Outlook email not updating is a common problem that users may encounter while using the Microsoft Outlook email client on Windows. When this issue occurs, the emails are delivered only when the user clicks the Update Folder option under the Send/Receive tab in Outlook.
This problem is often accompanied by other Outlook performance issues, such as delay in sending or receiving emails, slow or no search results, slow load time, outdated mailbox, missing mail items, etc.
In this article, we have discussed the reasons that may prevent Outlook from updating emails and the solutions to resolve the issue.
Reasons for Outlook Email Not Auto-Updating
There are several reasons that can affect Outlook's performance and result in the emails not updating automatically issue, such as:
- Poor network connection.
- Faulty or incompatible add-ins.
- Wrong email settings.
- Conflict with other apps.
- Corrupt or damaged Outlook profile.
- Oversized local cache (.ost).
- Inconsistent Outlook data file (.ost).
- Low mailbox storage or local drive storage.
Solutions to Fix Outlook Emails Not Updating Automatically
Follow these solutions to fix Outlook not auto-updating the emails and mail items in Inbox or Outbox folder.
Check Your Internet Connection
Make sure the internet is working and the mailbox server is online and available. To verify, you can log in to your webmail account using a web browser. If you can log in successfully and access all mail items, send/receive emails, etc., the issue could be with your Outlook client, profile, or data file (.ost). Continue following the next solutions to troubleshoot and fix the issue.
Verify Outlook Settings
Outlook prompts users when it fails to connect to the mailbox server and asks for the new password if changed. Sometimes, it may not prompt. Thus, you can check your email credentials and account settings manually to ensure Outlook establishes a connection with the mailbox server and synchronizes mail items to/from the server.
The steps are as follows:
- In Outlook, navigate to File > Account Settings > Account Settings and select your email account.
- Click Change > More Settings.
- Verify and update the email credentials and check the email account settings are correct.
Disable Antivirus or Add Exception
If third-party apps, such as Antivirus, are not Outlook-friendly, they may affect normal Outlook operations. If your emails are not updating automatically, try disabling the antivirus program temporarily. If disabling the antivirus program fixes the problem, try adding your Outlook to the exception list of your antivirus program. Alternatively, you can uninstall it and install an Outlook-friendly or Outlook-aware antivirus program on your system to avoid the issue.
Toggle Cached Exchange Mode
Cached Exchange Mode is highly recommended for live Exchange Server and Office 365 email accounts to ensure Outlook performance. When the emails are not updating or you are experiencing sync errors, toggling Cached Exchange Mode may help resolve the issue. When you disable the Cached Exchange Mode, Outlook connects to the server directly and all changes made are reflected immediately across all devices and OWA.
You can toggle the Cached Exchange Mode to try to fix the Outlook not updating emails automatically issue. The steps are as follows:
- In Outlook, go to File > Account Settings > Account Settings.
- Under the Email section, click on your email account and then click Change.
- Under the Offline Settings, disable the Use Cached Exchange Mode option.
- Click Next.
- Restart Outlook for the changes to take effect.
Outlook will connect to the mailbox server in Online Mode. Any changes made are updated in real-time and reflected in the Outlook client and web app.
You can continue using your Outlook client in Online mode if you want to or repeat the above steps to enable the Cached Exchange Mode. After enabling the Cached Exchange Mode, restart the system and open Outlook. Try sending a test email to check if the emails are updating automatically.
Enable Send Immediately Option
Send immediately when connected is an advanced option that forces Outlook to update emails as soon as it connects to the mailbox server. To enable this option, follow these steps:
- In Outlook, click File > Options > Advanced.
- Under Send and Receive, click Send immediately when connected
- Click OK and restart Outlook.
Your emails should automatically update. If not, continue following the solutions given below.
Repair Microsoft Office
You may also try repairing Microsoft Office to fix the emails not updating automatically issue on your Windows laptop or PC. The steps are as follows:
- Open Control Panel and click Uninstall a program under Program.
- From the list, choose Microsoft Office…. and click Change.
- From the available options, choose Repair and click Continue.
- This will start repairing the Microsoft Office (including Outlook) program files.
- After the repair, restart the system and then launch Outlook. Check if the emails are now updating.
Setup a New Outlook Profile
You can create a new Outlook profile, which may fix the problem (if caused by a corrupt profile). The steps are as follows:
- Close Outlook and open the Control Panel.
- Search and click on the Mail > Show Profiles… option.
- Click Add and type the new profile name. Click OK.
- Add your email account by entering the email credentials. Continue the setup wizard to configure your email under this new Outlook profile.
- Once set up, Outlook will start the synchronization process and update all mail folders and items automatically.
After the synchronization, make sure all the mail folders are updated.
Note: If you find some mail items missing, move them to your new profile from the old one. Once all emails are moved, you may remove the old profile, which will also remove the OST file associated with that profile.
Recreate OST File
When the Outlook data file (OST) file is large or oversized, it may become inconsistent and lead to Outlook synchronization issues leading to outdated emails and mailbox items, delays in sending or receiving emails, slow search results, etc.
If the solutions discussed above did not work for you, try recreating the offline Outlook data file (.ost). The steps are as follows:
- Open Outlook and right-click on your email in the left pane.
- Choose Open File Location. This will open the OST file location.
- Once located, close the Outlook client and copy the OST file to another drive or folder location.
- After copying, delete the default Outlook OST file and start Outlook.
- Outlook will check for the OST file. Since you have deleted it, Outlook will create a new OST file and synchronize all mail items and emails from the mailbox server to this local OST file. This may take a while to complete depending on your mailbox size.
- After the synchronization is complete, check your mail folders and items.
Conclusion
The above solutions will help you fix the Outlook not updating emails automatically issue in Outlook 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, or 2010. However, you should check your emails and ensure there are no missing emails, especially when you created a new profile or recreated the OST file to fix the problem.
In case of missing mail items, you can use the backup (copied) OST file and convert it into Outlook importable PST format using an OST to PST converter software, such as Stellar Converter for OST. After the conversion, you can import the PST file to restore missing mail items or open the PST file and move the missing items manually to restore them. You may also use the software to export the converted mail items from the OST file directly to a live Exchange or Office 365 mailbox.
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