Unable to move outlook mail to folder

Question

I've read all of the previous questions that address moving emails from the inbox to a folder and I have followed all advice and still I'm unable to move emails. The error message is "Cannot move the items". As far as I can tell this error just started yesterday 4/25/2021

Here is what I've done so far:

• Deleted the OST file and had the system rebuild
• Started Outlook in safe mode
• In safe mode removed all the Com add-ins
• Created a offline PST and tried to reduce the size of my OST

I'm running Microsoft 365, Subscription Product and I'm up to date on all updates. I'm on version 2105 (Build 14014.20002 Click to Run) Beta Channel. My OST file is 1,075,144K

Any and all suggestions would be appreciated

Answer 1

JadeLiang
Thanks, now I understand what you meant by channel.

I am not in a corporation, I'm a home user so I am the mail administrator.

My account is Microsoft 365

I was able to successfully move mail items to different folders on the web client so your assessment that the machine client maybe the problem sounds correct.

I tried to go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Policies \ Microsoft \ Office \ 16.0 \ Outlook \ PST however under 16.0 the only branch is Common\Security\Trusted Protocols, there is no reference to a PST but I guess this is not relevant as I have an OST and not a PST

I created a new profile and I'm still unable to move emails to folders. The failure happens on all folders, not just a specific one.

To the best of my knowledge there were no changes to my computer as I haven't added or deleted any software in a while.

Problem resolved, I uninstalled and re-installed Microsoft 365

Thank you for your help, it was very much appreciated. I will accept your response because it got me to the nuclear option of blowing away the old software and creating a new environment.

Answer 2

Hi @Sam Aruti ,

Based on my tests on Outlook 365 version 2105 (Build 14014.20002 Click to Run) Beta Channel, I could move the items normally from my Inbox to another manually(drag the item from inbox to another folder directly), so the issue may be related to your account or client iteself.

What's the type of your account(pop,imap or exchange), in order to further confirm if your issue is related to your client, it's suggested to log into your web mail and move same messages there to check if you could move them normally.

If it could work normally on your web mail, the issue may be related to your client itself, considering the issue occurred only recently, have you performed any specific operations before it? And what's folder that you would like to move the messages to (a folder in your account, a folder in other account or public folder )?

If you indeed move the item under your account, considering you have re-build the data file, in order to avoid the interference of corrupted Outlook profile, it's suggested to re-create a new Outlook profile and readd your account to check if the issue has any difference(Control panel>mail>show profiles>Add>readd your account).
According to your .ost file, did others who has similar size of data file in your organization also have this issue on their Outlook? If so, considering the data file limit may also cause this issue, it's suggested to check your size limit policy by this path in your register editor: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Policies \ Microsoft \ Office \ 16.0 \ Outlook \ PST

Also, if you work with a .pst file except your .ost file, considering corrupted .pst file may cause it, it's suggested to repair your .pst to check. And if you actually move the item under other account, please kindly check the permission assigned to you.

Besides, if you couldn't move the item on web mail, the issue may be related to your account, it's suggested to contact your mailbox admin to get more help.

Hope that would be helpful to you.

---

If the response is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.
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.

Answer 3

Have you tried moving an email running the current channel? Does the same happen?

Answer 4

Owen-Murr, thanks for the quick response.

I have no idea what your response means or how to do it. Please elaborate so I can try what you are suggesting.

Thanks

Answer 5

I have Windows 10 and Outlook as part of Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2021. I think this might also work for Microsoft 365. BEFORE reading a message, I can easily move the message to a folder. Sometimes, if I've have read a message, I right click on the message, click on Mark As Unread and move to a folder. Doesn't always work; so I read other messages, return to the message and can move. But, I think this is problem with Microsoft which needs to be corrected so messages can be easily moved to folders.