Outlook 2013 unable to connect to outlook.com mail account

Puffnstuff

Lifer
Mar 9, 2005
16,181
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I'm a bit baffled because outlook has the native connector support to do this. I'm on a clean install of office 2013 pro and each time I try to add my outlook email account to it the process never finishes. After I enter my outlook account info in the boxces the connector dialog box appears asking for my password and then the account dialog box just sits there and is never able to connect and complete the task. I've tried it several times and each time the same thing happens.

Like I've already stated this is a clean install of office that has literally just completed. Does anyone have any ideas about how to force outlook to connect to the server? Thanks.
 

mikeymikec

Lifer
May 19, 2011
19,392
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I had baffling trouble a couple of years ago with Outlook 2013 (connecting to an MS email account) on a Win8x machine. I converted the Microsoft account to a local one, and afterwards Outlook 2013 would intermittently have problems connecting to the e-mail account. I didn't get a chance to fully investigate the issue.

On an maybe related note, I corrected two Office 2013 issues on a Win10 machine recently by sfc /scannow.

Otherwise in your shoes I'd start with the basics and check connectivity to port numbers on the server, etc. Can you connect via say IMAP or POP3 through Outlook?

What security do you have installed?
 

Puffnstuff

Lifer
Mar 9, 2005
16,181
4,869
136
I'm only using the windows firewall and outlook has full access on both private and public networks. I can connect to other pop/imap/mapi accounts just fine. If I use Mozilla thunderbird I can connect to outlook and get my email just fine. This is a clean install of windows with a clean install of office 2013 and there are no competing registry entries to cause an error with outlook. Each time I use the add an account feature and enter my info I get the outlook connector log in dialog box, enter my password, and after I hit ok it just goes back to the main add an email account dialog box and just sits there on "searching for my email account settings" and never gets past it. The problem has to be with outlook because thunderbird gets right in once I enter my account settings.

For a supposedly professional version of high dollar software this is pretty poor performance especially since the free software can do it right every time. In the past once I entered the appropriate information into the connector log in box the setup would complete quickly but this time it will not finish for anything. I've tried turning the windows firewall off completely and it had no effect on this problem.

Edit: After letting it try for over an hour it just succeeded and added my outlook account to outlook. That is just insane that it took over an hour to perform such a simple task and a freeware email program like thunderbird can do the same thing instantly and retrieve my email in just a few minutes.
 
Last edited:

postmortemIA

Diamond Member
Jul 11, 2006
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I got email not long ago from hotmail that they are moving to IMAP system and that connector will stop working at some point.
 

Puffnstuff

Lifer
Mar 9, 2005
16,181
4,869
136
I have my outlook account set to imap so it must have been with how the connector was interacting with their system. I did the same thing with office 365 two weeks ago and it was able to get it instantly.
 

Puffnstuff

Lifer
Mar 9, 2005
16,181
4,869
136
I just went through the same issue with outlook 2016 on my tablet when I tried setting it up for outlook.com last night so it has to be a server issue.
 

x26

Senior member
Sep 17, 2007
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HR --PuffenStuff--

Who ya Gonna Call when things get Ruff??

"Jimmy--Where's the Magic Flute??"



Important information about your email service
Hello,
In the next few weeks we’ll be making some updates that will impact your @outlook.com, @hotmail, @live, or @msn email account. Those changes will prevent your email from getting delivered to the Outlook desktop application you use. When you notice that you stop receiving messages, simply follow these two steps:
For Outlook 2003 customers:
1. Remove your email account from your Outlook 2003 desktop application

2. Re-add your email account to your Outlook 2003 desktop application


For Outlook 2007 customers:
1. Remove your email account from your Outlook 2007 desktop application

2. Re-add your email account to your Outlook 2007 desktop application


For Outlook 2010 customers:
1. Remove your email account from your Outlook 2010 desktop application

2. Re-add your email account to your Outlook 2010 desktop application


When the update happens, you may not be able to refer back to this email in your Outlook desktop application. We recommend bookmarking or saving the two links (remove and re-add) in steps 1 and 2 above that apply to the version of Outlook you’re using. Remember, you can always access this message by logging into your account at www.outlook.com at any time.

If you don’t know what version of Outlook you have, you can click here for instructions to find out.

Thanks for your understanding and continued use.
Sincerely,
The Outlook team


Microsoft respects your privacy. To learn more, please read our Privacy Statement.

Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052
 

Puffnstuff

Lifer
Mar 9, 2005
16,181
4,869
136
HR --PuffenStuff--

Who ya Gonna Call when things get Ruff??

"Jimmy--Where's the Magic Flute??"

I loved that show when I was a kid hence the name. Anyway I too received that email from MS at my outlook address a couple of weeks ago but nothing changed with my email until I tried to access it from a clean installation of office 10, 13 and 16 from different pc's. The free Mozilla thunderbird connects straight away each time and does its thing to set up the account while office hangs at setting up the account.