Problems With Microsoft Outlook Classic

[#1]

Thanks for your message stuck.  This is what I did:

Closed Outlook

Control panel>User accounts>Mail>Email accounts>change.

The account settings were all correct.

Tried to open Outlook Classic (But it wouldn't open!)

The Outlook tests (Incoming and send) both showed as completed and the results popped up in my Thunderbird account.

[#2]

I use Plusnet mail with Outlook Classic all the time, which suggests that the problem isn't with Outlook.

[#3]

Well - I never have a problem, but there again I don't use Outlook. So, where is the problem?

[#4]

For those seeking help, it helps little to say “I have a problem with outlook” but to then not describe the problem (with the encountered error messages) nor the version of outlook being used.

There’s good versions of outlook which set the gold standard for email clients and there are bad versions - the latter being the free one(s).

As the product(s) have “evolved” they have sought to treat users as idiots under the guise of making things simpler for those who know nothing.  In reality such just makes life difficult.

The more recent versions assume settings and inhibit (or make difficult) modifying those settings once configured.  Sometimes the only pragmatic answer is to delete the configuration and start again, ensuring manual set up is chosen.  That’s safe enough for IMAP clients, but potentially catastrophic for POP3 clients (yet another sound reason for not using POP3 at all).

eM Client is an excellent alternative free email clients, though the free version only supports two email addresses.

[#5]

I use the paid version (Office 365) and it no longer works work via desktop or mobile ( iOS). Either they’ve changed something in a recent update or there is a fundamental mismatch between the server and Outlook. As it still works with older / legacy installs it seems to be something not  when setting up accounts on the client side. MS are trying to move everyone to ‘new’ Outlook but has been forced to admit that it is not fully functional. I have no problem swapping to an alternative email program but it is worrying that my backups aren’t accessible except via Outlook

[#6]

We went through this a few weeks ago Townman and were unable to resolve this issue - I’ve since changed phones and found that the Mobile version of Office 365 is also unable to access Plusnet’s servers…

[#7]

Hi @Dinalt 

If you let Outlook 365 set itself up it defaults to Microsoft Exchange and that could be the problem you need to remove account restart then go for either pop3 or imap then setup the servers

[#8]

If folks can provide specifics beyond “it does not work” we can try to help.  Switching to classic mode might be found to be helpful.

[#9]

As per my previous post - on two different desktops entering the login details for a new postbox doesn’t work. Test messages are sent and the folder structure is downloaded but the inbox does not fill . I suspect its timing out or something similar as you can create new folders via webmail (or an alternative mail programme) and manually move messages to this folder which will then download. On Office 365 mobile it just doesnt work it errors out.

Note existing mailboxes work fine on one of the two desktops so its not the actual Office program - it just cant handle updating a fresh mailbox 

[#10]

@Dinalt 

That is a lot more comprehensive than you’ve shared before.  Your issue is probably related to how the client views that mailbox.  Try setting the IMAP root folder in the account settings to inbox 

[#11]

Many email set up wizards come with invalid POP3 / IMAP / SMTP server names for Plusnet's email & these then have to be manually corrected.

We have no clue what settings are being used by posters in Outlook Classic as no one has shared any screen shots of their configuration of email server names / time outs / ports / encryption modes.    

We have also not seen any screen shots of failure error messages.

[#12]

… or just plain textual descriptions with error codes etc.

[#13]

Hi Townman,

I posted about this in September and you tried to help me then including checking the Root settings - after several back and forths I gave up as it was obvious there's an incompatibility between Plusnet and Outlook currently  - not pointing fingers it was just easier to manually archive my daughters email and then swap her onto thunderbird for ongoing email. I have a fully functioning Outlook on a brand new iphone from work which synchs perfectly with a massive work email archive and it just won't connect to Plusnets servers again life is too short and I reluctantly added the server details to Apple mail and it works fine.

Note on the desktop that connects to three of my plusnet mailboxes currently all three legacy accounts are set up as POP. If I try to add another Plusnet mail box using IMAP it will download folder structure and send test messages but will not populate the inbox. Note I have two IMAP accounts from other providers working perfectly with this desktop / Outlook installation.

[#14]

Its not a question of failure or error messages it just refuses to download emails - it will eventually time out or will do nothing.

BTW "Outlook Classic" is the full fat version of Outlook. it's the new version of Outlook which is missing customisation options (and is the default version installed by Windows 11 currently).

If we want to get into nitty gritty about configuration it's about time Plusnet updated or removed the page with the wrong details they have pinned to this forum but even without this side aspect the fact is currently you can set up Outlook correctly and it will not populate your inbox (it can send and reply fine). Part of the problem is the new Outlook has been crippled for some reason and I have no idea why. Troubleshooting this is made a little harder because Plusnet is blacklisted by most other email providers due to spam abuse so unless you have a work email its very hard to het a timely response as gmail / outlook etc have a massive time delay when dealing with Plusnet and some services just block it.

oh your mileage may vary but when I tried the new Outlook it worked but only downloaded 10 emails and then would not update

[#15]

---

@Dinalt wrote:

...Outlook no longer works with Plusnet...

---

 I use Outlook with Plusnet, and it works as expected.