outlook not sending or receiving emails

Question

outlook not sending or receiving emails

Gregory Fonseca 0

outlook is not sending or receiving emails. i have tried to rest the account and still does not send or receive emails on my mac book pro.

Hornblower409 14,690 Reputation points

2026-09-08T03:53:42.55+00:00

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2 answers

Your answer

Hornblower409 14,690 Reputation points

2026-09-08T03:53:42.55+00:00

If the AI Answer did not solve your problem:

Click the [No] button on the "Was this answer helpful?" or "Did this solve your problem?" bar under the answer. If there is a [Reject] button visible, click that too. This may get a human forum user to respond to your question. But human participation remains voluntary. Community members and moderators answer only those question they choose to engage with.

If that does not get you a human response, type "Not Solved" in the "Add Comment" box below and then click the [Add Comment] button. I will try to offer some suggestions on what you can do next.

Answer 1

Thomas4-N 21,535 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello Gregory Fonseca,

Since resetting the account did not help, could you confirm:

Who provides the email account, such as Outlook.com, Microsoft 365, Gmail, Yahoo, or another provider?
Can you send and receive messages through the provider’s webmail?
What exact error message or code appears in Outlook?
Under Tools > Accounts, does the account show an orange connection indicator?

This will help determine whether the issue is with the mailbox itself or Outlook for Mac. Please remove any personal information before sharing screenshots.

Thomas4-N 21,535 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-10T15:02:55.0566667+00:00

Hello Gregory Fonseca,

Just check in to see how things are going. Let me know if you need anything.

Answer 2

Try these steps in order on Outlook for Mac:

Check internet and Outlook online status.
- Open a web browser and confirm websites load.
- In Outlook, open the Outlook menu and make sure Work Offline is not checked.
Check whether mailbox storage is full.
- If Microsoft cloud storage is full, Outlook cannot send or receive email.
Verify the account connection.
- Go to Tools > Accounts.
- Select the account in the left pane.
- If the connection indicator is orange, Outlook is not connecting properly.
- If the account worked before, try signing in through Outlook on the web to confirm whether the mailbox is reachable.
Recheck account credentials and server settings.
- In Tools > Accounts, confirm the email address, user name, and password are correct.
- If this is a POP or IMAP account, the provider may require special settings such as SSL, custom ports, or a different outgoing SMTP server.
If this is a POP or IMAP account, turn on SMTP authentication.
- Go to Tools > Accounts.
- Select the account.
- Under Outgoing server, select More Options.
- Choose the authentication type and enter credentials if required.
If sending fails on some networks only, check for firewall or SMTP blocking.
- Some ISPs or networks block the outgoing mail server.
- In Tools > Accounts, select the account and update the Outgoing server if the provider gives an alternative SMTP server.
If this is an Exchange account and mail is not syncing, empty the Outlook cache for the affected folder.
- Warning: this deletes any information not synchronized with the Exchange server, including contacts' mail certificates. Back up Outlook data first if needed.
- Make sure the Mac is connected to the Exchange server.
- In the navigation pane, Ctrl+click or right-click the Exchange folder.
- Select Properties > General > Empty Cache.
- Outlook will re-download the items from the Exchange server.
If the message is stuck because of large attachments:
- Open the Drafts folder.
- Remove some attachments and send again, or delete the message from Drafts and then permanently delete it from Trash.
If the account uses a proxy-required network, set the mail proxy in macOS System Preferences.

If the issue started with a specific provider account such as @shaw.ca or rogers, there is a known Outlook for Mac issue under investigation affecting send/receive for those domains.