Outlook is a desktop-based client offered by Microsoft Office Suite. This application can send and receive emails and manage them accordingly. Sometimes it shows specific errors just like any other application. You must have used the old-fashioned technique of restarting your system to resolve the issue but, it doesn’t always work. Thus, You need another technical method that can fix the error & you can start working again.
When you get the Outlook cannot connect to server error it will show like this:
Why does Connecting Error Happen in Outlook?
There are multiple reasons for the error to occur in Outlook. Let us find your cause of the error and how to resolve them.
- Internet Connection: Check your internet connectivity if it is turned off or disabled.
- Offline Mode: Outlook can be used in Offline mode as it syncs all your work after the connectivity establishes again.
- Corrupt File: Sometimes, the OST file corrupts automatically and can increase the chance of receiving this error.
- Wrong Credentials: You could have mistakenly entered the incorrect username or IMAP/POP setting at the time of registration.
- Add-Ins issue: Some Third-party extensions could be the reason for the error.
- Old Version: There is a chance that your Outlook is not updated for a long time.
How to Fix Microsoft Outlook Cannot Connect to Server?
These methods are all performed before and are 100% safe. Follow these if you wish to get rid of the reconnect outlook to a server error.
Restart your System
It is one of the most used methods for any problem in the technological sector. You have to Shut Down Your PC and Start it again. After that, you will open Outlook again and see that the error is gone.
Check your Connectivity
The connection error is generally because of the disconnection of the Internet in your system.
There are many ways to solve this:
- Check if your system is attached to the correct wifi or LAN.
- Restart your wifi router again by switching off the power source.
- Update your wifi driver.
If the connection is alright and you can still see the Outlook Cannot connect to server error, then Hop on to the next step
Login again using Correct Credentials
Many of the users fill in the incorrect credentials at the time of sign-in of Outlook that can lead to particular errors. To fix the error, You have to remove your account from Outlook and log in again.
Follow these steps to complete the process:
- Open Outlook and Go to File Menu.
- Click Account Settings.
- Here, Select Yahoo account and Use the Remove button to Delete the account from Outlook.
- Now, Again Go to File and Click on Add Account.
- After adding your account correctly, you can see the Connection error is no more.
Offline Mode Turned On
Outlook offers a work offline button that allows users to read and edit emails anytime without an internet connection. There must be a possibility that you have enabled this feature.
To fix the Outlook cannot connect to server error, Perform these Steps:
- Open Outlook and click the Send/Receive menu.
- Click on the Work Offline button to turn it off.
- You will see Connected in the bottom right corner.
Disable Outlook Extensions
Find the extension causing the connecting error by disabling all the extensions and turning them off one after another.
Follow these steps to find the faulty extension:
- Start Outlook and Click on File.
- Tap on the Options menu.
- Choose Add-Ins from the list.
- Press the Go button after Selecting COM Add-ins in the manage menu.
- Here, Uncheck all the Extensions and Click OK.
After this, Your Outlook cannot connect to server error will be gone.
Update your Outlook
Microsoft sends updates for every software after fixing bugs and glitches. Many users disable the automatic update feature in windows to save time and data. You have to update your Outlook to the latest version.
Use the below-given steps to update your Outlook:
- Click Office Account in the Files menu.
- Press Update New under the Update Options button.
- Your Outlook is Fully updated to the latest version and ready to use.
If you do not find this method helpful, try the next one
Repair Corrupted PST file
PST is used to store all the emails, calendars, contacts, notes of your account in a single file. It can be corrupted sometimes due to a load of data. You can use the built-in inbox repair tool to fix the “Outlook cannot connect to server” error.
Find Scanpst.exe in the following locations according to your MS office versions:
| Version | Location | |
| MS Office 2019 | C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16 | |
| MS Office 2016 | C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16 | |
| MS Office 2013 | C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15 | |
| MS Office 2010 | C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14 | |
| MS Office 2007 | C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12 |
The following steps are required to repair the PST file.
- Open SCANPST application from the respective location.
- Click Browse to select the. PST file you wish to scan.
- Tap Start to Scan the PST file that you want to repair.
- Your scan will start automatically.
- Tick Make a backup of scanned files before repairing to take a backup in case of data loss.
- Press the Repair button to Complete the process.
- Click OK to close the tool.
It will repair corrupted PST files. However, it can only fix the small files and can’t troubleshoot large files. Conversely, You can use the other tool that is the ultimate solution.
Professional Tool to Repair PST File
PST File Recovery Tool Provided by Sysinfo Repairs all the damaged or corrupted PST files easily. It can also convert them into different file formats.8O GB of file size can be recovered without any problem using this tool. This software contains other features such as Snapshot, Data range, Maintaining folder hierarchy, and many more.
Conclusion
In Brief, we got to know the reasons for Connecting Errors in Outlook. We answered you ‘How do I fix outlook not connecting” Question in the best available techniques. In Addition, an expert solution was also discussed through this blog.