Exchange account set-up missing for Outlook 2016

Anonymous
2015-05-10T20:07:40+00:00

I recently upgraded to Office 2016 Preview from Office 2013.  I had several POP / IMAP and Exchange accounts that all worked fine prior to the upgrade.  After the upgrade the POP / IMAP accounts work fine but non of the Exchange accounts work.  I got the following message "Outlook cannot log on. Verify you are connected to the network and are using the proper server and mailbox name. The Microsoft Exchange information service in your profile is missing required information. Modify your profile to ensure that you are using the correct Microsoft Exchange information service" Ok, so deleted the account and tried to set it up again however, under "Add Account" there is no longer an option to set up an Exchange account. There are only two options: 1) Outlook.com or Exchange ActiveSync compatible service or 2) POP or IMAP. The Microsoft Exchange Server or compatible service option is missing?

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-09-11T10:30:25+00:00

    Firstly, create a text file containing the following:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> 

    <Autodiscover xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/responseschema/2006"> 

      <Response xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/autodiscover/outlook/responseschema/2006a"> 

        <Account> 

          <AccountType>email</AccountType> 

          <Action>redirectUrl</Action> 

          <RedirectUrl>https://autodiscover-s.outlook.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml</RedirectUrl> 

        </Account> 

      </Response> 

    </Autodiscover>

    Save the file somewhere on the PC that's running Outlook 2016 Preview. It's probably worth putting it somewhere you can remember and giving it a name that tells you what it is so you don't delete it later.

    Next open regedit. Navigate to 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\AutoDiscover'

    Create a new 'string value' called whatever your email domain name is i.e. 'businessname.com' - no quotes.

    Double click the new value and enter the path to the file you just created. Again, no quotes.

    Next create a 'DWORD value' called 'PreferLocalXML' - no quotes.

    Double click the new value and give it a value of 1.

    Now try Outlook 2016 Preview again.

    I found decision:

    1. I found Sample Exchange Autodiscover Local XML File at https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/office/Sample-Exchange-Autodiscove-263028b4
    2. The line <RedirectUrl>https://autodiscover-s.outlook.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml</RedirectUrl>

    must be <RedirectUrl>https://your_own_cas_server_name/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml</RedirectUrl>

    1. The file must be .xml not .txt. So I renamed 1.txt to 1.xml
    2. Start Outlook 2016

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-09-13T00:59:59+00:00

    I found decision:

    1. I found Sample Exchange Autodiscover Local XML File at https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/office/Sample-Exchange-Autodiscove-263028b4
    2. The line <RedirectUrl>https://autodiscover-s.outlook.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml</RedirectUrl>

    must be <RedirectUrl>https://your_own_cas_server_name/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml</RedirectUrl>

    1. The file must be .xml not .txt. So I renamed 1.txt to 1.xml
    2. Start Outlook 2016

    Hi Vammala, 

    Glad you're up and running. The instructions I gave were only for Office 365 users. What you've found is the way to get it working for everyone else. 

    Much neater than my original suggestion to use the hosts file and probably supported by Microsoft too. 

    Don't forget to undo these steps if your administrator enables autodiscover. 

    K

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-09-30T22:12:20+00:00

    Can someone speak English? I just got Outlook 2016 and need SIMPLE instructions with STEPS to be able to follow everything ALL of you are talking about! Is there Outlook for Dummies somewhere? Please help.

    Thanks.

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  4. Diane Poremsky MVP 17,526 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2016-10-01T02:54:20+00:00

    Do you have a profile set up yet? If not, the first time you open it, the "first use" wizard opens. Enter your email address and password when asked. Outlook will do the rest. If it can't find your server information, you'll need to get setup instructions from your email host and set it up manually. 

    If you are using Exchange server you can only use auto account setup - enter your email address and password. If your exchange server is not properly configured for auto account setup, you should tell your email admin to properly configure the server for autodiscover. Otherwise, you need to create an xml file as mentioned above. I have instructions for this near the end of the article at https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/exchange-account-set-up-missing-in-outlook-2016/

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  5. Anonymous
    2016-10-07T18:37:04+00:00

    Then the UPGRADE process should not remove the previous account profile, which it currently does.  This is a BAD HABIT of M$ software.    If an exchange account profile exists for Office 2013, Office 2016 should respect and use it, instead of deleting it and breaking things, tho, quite frankly, since there are so many issues with autodiscover, it would be better to simply return the option for manual setup.

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