Outlook is an information manager, primarily used to fetch emails. There are many email managers available in the market. The thing that makes this different from other rivalries is its capability to store notes, calendars and tasks.
It is a part of Microsoft Office Suite. You require connecting to the Outlook Exchange to enjoy its service. In several instances, users find Outlook cannot connect to server. The issue does not depend on any update.
In this article, we will provide you different possible solutions that you should go through to get its workarounds. But, at first, we will try to look at the various reasons what could lead into this problem. These are as follows:
- Bad Internet connection: yes, there could be an internet connection due to which you receive the problem cannot connect to server error in outlook. You can’t ignore this obvious reason.
- Enabled Work Offline: This feature in Outlook is for using the full functionality of the app with stay disconnected from the internet. Disable this option to so that Outlook can connect to the internet.
- Third-party add-ons: Outlook allows making use of third-party add-ons in the app. They can sometimes cause numerous issues with the app itself.
- Account corruption: Another reason you might receive the problem is because the account you are using is corrupted or having some problems of its own.
- Corrupted data file: The Outlook data file might get corrupted. This occurs especially in the condition when Outlook is not able to update its data properly because of an abrupt shutdown.
- Outdated application: you might be using an outdated version of the app running with various bugs/ glitches. Install the latest version with the security patches for the office application.
- Corrupted office installation: As said, outlook is a part of Microsoft Office Suite. If the installation itself it is corrupted, the problem like cannot connect to server error in outlook occurs with associated with it.
- Issues with system: it could be the case where the computer itself in the error. Power-cycling the computer usually resolves the problem.
Now, after understanding the nature of the issue and understand the possible reasons what lead to this issue, we are in the position to learn about the possible fixes. Below, the several fixes are provided for you.
Before you move to the solutions, make sure you logged in as administrator on your system. Also, make sure you know credentials of your account which you are using with Outlook along with the webmail server address that will be required while resetting several modules.
Possible fixes for cannot connect to server error in outlook
Fix 1: Power Cycle your computer
Before you do anything else, restart your computer and router and check if this provides you the fix for the issue. Here are the required steps (make sure you save all your tasks before proceeding):
- Turn off your computer and router and take out the main power supply,
- Now, press and hold the power buttons for around 2-3 minutes,
- Be in rest now for at least 5 min and then plug the power supply back in,
- Power on your device now and try to connect to the network and see if the problem is now resolved.
Fix 2: Check the Internet Connection
If there is an issue with the network or it is not open, the problems like Outlook cannot connect to server could occur. As a remedy, tips on how to make sure the internet is working and how to reset router are equally effective:
If you are using public internet, we recommend you switch to private one as public internet has limited access due to which your app might not be working as expected. If this method won’t work, you should step to resetting the router.
Before you reset your router, note down its configuration. You know that every ISP has specific settings saved on router. On resetting the router, these configurations are lost. Here, you should require navigating to the associated IP address with your router.
You can find it on backside of the device or in the g box of the router. It would look something like 192.168.1.2’. To reset router, search for a button on the back of the device and press and hold it till the router turns off and back on. The resetting process is complete. Enter the configurations now and connect your console back to the network and check if the problem is gone.
Fix 3: Turn off Work offline
As said, this feature is to use the app in offline mode. If this feature is enabled, the problem like cannot connect to server error in outlook occurs because it can’t connect to the internet. Here is how you can turn off this option:
- Open your outlook,
- Click on Send/ Receive tab,
- Look for Work Offline option,
- The Grey out option says it is active. Click on it to deactivate it.
Fix 4: Check for Updates
Check whether there is update available for Outlook and Windows both. The Office update is a part of Microsoft update and therefore nothing extra you have to do for it:
- Open Outlook and click on File button at the top-left,
- Click on Office Account on the left and click Update Options on the right-pane,
- If there is update available, windows will automatically download and install them on your system,
- To update your Windows, press Win+ S, type update to open Update setting,
- Click on Check for Updates and wait for the Microsoft to connect to the servers,
- You will find the option to download and install the latest version of your computer after a while.
Fix 5: Repair Outlook Account
You should try to repair your Outlook account if Outlook cannot connect to server problem continues. Outlook account here means for the email addresses or servers you input in the app. The issue can occur when the settings get disrupted. To get the problem fix, you can repair your account by the below steps:
- Launch Outlook and click on File tab on the left,
- Now, click on info and select your account on the drop-down menu,
- Click on Account and Social Network settings,
- Then click on Account Settings,
- Select Email address and click Repair option,
- Enter your details and confirm them,
- Press Next and then Outlook will try to re-establish the connection with the server and diagnoses the possible issues,
- After the account is repaired, check if Outlook can connect to the server.
Fix 6: Disable Extensions
As discussed, sometimes, some add-ons are causing all troubles. You should disable all extensions and then try to establish the connection. If the problem does not occur, this means that some add-on is the problematic. Enable them one-by-one till you receive the problem again and this way you will be able to find the problematic add-on and remove it:
- Open Outlook app and navigate to File> Options,
- Click on Add-ons,
- Now, click on Go option on the right beside Manage,
- Uncheck all the extensions and click Ok,
- Restart your Outlook app and see if the problem is resolved.
Fix 7: Rebuild Outlook data
If the problem continues, you should rebuild the entire Outlook data. On the next time, when you launch Outlook, it will notice that the data is missing and attempt to recreate it from scratch. This will provide you the required fix.
Before we move to the steps, we want you to note that all emails rules will be removed as a result of this action. You can export the rules to a location that you can import again. Here are the required steps:
- Open Outlook and navigate to:
Home/Rules/Manage Rules
Then,
Alerts/Options/Export Rules
- Now, export rules for all your mailboxes to a temporary folder,
- This folder will then serve as a backup to import all the rules back in.
Here are the steps how to rebuild Outlook data:
- Navigate to your Account settings – the steps we have already mentioned in our previous solutions on the page,
- Click on the Data files tab and select your Email account,
- Now, click Open File Location,
- Here, you can either Resume the file or move it to another location,
- Open the Outlook again and it will automatically rebuild the data file.
Fix 8: Repair/ Reinstall Outlook
If the above methods won’t work and you still receive cannot connect to server error in outlook issue, you can try repairing/ reinstalling the app. Here, you should first attempt to repair the suite. If this does not work, move on to reinstall it:
- Press Win+ R, type appwiz.cpl and hit Enter,
- In the app manager, locate entry for Microsoft office, right-click on it and select Change,
- Click on Repair option on the opened page and press Continue,
- Follow the on-screen instructions and when the process is complete, restart your computer and check if the problem is not resolved.
Conclusion
That’s all! We have provided all possible fixes for Outlook cannot connect to server. If none of the methods work, you should look for PC related issues. You can get an automatic fix for files corruption, registry errors, and problems like apps malfunctions and so on using it.
