gmail accounts no longer working in outlook classic

Question

gmail accounts no longer working in outlook classic

Ivan Glaser 15

I have been using outlook to access my 4 gmail accounts for years. I use classic because I use SimplyFile to manage my emails. SimplyFile does not work in New Outlook

Two days ago the gmail connection stoppd working

Apparentlt google has changed authentication methods

Hos do I get it working again

Lee 0 Reputation points

2026-03-10T01:58:37.73+00:00

I have tried all the above, no luck
Wayne Hove 0 Reputation points

2026-03-11T18:50:33.2966667+00:00

How do I talk to a live person to fix my outlook problem?? I have wasted so much time trying to get outlook to display my Gmail account!! What is the telephone number to TALK to a knowledgeable person??
Hornblower409 7,555 Reputation points

2026-03-11T18:58:33.73+00:00
@Wayne Hove said

What is the telephone number to TALK to a knowledgeable person??

If you would please, first see my Answer below (Hornblower409 Mar 9, 2026, 9:06 PM) on the Support Bulletins that have been published by Microsoft on this problem. They contain the steps for possible workarounds.

If this does not help, you can contact Microsoft Support in a number of different ways:

Customer service phone numbers
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/customer-service-phone-numbers-c0389ade-5640-e588-8b0e-28de8afeb3f2

If you have a MS 365 Subscription:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/support

Otherwise, you can use Chat Support

Open a browser to https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/home/contact

Tell us your problem: "GMail Sync"

[Get Help] {Scroll down to the bottom of the page} [Sign in to Contact Support]

Sign in with any Microsoft account

Products and services: "Microsoft 365 and Office"

Category: "Outlook"

[Confirm]

Choose a support option -> "Chat with a support agent in your web browser"
Ivan Glaser 15 Reputation points

2026-03-11T20:55:42.05+00:00

Hi Hornblower409. Thanks for the information. I will try what you have suggested if it happens again.

After the issue I had in 4th Jan that could only be fixed by restorning my VM to a previous state, my Outlook worked fine for 2 months. Then, suddenly on Mar 4th, 1 of my 4 gmail accounts refused to connect. I was seeing the errors you are now including in the links to your Mar 9 post

The only way I could get it to work again was to install "Google Workspace Sync For Microsoft Outlook" (GWSMO) for the account that would not connect - which worked. In fact GWSMO works better than setting up an IMAP sync.

The only "problem" is that when you install GWSMO it creates a new Outlook profile - and you can only have one GWSMO sync per profile. SO if you have multiple IMAP accounts in one Outlook profile you either have to have multiple GWSMO/Outlook profiles or, as in my case where only 1 of 4 IMAP accounts werent working, you have the problem account syncing with GWSMO and then you setup the others again in the profile using normal IMAP
Hornblower409 7,555 Reputation points

2026-03-11T21:06:58.43+00:00

@Ivan Glaser said

The only way I could get it to work again was to install "Google Workspace Sync For Microsoft Outlook" (GWSMO)

Thanks for the report. Using GWSMO instead of an IMAP Sync - neat trick.

Unfortunately for most people following this thread, this is only available for Google Workspace subscribers.

Answer recommended by moderator

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Your answer

Lee 0 Reputation points

2026-03-10T01:58:37.73+00:00

I have tried all the above, no luck
Wayne Hove 0 Reputation points

2026-03-11T18:50:33.2966667+00:00

How do I talk to a live person to fix my outlook problem?? I have wasted so much time trying to get outlook to display my Gmail account!! What is the telephone number to TALK to a knowledgeable person??
Hornblower409 7,555 Reputation points

2026-03-11T18:58:33.73+00:00

@Wayne Hove said

What is the telephone number to TALK to a knowledgeable person??

If you would please, first see my Answer below (Hornblower409 Mar 9, 2026, 9:06 PM) on the Support Bulletins that have been published by Microsoft on this problem. They contain the steps for possible workarounds.

If this does not help, you can contact Microsoft Support in a number of different ways:

Customer service phone numbers
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/customer-service-phone-numbers-c0389ade-5640-e588-8b0e-28de8afeb3f2

If you have a MS 365 Subscription:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/support

Otherwise, you can use Chat Support

Open a browser to https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/home/contact

Tell us your problem: "GMail Sync"

[Get Help] {Scroll down to the bottom of the page} [Sign in to Contact Support]

Sign in with any Microsoft account

Products and services: "Microsoft 365 and Office"

Category: "Outlook"

[Confirm]

Choose a support option -> "Chat with a support agent in your web browser"
Ivan Glaser 15 Reputation points

2026-03-11T20:55:42.05+00:00

Hi Hornblower409. Thanks for the information. I will try what you have suggested if it happens again.

After the issue I had in 4th Jan that could only be fixed by restorning my VM to a previous state, my Outlook worked fine for 2 months. Then, suddenly on Mar 4th, 1 of my 4 gmail accounts refused to connect. I was seeing the errors you are now including in the links to your Mar 9 post

The only way I could get it to work again was to install "Google Workspace Sync For Microsoft Outlook" (GWSMO) for the account that would not connect - which worked. In fact GWSMO works better than setting up an IMAP sync.

The only "problem" is that when you install GWSMO it creates a new Outlook profile - and you can only have one GWSMO sync per profile. SO if you have multiple IMAP accounts in one Outlook profile you either have to have multiple GWSMO/Outlook profiles or, as in my case where only 1 of 4 IMAP accounts werent working, you have the problem account syncing with GWSMO and then you setup the others again in the profile using normal IMAP
Hornblower409 7,555 Reputation points

2026-03-11T21:06:58.43+00:00

@Ivan Glaser said

The only way I could get it to work again was to install "Google Workspace Sync For Microsoft Outlook" (GWSMO)

Thanks for the report. Using GWSMO instead of an IMAP Sync - neat trick.

Unfortunately for most people following this thread, this is only available for Google Workspace subscribers.

Answer 1

Ivan Glaser 15

FYI, I run Windows as a VM. What I did was restore my VM from a backup I had 1 week ago. After restoring my VM, Outlook worked perfectly. This means that either a windows update or an Office update that got installed on Jan 1 made a change which caused gmail to stop working in outlook

Austin-H 8,350 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-01-05T03:37:40.5766667+00:00

Hi Ivan Glaser
Thank you very much for your response and update.

I am happy to hear that the issue has been resolved by restoring the backup from one week earlier.
I will keep an eye on this and provide suggestions similar as yours if someone has the same issue while trying to connect to Gmail account on classic Outlook (in VM).

Answer 2

Do these Support Articles apply in your case?

Users get errors 0x800CCC0E & 0x800CCC0F synchronizing Gmail and Yahoo accounts in classic Outlook

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/users-get-errors-0x800ccc0e-0x800ccc0f-synchronizing-gmail-and-yahoo-accounts-in-classic-outlook-e5a7b684-7c5c-4848-ab2d-d48291451f67

Unable to add a Gmail account to classic Outlook

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/unable-to-add-a-gmail-account-to-classic-outlook-4d9530c5-3f40-4e6d-9b45-4477f160828f

The article title is "Unable to add a Gmail account ..." but I have seen reports that this bug can also cause any IMAP accounts to fail. The fix is the same - Clear the Windows Credentials.

If this is not your problem You might be better served by starting a new thread using the "Ask a question" button at the top of this page to create a new Question and include the details for your specific problem. This provides much higher visibility to your issue than commenting on an old post, which is only seen by people who are already following this question.

Lee 0 Reputation points

2026-03-10T03:33:47.4766667+00:00

Hi Hornblower409,

Yes, I was getting those errors, I followed your work around and it has solved my problem, thank you so much, I am extremely grateful to you! Cheers mate!

Answer 3

Hello, everyone, I just had to repair all of my Gmail Accounts in Microsoft Classic (I will use Classic until it no longer exists :) Here are the fixes: Outlook Classic and Gmail Sign-In / Credential Fix

Use case: Gmail account in Outlook Classic would not add, showed IMAP or sign-in errors, or displayed “account needs attention.”

Successful fix summary: The issue was caused by stale Outlook OAuth tokens in Windows Credential Manager and, in some cases, stale Microsoft permissions inside the Google account. Clearing those forced Outlook to create a fresh Google sign-in token.

Steps:

Turn on 2-Step Verification in the Gmail account.
Create an App Password only as a fallback. Outlook may not use it if OAuth works.
Open Control Panel > Credential Manager > Windows Credentials.
Delete all entries that start with MicrosoftOffice16_Data:OAUTH2.
Open Outlook Classic and add the Gmail account again.
Approve the Google / Microsoft permission prompt when it appears.
If Outlook says the account needs attention, go to Google Account > Third-party apps & services > Microsoft apps & services and remove access, then sign in again from Outlook.
For Gmail IMAP accounts, set Root folder path to INBOX to avoid folder mapping and sync issues.

Detailed steps:

Close Outlook Classic completely before changing credentials.
Open Control Panel > Credential Manager > Windows Credentials.
Delete every credential that begins with: MicrosoftOffice16_Data:OAUTH2
Do not delete your Outlook profile, PST, or OST files for this fix.
Open Outlook Classic and add the Gmail account again.
If Outlook prompts with a Google browser sign-in, approve Microsoft apps & services access to Gmail.
If the account connects successfully, Outlook is using OAuth. In that case, the App Password is not needed.
If Outlook shows a ribbon warning like “account needs attention” and the browser sign-in link fails, open the Gmail account in a browser, go to Google Account > Third-party apps & services > Microsoft apps & services, and remove access. Then return to Outlook and sign in again to generate a fresh token.
For Gmail IMAP accounts in Outlook, set Root folder path to INBOX.

Short forum version:

Fix that worked for me with Gmail in Outlook Classic: open Control Panel > Credential Manager > Windows Credentials and delete every entry that starts with MicrosoftOffice16_Data:OAUTH2. Then reopen Outlook and add the Gmail account again. When Google prompts, approve Microsoft apps & services access. If Outlook still says the Gmail account “needs attention,” go to your Google Account > Third-party apps & services > Microsoft apps & services, remove access, then sign in again from Outlook to force a fresh OAuth token. For Gmail IMAP accounts, set the root folder path to INBOX.

Answer 4

Austin-H 8,350 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello Ivan Glaser
Thank you for posting question to Microsoft Q&A Forum.

According to this issue, please check with the answers given by Q&A Assist above - may I know when signing into Google account in classic Outlook, did it prompt a session by opening your browser for further authentication? If it did not, consider using App Password.
Please try to add your accounts by creating a new Outlook profile - then use app password.
Guide for creating new Outlook profile: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-an-outlook-profile-f544c1ba-3352-4b3b-be0b-8d42a540459d

I hope this is helpful. Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Ivan Glaser 15 Reputation points

2026-01-04T04:50:04.9866667+00:00

Hi. Thanks for your help. When the issue started (Jan 1st) I was prompted to open a browser session where I was asked to confirm my credentials. I did that and was taken to a web page that said I can now close the browser and return to Outlook. I did that but it didn't work.

Since then I have tried everything you have suggested. New Mail profile, App passwords etc - but I cannot add an account to my new profile.

Absolutely nothing works
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Dave Webster 1 Reputation point

2026-01-16T16:43:16.2366667+00:00

Just adding, no app password is not working.

New outlook with oauth2 is fine but we need PST ability.
App password does work for imap but SMTP fails to connect with the server (all settings tried)

Answer 5

If your Gmail accounts have stopped working in Outlook Classic, it's likely due to changes in Google's authentication methods. Google has moved towards using OAuth for authentication, which may affect how you connect your Gmail accounts to Outlook.

To resolve this issue, you should:

Enable 2-Step Verification on your Gmail account if you haven't already. This is necessary for creating an app password.
Create an App Password for Outlook. You can do this by going to your Google Account settings, selecting Security, and then App passwords. Choose the app and device you want to generate the password for, and follow the prompts.
Use the App Password instead of your regular Gmail password when adding your Gmail account to Outlook.

Make sure that IMAP is enabled in your Gmail settings as well, as this is required for Outlook to connect properly. You can enable IMAP by going to Gmail settings, selecting the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab, and ensuring that Enable IMAP is selected.

If you continue to experience issues, consider creating a new Outlook profile specifically for your Gmail accounts, as mixing account types can sometimes lead to problems.

References:

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gmail accounts no longer working in outlook classic

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