Outlook: Cannot move the items. The operation cannot be performed because the message has been changed.

Anonymous
2022-05-20T08:11:25+00:00

This message often pops up when I try to move an email to a folder after reading and closing it.  This happens even though I have not changed the message at all other than to read it.  If I select another message and then try to move the original message again, it will work.

I have been getting this problem for years and I am sick of it! everytime I try to tidy my inbox it takes hours because I have to keep moving away and then back to the email.

I know this message pops up in relation to other scenarios but I would like to concentrate on just this one problem as otherwise there are too many off topic answers.

This has been happening for at least 6 YEARS is no-one from Microsoft able to help with this problem?

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For business

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-11-17T05:20:20+00:00

    If this problem still can't be solved, please tell me if your e-mail is IMAP, POP3 or Microsoft Exchange account

    Incidentally, I've only ever seen this issue with non-Exchange mail accounts. I have two IMAP accounts (one of them Gmail) with my Outlook (Version 2210 Build 16.0.15726.20188) 32-bit.

    As a Snr IT Professional with Windows application development experience, it seems to me that whenever an open POP3/IMAP email undergoes a change e.g. when you click on 'Download pictures' or 'Add to Safe senders' then it's rendered as an unsaved message. Outlook then seems to get confused about saving the "changed" message back to the mail file, when it really ought to be a simple process!

    @yuhao - you won't be able to reproduce the issue if it's an Exchange/Exchange Online account.
    I recommend that you try setting up an IMAP account (Gmail, Hotmail etc) and you will be in a better position to see the problem :-)

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-11-06T18:28:39+00:00

    I've also had this problem in recent years and haven't found a way to fix it. The workaround is to select another message in the inbox, pause, then select the message I want to move and then drag-n-drop it to the destination folder. This workaround usually works for me.

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-08-25T08:25:53+00:00

    This has been going on for three years now - none of the "solutions" work and the workarounds are time-consuming. I repeatedly get this message trying to send a new email from Outlook 365 and it is seriously annoying. It didn't happen before so why is it happening now and what has Microsoft doing about it for three years now?

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-08-24T13:24:31+00:00

    I use IMAP. Outlook does the exact same thing described by Lson5. It is a royal pain.

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  5. Anonymous
    2022-06-22T16:39:38+00:00

    I have the same exact problem. It started when I switched from POP3 to IMAP, same provider. The only difference between before the issue arose and now is that I access this mailbox via IMAP. Also, it is somewhat random: sometimes I look at a mail and it copies fine into a sub-folder, sometimes it doesn't. sometimes I use Reading pane to see the mail and it STILL doesn't allow me to copy (I have not opened the mail, just read it in reading pane).

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