How to add an external Exchange email account to my MS365 Outlook?

Question

I have a Microsoft 365 Family subscription, including Outlook, on my laptop. For several years Outlook has worked well for my email account that is hosted by an external echange service provider. In November I lost contact with my email account and I get an error message when trying to add the email account once more: "An error occurred. Outlook cannot configure your account. Please try again".

I have been in contact with the Hosted Exchange service provider that declares that there is no problem on their side. The email account is accessible on web.

Anyone who has experienced this problem and found a solution?

Answer 1

Hi,

Thank you for sharing your question. I understand you have issues with your outlook.

Try this. Open Outlook on your laptop and select File → Account Settings → Account Settings. Then click New to begin adding your external Exchange account. Enter your name, email address, and password, and click Next to let Outlook attempt automatic configuration. If this fails and you see “An error occurred. Outlook cannot configure your account. Please try again,” it typically means Outlook could not locate your server settings via Autodiscover.

Autodiscover may not be correctly set up on your domain or could be blocked by certain policy settings this often leads to configuration errors even if the mailbox is accessible through the web.

To resolve the issue, here’s what you can do:

Manually configure the account: In the Add Account dialog, choose More Settings, and under the Advanced tab, input the server settings exactly as provided by your Exchange service provider—this bypasses Autodiscover.

Create a new Outlook profile: Open Control Panel → Mail → Show Profiles → Add, then set up your Exchange account in the new profile. Sometimes a fresh profile resolves lingering configuration conflicts.

Enable Autodiscover and connected experience: If you're using policies that disable local Autodiscover methods or block cloud Autodiscover, ensure these are turned back on so Outlook can automatically retrieve the correct settings.

After applying these fixes, restart Outlook and attempt the setup again. This process addresses both manual setup and underlying Autodiscover issues.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Best Regards,

Noel

Answer 2

To add an external Exchange email account to your Microsoft 365 Outlook, you can follow these steps:

1. Open Outlook: Launch the Outlook application on your laptop.
2. Go to Account Settings: Click on File in the top left corner, then select Account Settings and again Account Settings from the dropdown.
3. Add Account: Click on New to add a new email account.
4. Select Email Account Type: Choose Email Account and click Next.
5. Enter Account Information: Fill in your name, email address, and password for the external Exchange account. Make sure to enter the correct email address and password.
6. Advanced Options: If you encounter any issues, you may need to configure the account manually. Click on More Settings and go to the Advanced tab to enter server settings provided by your external Exchange service provider.
7. Test Account Settings: Click on Test Account Settings to verify the configuration.
8. Finish: If the test is successful, click Next and then Finish to complete the setup.

If you continue to receive the error message "An error occurred. Outlook cannot configure your account. Please try again," consider the following troubleshooting steps:

• Check Internet Connection: Ensure that your internet connection is stable.
• Update Outlook: Make sure you are using the latest version of Outlook. If you are using an older version, consider upgrading to the latest version.
• Create a New Outlook Profile: Sometimes, creating a new profile can resolve configuration issues. You can do this by going to Control Panel > Mail > Show Profiles > Add.
• Check Autodiscover Settings: Ensure that the Autodiscover service is set up correctly for your external Exchange account.

If these steps do not resolve the issue, you may want to consult the support documentation for your external Exchange service provider or reach out to Microsoft support for further assistance.

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References:

• Outlook can't set up a new profile by using Exchange Autodiscover for an Exchange Online mailbox in Microsoft 365
• Connection to Microsoft Exchange is unavailable error when a Microsoft 365 user tries to set up Outlook