the native app. (It does on my droid tablet.)
Doll says
HELP!! I went through this process with Outlook 2010 and it created a duplicate email address folder and actually pulled in all my current folders and emails under the duplicated email address folder. However, for some reason there is an email address folder that provides a second set of the following folders: indbox, drafts, sent, deleted, junk, outbox rss feeds & search folders that are completely empty. Also when my manual set up completed, my calendar appointments/reminders and contacts are now all gone. How do I go back to only ONE main set of folders and gain all my calendar and contact information back?
Diane Poremsky says
Close Outlook. Go to Control panel and find Mail. Open the profile and remove the account. Look on the data file tab and note how many data files there are. Add the account back using autoaccount setup and remove any data files that you don't need. The new outlook.com account will use an ost file for the local cache.
If this is your only email account you could delete the profile and just make a new one but it should work fine just to make sure the accounts and data files you don't need are removed from the profile.
Terri says
I did as the instructions are listed below but it is still not working for me. I keep getting Log onto incoming mail server (IMAP): The connection to the server was interrupted. If this problem continues, contact your server administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).
Diane Poremsky says
This is with an Outlook.com account? Are you using the correct port numbers?
Norbert says
Hi Diane,
first of all a big thank you for being so quick.
Now some facts:
I have a Microsoft account which is Norbert.juergens@gmx.de
I can log in with this account to outlook.com, I can send and receive emails.
Norbert.juergens@gmx.de is my primary account in outlook.com
I have created a second account (alias) nju59@outlook.com
Now I have installed Office 365 home Edition
After starting Outlook 2016 I have configured my gmx.de account and can send and receive emails.
Now I'd like to have a second account for my outlook.com synchronisation (calendar, contacts and some emails from nju59@outlook.com)
I have configured my account according the settings in the first part of this conversation
When I try to create the account both with gmx.de or outlook.com I cannot login to imap-mail.outlook.com
Regards
Norbert
Diane Poremsky says
is this an alias in the gmx mailbox? If you want to sync calendar and contacts you need to add the account as an EAS account, not IMAP. Either address should work, but you would need to set up the gmx address manually, using m.hotmail.com as the EAS server address. the outlook.com address can use autodiscover to configure it correctly.
Norbert says
Hi Diane,
I have a gmx account as my primary account in outlook.com. Also I have created an alias named nju59@outlook.com. Neither of these accounts work. What is the current situation with the outlook.com environment? Which account should be used? Should I consider another account and if yes which to choose?
Many thanks
Norbert
Diane Poremsky says
In what way don't they work? You should be able to log into the outlook.com account - but will only have gmx mail if the mail is forwarded there (or outlook.com is configured to pick it). Forwarded mail is sometimes blocked as spam, when outlook collects mail from other hosts it's sometimes blocked by the other host as a potential hacker.
kim says
I am using outlook.com and outlook 2013 for my calendar and contacts and it works well. Now I'd like to start start syncing my emails as well. Is there any way to sync my verizon.com emails that are in a pst file in outlook 2013 to outlook.com (since I do not think i can change verizon from POP to IMAP). Thanks!
Diane Poremsky says
At this time, you'd need to use imap to connect to outlook.com to upload mail. They are in the process of moving outlook.com to new server on office 365 Exchange and once your account is moved, you'll be able to upload mail easily.
if you don't need old mail in outlook.com, you can add the Verizon account as a connected account and it will collect the mail and deliver it to outlook.comn's mailbox.
davematthews317992969 says
I have had many hours of tech support from MS Office support, and my host neither of which has been able to sync my folders from my local drive to the server. Have noticed android typemail (formally blue mail) does not sync all mail or folders either (sent in particular) but inbox does!
I can create a folder on the server and it does sync to my outlook 2013 but not in reverse very strange!
John Hobgood says
Also make sure your whole account name is in there, with the domain tail. For instance:
Leighj@outlook.com
not just
Leighj
Leigh Jones says
Can anyone help? I can't seem to add the IMAP though. It gets right to the last page but when it tests the settings I get a pop-up asking for my email and password that keeps popping up. If I cancel it, the tests fail.. What do you think could be gong wrong?
Diane Poremsky says
Are you using two factor authentication on your account? That is the usual cause of password problems when you are sure you didn't mistype.
Ed Feist says
I need to move many, many folders (some with folders inside them) from "On My Computer" to my IMAP account in Outlook 2011 for Mac. How do I do that?
Jamison West says
Hello Diane,
I am having the same issue as David. I have Outlook 2013 and I connected to Outlook.com as IMAP so I could import folders. For existing folders, emails I put in the folders did sync up to the server, but for the roughly 50 other folders that were new, that I dragged and dropped into the Outlook 2013 mailbox, they are not syncing up to the outlook.com service, they are only local on the PC, but do not have the (local only) flag like calendars and the other things I would expect to be local only with IMAP. I can't figure out how to get the new folders to sync up to outlook.com?
Diane Poremsky says
Any sync error messages? Are the folder names valid? Did you move the folders and have a backup or did you import? If you have a backup copy, delete the ost and let it resync - if you don't have a backup, export everything to a pst then delete the ost (after making sure the pst is complete.)
David Matthews says
Hi Diane, Outlook 2013 how can I upload local sub folders to the server, send receive all mail does not upload the folders. I was under the impression Outlook 2013 did this automatically in the background. My sub folders was dragged across from another account to a new server/hosting using SSL and IMAP settings
Diane Poremsky says
Are there any sync errors? Moving or copying the folders into the imap account should sync them up. If the folders you moved had subfolders, you'll need to move the folders separately. Many imap servers won't properly created nested folders and some wont support subfolders.
Ranjib says
Hello Mam,
I have a hotmail account and today I configured it on my PC outlook 2007
as a IMAP account and entered the all the information correctly.
After configuration when try to sync the hotmail id it is asking me password again and again. I can login to outlook.com on web base.
I am getting this error.
----------------------------------------
Task 'Synchronizing subscribed folders for ranjibd@hotmail.com.' reported error (0x800CCC0E) : 'Outlook cannot synchronize subscribed folders for ranjibd@hotmail.com. Error: Cannot connect to the server. If you continue to receive this message, contact your server administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).'
----------------------------------------
any solution for this issue.
Regards
Ranjib
Diane Poremsky says
did the problem clear up? There were server issues with Outlook.com the past few weeks. Also, if you are using two-factor authentication (where a pin is texted to your phone) you'll need to use an app password, not your real password.
Jose Luis Valdez says
Update: I checked the IMAP and SMTP setting in the Test Account Settings Dialog box and I noticed that I typed in a period instead of a dash after imap and smtp when entering the configuration settings. I changed this right away and what happens now is that the Internet E-Mail dialog box keeps prompting me for my password over and over.
Diane Poremsky says
Sorry, I missed these posts and took part (or most) of Dec off. I'm trying to catch up now. Did you get it working? One common cause of problems is forgetting that you turned on two-factor authentication - if its on, you need an app password.
Jose Luis Valdez says
Sorry, I got so excited, that I forgot to tell you that I am trying to connect my Outlook.com (which I understand used to be hotmail) to my MS Office 2010 laptop. Thanks!
Jose Luis Valdez says
Diane, you are a God Send! I have been trying to use MS Officer Connector to no avail. I used the IMAP configuration and it has gotten me further than anything I have tried. My problem is that when I click the Test Settings button, I receive a message that says, "Log onto incoming mail server (IMAP) Failed. Then, the second message I get is, "Send Test Email Message: The operation timed out waiting for a response from the sending (SMTP) server. If you continue to receive this message, contact your server administrator or your Internet Service Provider (ISP)."
My ISP is Cox and I am running MS Office 2010 on a Windows 8.1 laptop 64 bit but my version of MS Office is 32 bit.
Please help and thank you!
Louie Valdez
Phoenix, AZ
Jeff R says
I am getting frustrated with Outlook 2013 and its interface with my outlook.com email. I've read the string about setting up my outlook.com email as IMAP on outlook 2013, and would prefer to do that. My issue is that i don't completely understand the ost and pst files. I had a previous email account that put data into a pst file. That pst file isn't used anymore because the other email accounts i run through my outlook 2013 have their own separate pst or ost files. FIrst, is it possible to combine all email accounts into ONE pst file? Am i relegated to having IMAP accounts go to an ost file?
Diane Poremsky says
If you use IMAP, you can't combine the accounts into one data file. If you use POP3, you could. IMAP (and outlook.com EAS, or Exchange) syncs with the server - it's two way sync- and needs it's own data file. POP3 is one way, download only, and can share a pst with other accounts.
Jen says
Is there a way to set up only specific subfolders as IMAP? I'm still trying to get the rest of my old emails transferred up to Office 365 via IMAP and I'm down to only 2 folders with many many subfolders in them. I don't need to keep resynching the entire IMAP and all subfolders, do I?
Diane Poremsky says
right click on one of the imap folders and choose IMAP folders... then unsubscribe from folders you are finished with.
Kevin Smith says
Still no success. Are you available for paid consultation? I would be interested in having you take a remote access look at my desktop and Outlook.com to see if you can diagnose and repair. I'll be happy to contact you dm/phone to get started.
Kevin Smith says
Afraid not, I left it alone overnight just to be certain. The folders I moved in to the imap account synced properly and are replicated there but not showing up in the EAS account either on my desktop or Outlook.com. Not certain what to try next, wondering if I should remove the EAS account from local Outlook to see what happens?
Diane Poremsky says
If they are not uploading to Outlook.com, the problem is with the IMAP account. Did you import all into the IMAP account at once? It's possible it overwhelmed Outlook. Try moving a few at a time into the folders (or into a different folder) - check and see if they upload. If it works, try more. I usually recommend moving a couple a hundred at a time because Outlook can be slow at syncing.
Kevin Smith says
Thanks again for your quick response. I've added the imap, let it sync and then copied a set of folders/subfolders to that account. All items show up on my Outlook desktop under the imap account but so far nothing has been transferred/replicated on Outlook.com account. I did check the folders that were created under the imap account and the "main" folders show properties of "containing imap items" but the subfolders that contain the actual messages show as "containing mail & post items".
Am I missing a setting or should I expect a delay for replication from desktop to Outlook.com?
Diane Poremsky says
The sync can be slow. Log into Outlook.com and see if anything synced up.
Kevin Smith says
Hi Diane, great article that comes close to answering my prayers. I'm using Outlook.com/EAS as primary account and need to transfer HUGE Outlook 2013 .pst messages to EAS. If I switch my EAS to IMAP to accomplish this will I then be able to switch back to EAS in order to keep all my contacts/calendar/mail in sync going forward?
Diane Poremsky says
Yes, you can switch to imap then back to EAS - in fact, you can have both accounts in your profile at once - add the imap, let it sync then start moving the mail into it. It'll sync down to the EAS account at the same time. Or, if bandwidth is limited, create a new profile for the IMAP account, upload, then switch back to your original profile.
eph61820 says
this sounds like what I want to do, but I need some clarification please. I have a personal domain email, have capabilities of imap and pop3. However, as you know, if I select imap for default email settings, I looks the contacts, calendar, etc functionality of O2013. I would like to find a way to take my current pst and sync across all my devices if at all possible... is this possible.
Diane Poremsky says
I recommend setting a pst file or Outlook.com data file as the default data file then delete the imap ost and let outlook recreate it - it will get rid of those special folders. Just make sure you back up the contacts of the 'this computer only' folders. If you create the imap data file when another data file is set as default, those folders won't be created.
eph61820 says
Sorry Diane, it looks like I did not spell check or clean up my request very well. Here is what I am trying to do. I have a domain/email, use outlook 2013, would like to graduate to the 21st century and use EAS with my Outlook.com account, sync across all my devices and not be in bondage to my Outlook 2013 software at home. The other alternative is to go with Office365Home, but I am already paying for domain and storage and would like to sync across devices with what I already have without loosing contacts, calendars, etc when switching to IMAP and possibly even retain my folders... what do you recommend?
Diane Poremsky says
If you have a domain, Office 365 hosted Exchange would be the number 1 choice. It's not free - the lowest priced plans are on par with google apps pricing (50 -60 a year) but give you huge mailboxes. Office 365 Hosted Exchange. GoDaddy has a low priced plan but I recommend using Microsoft - mailboxes are bigger. :) The $8/mon plan includes 1 TB of OneDrive.
EAS is the second best- but it really works best if you use outlook.com for email too.
You definitely want imap - mail will sync between computers and the server but contacts and email won't.
eph61820 says
thank you for the feedback!!! Already have all these deals and better (i was grandfathered into skydrive/ondrive), already work with godaddy, and domain hosting is cheap... trying to not have another monthly fee.... I will look into your outlook.com recommendation, been trying to find out if there is a file storage/pst size limit or is all that derivative of my email/hosting package... thanks again...
Diane Poremsky says
The mailbox size limits in Outlook are dependent on your email host if you use IMAP, Outlook.com, or Exchange. POP3 is unlimited, assuming you delete the mail from the server as you download it. Outlook's Unicode pst format (introduced in Outlook 2003) supports 1 TB data file size, although it works best under 20 GB.
Tal Litvin says
My biggest headache has been trying to connect my outlook.com webmail to Outlook 2011 for MAC. After countless calls and hours searching for an answer, i can't believe i stumbled on your site and this terrific info. Thank you so much for this. I could kiss you :)
JB says
The issue is that I am trying to run an exchange email and a Hotmail email in outlook 2013. However, it is crucial that I am able to move emails from the Hotmail to the exchange and vice versa. That is where I am running into problems. When they released IMAP this week, it seemed to be a solution to the problem, and I am able to move emails back and forth, but now the Hotmail folders don't sync with the Hotmail server. And I have extra folders in outlook 2013 (deleted "this computer only. Junk "this computer only." etc etc. Hence when I delete an email in outlook 2013, its not deleting on my phone or ipad (Hotmail that is, the exchange email works fine).
Trying to find a substitute for outlook connector that works with Outlook 2013. Right now I am running Outlook 2007, because Outlook 2013 isn't working.
JB says
It's checked, and still not getting an update to my phone or ipad when I delete messages. Is there anything else I can do? Everything used to work so well until Outlook 2013. Is this going to be an ever-increasing problem (using Hotmail in outlook). Am I better off getting a personal exchange account?
Thanks!
Diane Poremsky says
Hotmail should work fine if you are using either EAS/Outlook Connector or IMAP. The iDevices will use Exchange ActiveSync with either account.
Is there a reason you are using IMAP instead of EAS with the Hotmail account?
JB says
I switch back and forth between folders all day, so shouldn't be an issue, but I'm surprised that Hotmail/outlook doesn't sync automatically. Is this going to be an evergrowing issues for me? It all used to work perfectly. Time to move on to an exchange email for my personal too?
Diane Poremsky says
It should still work perfectly...
If you own your own domain, you'll definitely have a better experience with an Exchange account. It's well worth the $48 - 100 / a year it costs. But, Hotmail should work too.
Marvel says
Hello. I upgraded my web mail quota to google business mail(unlimited) since then have not been able to receive mail in my outlook. is there any way out?
Diane Poremsky says
Are you using the google sync utility? do you get any error messages?
Google is an imap account, so as long as the server settings are correct, it should work.
Josh says
It's checked. Should it be unchecked.
Diane Poremsky says
I use the bottom item, purge when switching folders. The messages are marked for deletion but not deleted until you change folders. If you delete the item then immediately check the phone, it's not going to be deleted from the phone until after you change folders. If you stay in the inbox all day and never change folders, the items won't be deleted from the server.
J B says
Diane,
I set up hotmail as IMAP and Outlook created two folders for me in Hotmail (deleted, junk (This Computer Only) and now when I delete an email, that email still shows up on my smartphone and ipad. Is there a workaround to this? Setting in outlook or Hotmail?
Diane Poremsky says
What are your delete/purge settings? Should be in Account Settings, double click on the Hotmail account,m then More Settings, Advanced tab.
Tait Lane says
Diane, you seem to know a lot about IMAP and the new 2013 office. How do I remove the Sent and Deleted (This Computer Only) folders and have the items go into my original folders. Also why do I have 2 junk folders now? Thank you in advance for your help!
Diane Poremsky says
Log into your account using webmail and see if you can set the sent, deleted, and junk folders.
The only way to remove the folders is to set a pst as default data file, close Outlook and delete the IMAP pst (it's at %localappdata%\microsoft\outlook) and restart outlook. If outlook recreates the folders then you can't delete them.
Two junk folders is usually because outlook isn't being told what folder to use and creates one of its own. If you can log into webmail and set the correct folder you can delete the extra.
ven says
hi diane I did as the instructions are listed below but it is still not working for me. I keep getting Log onto incoming mail server (IMAP): The connection to the server was interrupted. If this problem continues, contact your server administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).