How do I get New Outlook for Mac (16.102.3) to synch all imap emails?

Question

How do I get New Outlook for Mac (16.102.3) to synch and download all imap emails? Current synch options in Settings only allows up to 180 days. I realized this when suddenly all older emails disappeared from my inbox, so an upgrade must have added this limiting option. When I went to synch settings it was set at 60 days and the highest option is 180. Is there an "all" setting? I have verified that all the emails are still on the server hosting my imap email account.

Answer 1

Hello Mark,

Thanks for reaching out I understand you're trying to get the New Outlook for Mac version 16.102.3 to sync and download all your IMAP emails and you're noticing that older messages have disappeared from your inbox. That can be frustrating especially when you rely on access to your full email history.

You're absolutely right to be concerned Microsoft recently introduced a sync limitation in the New Outlook for Mac, where the maximum available setting for IMAP email synchronization is 180 days. This change was part of an update and unfortunately there is currently no “all time” or “entire mailbox” option available in the sync settings. This means emails older than the selected sync period (like 60 or 180 days) will not appear in the app even though they remain safely stored on your email server.

While this limitation is confirmed the good news is that your emails are not lost. You can still access them through your email provider’s webmail interface or by switching back to the legacy Outlook for Mac which may offer broader sync options. Alternatively using Outlook on the web or another email client that supports full IMAP sync could be a temporary workaround until Microsoft expands the sync range in future updates.

To better assist you may I ask what type of IMAP account you're using and whether switching to the legacy Outlook is an option for you? Also are you using Outlook for personal use or as part of a Microsoft 365 subscription?

I hope this answer is helpful if you have further questions feel free to reply back

Regards,

Marcelo