I cannot send/receive email with my Outlook.Com account on Microsoft Outlook Classic (Desktop)

Question

I am unable to get my Outlook.Com email address to send and receive messages using POP/SMTP on Microsoft Outlook Classic (Windows Desktop). This is what I have done...

• Verified from within my Outlook.Com email address, accessed on the web, that it is configured to use POP/IMAP. My personal preference is for POP
• Verified that 2FA is enabled.
• Followed the instructions on this page to create an app password. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/how-to-get-and-use-app-passwords-5896ed9b-4263-e681-128a-a6f2979a7944
• Followed the instructions on this web page to set up my Outlook.Com account in Outlook Classic. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/pop-imap-and-smtp-settings-for-outlook-com-d088b986-291d-42b8-9564-9c414e2aa040
• Verified that all settings I entered were correct.

And this is what happens when I run Outlook Classic and try to "do email" through my Outlook.Com account using Outlook Classic...

• Error Message - "Log onto incoming mail server (POP3): Your email server rejected your login. Verify your user name and password for this account in Account Settings. The server responded: -ERR Logon failure: unknown user name or bad password."
• Error Message - "Send test email message: Your email server rejected your login. Verify your user name and password for this account in Account Settings."

How do I fix this so I can use Outlook Classic and POP/SMTP to retrieve and send email with my Outlook.Com account?

Thank you.

Answer 1

To resolve the issues you're experiencing with sending and receiving emails on your Outlook.com account using POP/SMTP in Outlook Classic, consider the following steps:

1. Check Basic Authentication: Ensure that Basic authentication is enabled for your Outlook.com account. If you have disabled it, you will need to re-enable it to use POP/SMTP. You can do this by running the following PowerShell command:

      Set-AuthenticationPolicy -Identity <Policy Name> -AllowBasicAuthPop -AllowBasicAuthImap -AllowBasicAuthSmtp
   

   Replace <Policy Name> with your actual policy name.
2. App Password: Since you have enabled Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), ensure that you are using the app password you created instead of your regular password to log into your Outlook.com account in Outlook Classic.
3. Verify Account Settings: Double-check your account settings in Outlook Classic. Ensure that the following settings are correct:
   • Incoming mail server (POP3): pop-mail.outlook.com
   • Port: 995
   • SSL: Enabled
   • Outgoing mail server (SMTP): smtp-mail.outlook.com
   • Port: 587
   • SSL: Enabled
4. User Name: Make sure that your username is your full Outlook.com email address.
5. Test Connection: After verifying the settings, try to send a test email again. If the problem persists, consider removing the account from Outlook and re-adding it to ensure all settings are correctly configured.

If you continue to face issues, you may want to consult the Microsoft support documentation for further troubleshooting steps.

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References:

• Can't connect to Outlook by using POP/IMAP and Modern authentication
• Sending mail from Outlook results in error 0x800ccc80

Answer 2

Hi,

Thanks for reaching out and explaining the issue. That error usually means Outlook Classic isn’t accepting your credentials, even though POP and the app password are set up. This often happens because Microsoft is moving to OAuth-based sign-in, and older Outlook versions can fail unless fully updated.

Can you confirm something for me? When you entered the app password, did you type it exactly as generated,no spaces and make sure “Require Secure Password Authentication (SPA)” is turned off? These two steps often cause the problem you’re seeing.

In the meantime, check that you’re using the app password (not your regular one) and that your settings match these: POP server is outlook.office365.com on port 995 with SSL/TLS, SMTP is smtp.office365.com on port 587 with STARTTLS, and authentication is required using your full email address.

Also, make sure POP is enabled in Outlook.com under Settings - Mail - Sync email, and that “Let apps and devices use POP” is checked. Disable SPA in Outlook Classic, and if you have firewall or antivirus software, try whitelisting Outlook.

If POP still doesn’t work, test IMAP with outlook.office365.com on port 993 using SSL/TLS to see if the issue is POP-specific.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you need more details.

Regards,

Edward

Answer 3

Hi,

Thank you for getting back to me, Great question! In plain language,

When the instructions say “Replace <Policy Name> with your actual policy name”, they mean that in the PowerShell command:you need to replace <Policy Name> with the name of the authentication policy that exists in your Microsoft 365 environment.

What is your actual policy name?

It’s the name of the policy you or your admin created in Microsoft 365 to manage authentication settings. For example, if your organization created a policy called “DefaultAuthPolicy”, then the command would look like this:

Set-AuthenticationPolicy -Identity DefaultAuthPolicy -AllowBasicAuthPop

How to find your policy name

Open PowerShell and connect to Exchange Online:

Connect-ExchangeOnline

Run:

Get-AuthenticationPolicy

This will list all authentication policies in your tenant. Look for the one applied to your account or the default policy.

Hope this helps! Let me know how it goes.

Kind regards

Edward