How to Fix Mail in Windows 10 Problems

Lots of apps baked into Windows 10 have amazing reputations. They look great, work well and help you get through tasks that you would have needed to depend on a website or desktop program for with older versions of Windows. That Microsoft is taking charge of what users normally do is to be commended. There’s a problem though. Outlook Mail in Windows 10 isn’t as reliable as it could be. In fact, “mail in Windows 10 problems” is a pretty popular topic for Windows users to search for.

Throughout the years, Microsoft hasn’t always been as involved as it could have been with basic tasks. For a long time, the company didn’t bundle a quality mail app with Windows at all. Instead, it counted on power users buying Outlook with the company’s Office suite. It bet on those at home downloading Windows Live Mail add-on along with the now gone slate of Windows Live apps. Outlook Mail for Windows 10 was a chance to do the right thing by users.

To be clear, Outlook Mail in Windows 10 does have a lot going for it. It supports every important email provider, including Gmail, Yahoo and Microsoft’s own Outlook.com. The app provides notifications when new emails arrive. Its Live Tile makes sure that you can easily see if you have new emails for each of your accounts. It can be paired with the Cortana personal assistant. She’ll track your packages, make new reminders based on emails you’ve sent and dictate new emails for you.

Read: How to Add Email Accounts to Mail in Windows 10

But you’ve actually got to be able to keep Outlook Mail in Windows 10 working long enough to do all of that. Here’s the most common Outlook Mail problems in Windows 10 and how to fix them.

Outlook Mail Problems in Windows 10: Are You Sure You Want to Change, Add or Delete Your Account?

This is one of the most common Outlook Mail issues plaguing users, which is ironic because it’s not really a bug at all.

What the app is asking you is are you sure want to make changes to your accounts that might affect how your PC works? If you’re seeing this message it’s because one of the accounts you’re about to change is a business or enterprise account that could have conditions for connecting to it. Businesses can require that your device have a password, for example.

You’ll need to agree to add the account.

Outlook Mail Problems in Windows 10: Your Account Needs an Update

Outlook has a weird issue with updating. Sometimes when your computer has just awaken from sleep or hibernation, Outlook Mail will reach out to your email to check and see what’s new. Suddenly, you’re looking at a notification that says you need to update your account.

For now, don’t attempt anything drastic. Update the account information first. Next try syncing your account again. If the message doesn’t go away, go the Settings by clicking or tapping the cog in the bottom left corner of your screen. Go to Manage Accounts. Now tap or click on the account you’re having issues with. If you’re sure that you have the right username and password, Remove the account and try syncing again.

Outlook Mail Problems: Can’t See Your Folders

This isn’t a bug, as much as it’s just the way that Outlook Mail was designed. It tries to keep clutter to a minimum by not showing your complete list of folders on the sidebar. The sidebar is reserved for your favorite folders. Only the app doesn’t know what folders are the most important to you. It’s awkward at first, but can be dangerous if you’ve already added sorting rules that send certain emails to certain folders. You might miss something important, like a bill.

Select the account with the folders that you’d like to see on the sidebar easily. Click or tap on the More text underneath that account. Now right-click or tap and hold on the folder that you always want to be able to see. Select Add to Favorites.

Every folder that you add as a Favorite will stay put so that you can always see it. You can right-click or tap and hold on each folder to pin it to the Start Screen/Start menu too.

Outlook Mail Problems: Won’t Auto Sync with Any Account

At the bottom of the middle pane in Outlook Mail in Windows 10 sits a status bar that lets you know the last that account was updated. Some users have noticed the app will stop syncing all of their accounts.

Only two methods have managing to fix the issue thus far. The first involves you opening the Settings app then tapping or clicking on System. From the list of menus on the left, select Apps & Features. Find the Mail and Calendar app in the list of apps. Tap on it, then tap on Advanced Options.  Tap the Reset button. Note that you’ll need to add your accounts back to the app.

The second confirmed method is to reset your PC from the Recovery menu in the Settings. We recommend against doing that.

Outlook Mail Problems: Something Went Wrong with eas.Outlook.com

There’s a really weird issue occurring in Outlook Mail that basically kills syncing for an account. No matter how many times you delete the account and add it again. Even resetting your PC won’t fix the issue.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing that you can do about this problem on your end. Users who’ve experienced the issue report that contacting Outlook.com Support for help eventually fixed the problem, but took days. To get in touch with them you’ll need to log into the Outlook.com website, and click or tap on the question mark in the top-right corner. Look for a link to Help at the bottom of the side bar.

Gotta Be Mobile will continue to add more to this list of Outlook Mail Problems as we learn about more fixes and workarounds for things ruining the app for some users.