MS Outlook application can be configured with Office 365/Microsoft 365 account or Exchange accounts to access the mailboxes. It helps them open their Exchange/Office 365 emails on their workstations. So, with Exchange/Office 365 connectivity, Outlook plays a vital role in enterprise-level email communication.
Common Outlook connectivity issues
Usually, Exchange/Office 365 to Outlook connection is seamless and smooth. But sometimes, even after a successful connection, users may face connectivity issues between the Outlook application and Office 365/Exchange Online.
Some of the errors due to such issues are –
- Outlook stops responding
- Outlook message “Trying to connect…” or “Disconnected”
With connectivity issues, users may get some other error messages as well.
These are basically connectivity issues in Outlook while configuring Office 365 or Exchange Online accounts. It never lets users complete the configuration, and the user gets stuck in the process. With connectivity issues, users may get some other error messages as well.
Though there are many other issues, we will focus on the Outlook not responding (hanging) issue.
How to troubleshoot Outlook connectivity issues?
There is no need to panic when you face Outlook connectivity issues; instead, you should go for suitable solutions based on the potential reasons behind the issue. We are going to discuss these causes and solutions next.
Before trying these methods, you are recommended to try Support and Recovery Assistant for Microsoft 365 from Microsoft.
Other methods you can try to fix the Outlook connectivity issue in Office 365 and Exchange Online are:
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Reset the Office 365 password
Although it is not probable that resetting the password again would fix the problem, you can give it a try as, in some cases, when the password has been reset, the connectivity issues are resolved.
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Run Windows Update
To update your Windows, go to the search box and type Windows Update. Then click on Settings and click on Install Optional Updates. Now restart your system and try to connect Outlook with Exchange/Office 365.
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Repair Outlook Profiles
This can help to resolve the issue if the problem lies with the Outlook Profile. To repair the Outlook profile, click on the File Tab. Click Account Settings>>Account Settings. Now, go to the Email tab, select your Outlook profile and click on Repair. Move to the next wizard until completion, and then start the Outlook again.
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Run diagnostic tests
With an Office 365 administrator account, you can run a diagnostic test to fix Outlook connectivity issues. It detects issues and suggests solutions to fix them automatically.
Delete the local Outlook profile
Delete the local profile on the system that is used to connect Office 365/Exchange as the corruption in it may be the cause of the issue. Try this solution to see if it works.
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Check for service issues
This method should be followed if multiple users in the organization are face email flow issues with their Office 365 accounts. You can use this method if you are an admin or have administrative rights. Login with admin rights and navigate to Office 365 Service health dashboard page. Here, go to Exchange Online and look for the services’ status.
These solutions can solve your connectivity issues, especially Outlook crashes and no-responses. Also, you can check if Outlook connectivity issues are due to the interference of Outlook add-ins, corruption in the Office suite, corruption of the Outlook profile, or configuration issues. As a solution, you can try fixes like removing suspected add-ins, repairing the Office suite, running Outlook diagnostics, creating a new Outlook profile, running advanced diagnostics, and contacting Microsoft support.
But sometimes, these solutions cannot help you. Fearing such situations, many Office 365 administrators keep a backup for their Office 365 mailboxes. Office 365 Backup and Restore is a software that can backup Office 365 or Exchange Online data to Outlook PST files. It can backup on-premises Exchange data as well. It saves the data with original hierarchy and data integrity. This software performs one more function, i.e., PST to Office 365 migration.
Conclusion
This article discusses the methods to tackle Outlook connectivity issues with Office 365 (Exchange Online). These solutions are feasible and can be tried once. A method to backup Office 365 data in Outlook PST file via professional software is also mentioned here.
