How to fix "Operation cannot be performed because message has been changed" message. when using Outlook and Gmail.

Anonymous
2020-04-21T11:53:43+00:00

Over the last two years, I have been using Outlook 2013, now Office 365. I've been experiencing an ongoing issue where I receive this message "Operation cannot be performed because message has been changed" message.  Typical scenarios: 1) A new email arrives in my Outlook inbox. I preview, or read the email. I attempt to delete the email. Operation cannot... message appears.  I either type a new email, or reply to an email, go on to another task leaving the draft until later. When I return to the draft email, complete the email, and attempt to send the email, Operation cannot... message appears. I also cannot even save the draft, same error message. This is the worst part of this bug, as I've wasted/lost the time effort spent on the draft email.

I have run the Office repair utilities. I have tried unchecking the email cleanup boxes, and a variety of fixes recommended on these Microsoft answers communities. I've noticed sometimes when I come back to a message, it does allow me to move/delete the message. It's like there's a sync issue that needs time to resolve. However, nothing appears to work when a draft message gets hung in this loop. I have to start over with a new reply email.

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For home

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-04-08T16:04:57+00:00

    My question involved Windows 10, Office 365, and Yahoo Mail.  Trying fix regarding Outlook 2016-2019 and Google was not successful.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-04-08T15:50:07+00:00

    My question involved Windows 10, Office 365, and Yahoo Mail.  Trying fix regarding Outlook 2016-2019 and Google was not successful.

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-04-08T15:12:53+00:00

    Hi KeithLwood,

    In terms of the google account setting:

    1. In Outlook 2016/2019, navigate to File > Account Settings > Account Settings.
    2. Select the IMAP account and click Change (or double-click the IMAP account name)
    3. Enter INBOX in the Root folder path field

    You will see the window below:

    Image

    Put INBOX in Root Folder Path, type the "INBOX".

    Yours Sincerely,

    George

    When I put INBOX in the root folder path, I lost other Folders such as Drafts, Sent Mail, Trash, Important, Spam, and Starred. How do I restored these folders?

    Need your assistance please.

    I've had INBOX as the Root Folder for years on all my IMAP accounts. This does NOT correct the problem. This suggestion has been suggested often and never fixes my problem and others.

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-04-07T01:27:25+00:00

    Hi KeithLwood,

    In terms of the google account setting:

    1. In Outlook 2016/2019, navigate to File > Account Settings > Account Settings.
    2. Select the IMAP account and click Change (or double-click the IMAP account name)
    3. Enter INBOX in the Root folder path field

    You will see the window below:

    Image

    Put INBOX in Root Folder Path, type the "INBOX".

    Yours Sincerely,

    George

    When I put INBOX in the root folder path, I lost other Folders such as Drafts, Sent Mail, Trash, Important, Spam, and Starred. How do I restored these folders?

    Need your assistance please.

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  5. Anonymous
    2021-03-19T15:39:28+00:00

    I should also point out for those with a problem moving a message - I have found that if I open and save the message (sometimes save twice) just back to the same folder, the old unmovable message is at least temporarily overwritten and now the message can be moved to a different folder. However, do it quickly - if you wait the issue can pop up again.

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