some emails not being downloaded from the server on Microsoft 365 Outlook

Jack Stocken 20 Reputation points
2026-08-24T17:51:02.71+00:00

I had to set up a new account as my emails were not sending. All worked fine but 5 years of emails would not download from my server! I have an IMPAP account.

The emails are on my server still - I have emails in my Outlook inbox from the last few days and pre 2021.

Please help!

Microsoft 365 and Office | Other
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Answer accepted by question author
Zoha Fatima 430 Reputation points
2026-08-24T22:30:25.8866667+00:00

Hi there,

Since the missing emails are still on your email server, that is a good sign. It means the emails have not been lost; Outlook simply may not be synchronizing all of them.

I would first sign in to your email provider’s webmail and confirm that the missing emails are still there. If they are, check Outlook’s IMAP folder settings and make sure the folders containing those older messages are subscribed and syncing.

If the problem continues, removing and adding the IMAP account again with the correct server settings can often resolve synchronization problems. I would not delete anything from the server until all of the emails have been successfully downloaded or backed up.

Thank you, and feel free to respond back for more assistance. I can also guide you through checking the IMAP settings and getting the older emails synchronized.

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  1. Jack Stocken 20 Reputation points
    2026-08-26T07:07:00.6066667+00:00

    Hi Zoha

    Thank you so much for your helpful answer. Actually I fixed the problem myself as I re loaded the old faulty Microsoft profile from the control panel and simply changed the server settings which were wrong and leading to emails resting in the outbox.

    So I now have all of my original emails back and contacts too.

    I was surprised that customer support in India did not check my server settings first - he just deleted my account and set up a new IMAP account but that was when the 2020 - 2026 emails did not synch from my server. Also my contacts were not easy to access.

    I spoke to to other people in India customer service and they were not able to help me which was frustrating too. None of them suggested re loading the old profile and changing the server settings.

    Best wishes

    Jack Stocken

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