While working in an Exchange environment, network connectivity is important for smooth email communication. Then only Exchange users can send/receive emails properly using Outlook. But often, Outlook users face network connectivity issues, and Exchange administrators will have to address this issue. This issue is more prominent in older versions like Outlook 2010.Here we will discuss the intermittent network issues in Outlook 2010.
Intermittent Network Issues in Outlook 2010
When the Outlook application is configured with an active Exchange account, you can confirm its connectivity by going to the Account Settings and applying the ‘Test Account Settings’ option. It will check the incoming email server and send a test message to verify the account. When Outlook loses the connection with Exchange Server frequently, it affects your email communication. Here, we will discuss some troubleshooting methods for Outlook 2010.
Resolve the intermittent connection issues in Outlook 2010
- Change connection settings
You can fix many connectivity issues by correcting the connection settings of Outlook. To verify the connection settings, follow the upcoming steps –- Run Outlook, go to the File tab and click the Info button.
- Select the Account Settings option under the Account Settings drop-down.
- Select the Email account; click Change.
- Now, click More Settings; go to the Connection tab.
- Select the Exchange Proxy Settings.
- Here, make sure that the ‘On fast networks, connect using HTTP first, then connect using TCP/IP’ option is in the Enabled state. If not, then enable the option.
- Restart the Outlook application, and the issue should get solved now.
- Switch to Online mode
If you useOutlook 2010 or the modern versions of Outlook like 2013, 2016, or 2019, you can troubleshoot the Outlook application.When Outlook is configured with Exchange Server, it shows its status as ‘Connected to Microsoft Exchange.’ If it is showing Working Offline, you are not connected to Exchange. You need to reconnect to your Exchange Server.
Here is the whole troubleshooting process:
- When there is no connection between Exchange Server and Outlook shows its status as ‘Working Offline.’ Here, go to the Send/Receive tab and disable the option ‘Work Offline.’
- Now try to log in to Outlook on the Web Account. If it shows the error that the Exchange Server is unavailable, then follow the steps:
- In profile settings, go to Tools.
- Go to Account Settings and double-click the Exchange email address of the account.
- Check if the Server Address is mentioned correctly.
- Click More Settings; then to the Connection tab.
- Go to Exchange Proxy Settings and verify if the proxy address is correct.
- When there is no connection between Exchange Server and Outlook shows its status as ‘Working Offline.’ Here, go to the Send/Receive tab and disable the option ‘Work Offline.’
- Check Cached Exchange Mode
It is possible that Cached Exchange Mode is not enabled in your Outlook. You need to enable it.- Go to the Files tab, then Account Settings> Account Settings.
- Double-click on the Exchange email address. If the ‘Use Cached Exchange Mode’ is checked, uncheck it and restart the Outlook again.
- Go to the Files tab, then Account Settings> Account Settings.
- Fix OST File Corruption
If Outlook runs smoothly now and there is no connection issue, and you are still unable to access Outlook data, your cache file (OST) is corrupt. There are different fixes you can try to fix the OST file corruption.- You should delete the OST file from its location and create a new one.The new OST file will be free of corruption and will help you access your emails again.
- Another troubleshooting option is to run Outlook in Safe Mode. Go to the Search option and input ‘outlook.exe /safe.’ If Outlook works fine, then you should find and remove problematic add-ins from the Outlook application.
- Another method is to trace route your proxy server. Input the command tracert hostname in the Command Prompt, and it will enlist the connections with Exchange. If there is a problem with the network connection, then such services will load slowly. In such a case, you should contact your Internet Service Provider.
- Fix Exchange Server Issues
By using all these troubleshooting methods, you can confirm the root of the error and rectify it. But, if the problem is due to the corruption in Exchange data, you will have to scan the database file using the ESEUTIL tool and remove the corruption. But, you should also know that the ESEUTIL tool may further delete the data if you perform the hard recovery. That’s why you should go for a secure option that removes the corruption and saves the data.To fight corruption in a faulty EDB file, you should trust Exchange Server Recovery software that can recover the mailboxes from any corrupt state. It can easily remove the problems linked with Exchange 2010 dismounted database files. Additionally, you can save the recovered data in the offline PST, live Exchange Server, Microsoft 365, Public Folder, and other destinations. There are also several output formats where the EDB file’s data can be saved. It protects the data integrity and collects the data in a consistent format so that you can access the files as they were saved earlier.
Now run the Outlook in the Online mode by going to Send/Receive tab and reconnecting with the Work Offline option.
Now close Outlook and open it again. Your issues will be solved.
Conclusion
The network connectivity between Exchange and Outlook is important for proper email communication. But this can be affected due to hardware/software issues or improper settings. Exchange administrators can try to fix them in different ways. But if the issue is due to EDB file corruption, they need to fix it using Exchange Server Recovery tool.