Emails have not sent and are stuck in my Outbox, how do I get Outlook Desktop to send them?

Troubleshooting steps to get your emails sending again

Note: If the Outlook profile has been setup recently then it may still be busy downloading and indexing your messages. Please wait a few days for Outlook to finish syncing your profile, especially if it's a large mailbox.

Tip: Use Outlook on the Web temporarily if Outlook Desktop is temporarily not working. Go to: outlook.office.com

  1. Check you are online
    1. At the bottom of Outlook it will tell you if you are online with the words:
      1. All folders are up to date or syncing
      2. Connected to: Microsoft Exchange
      3. Online
    2. Try re-establishing a connection in Outlook by selecting Send / ReceiveWork Offline to disconnect and select Work Offline a second time to reconnect.
  2. Check if Outlook requires you to re-enter your password again
    1. This is usually indicated on the bottom.
    2. If you can't find the password box, minimise Outlook as it might be hiding behind. Alternatively close and reopen Outlook
  3. Manually Send / Receive
    1. Select 'Send / Receive' tab on the top ribbon
    2. 'Send/Receive All Folders'
    3. Also check the Send/Receive settings here:
      1. Send/Receive Groups
      2. Define Send/Receive Groups
      3. Select 'All Accounts'
      4. Ensure 'Include this group in send/receive is enabled
      5. Ensure 'Schedule an automatic send/receive every...' is enabled
      6. Choose 5 minutes

  4. Check the stuck message for errors, eg. email address errors (manually re-type the email address in case auto-complete is wrong)
  5. Check if the email you're sending does not include file attachments that are over the limit of 25MB. For large attachments create a share link from SharePoint or OneDrive instead:
    How do I share a file or folder on SharePoint and OneDrive to a colleague or external user? >
  6. Close and re-open Outlook
  7. Restart your computer
  8. If you're still having issues, copy the text from a stuck message into a new email, delete all emails stuck in the Outbox, and re-send the new email.

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