Outlook 365 w/Yahoo - Outlook not updating when closed

Question

Background: Both my wife and I use Outlook 365 on our separate laptops. She first started having problems a week or so before I started having the same problems. Before this we had been problem free for the past few years. We both are connecting to Yahoo email, both are POP/SMTP.

The overall problem is something is keeping Outlook from updating. When you open Outlook your new emails are correctly imported. If you try to "receive" again it behaves correctly and doesn't re-import. When you close and re-open Outlook the previously imported emails are gone and are once again imported. There are additional problems: Most times Outlook won't re-open after the initial open/close. You have to kill it w/Task Manager. Also when trying to do anything in Outlook it will frequently hang. And Calendar updates are affected.

I've tried all the repair options I could find: account repair from within Outlook, ScanPst, a couple of 3rd party Pst fix utilities, and re-installation. Once Outlook started working for me for part of a day but then stopped. I thought maybe the fix utility worked but subsequent tries did nothing. ScanPst indicates Pst files are corrupt.

The fact we both have the same problem at around the same time has to be a clue. I don't want to rebuild our Outlook environments if this is only going to happen again.

Answer 1

It sounds like you and your wife are experiencing significant issues with Outlook 365 while using Yahoo email accounts via POP/SMTP. Here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot the problem:

1. Check for Software Updates: Ensure that both your Outlook and Windows are up to date. Sometimes, updates can resolve underlying issues that cause Outlook to misbehave.
2. Repair Outlook: Since you mentioned trying repair options, ensure you perform both the Quick Repair and Online Repair options available through the Control Panel under Programs and Features.
3. Create a New Outlook Profile: Sometimes, profiles can become corrupted. Creating a new Outlook profile can help resolve issues. Go to Control Panel > Mail > Show Profiles > Add, and set up your email account again.
4. Check for Conflicts with Other Software: If you have any third-party add-ins or software that interacts with Outlook, try disabling them to see if it resolves the issue.
5. Use the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant: This tool can help diagnose and fix various Outlook issues. You can download it from the Microsoft website.
6. Check for PST File Corruption: Since ScanPST indicates that your PST files are corrupt, you may need to repair them using the Inbox Repair Tool. If the corruption is severe, consider creating a new PST file and importing your data from the old one.
7. Consider Switching to IMAP: If the issues persist, consider switching from POP to IMAP for your Yahoo accounts. IMAP is generally more reliable for syncing emails across devices.

If these steps do not resolve the issue, you may want to reach out to Microsoft Support for further assistance, especially since both of you are experiencing similar problems around the same time.

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References:

• Outlook performance is slow in the Microsoft 365 environment
• Fix Outlook connection problems for Microsoft 365 account

Answer 2

Windows update fixed this. Update near the beginning of February/2026 must be the problem as that's when our Outlook problems started.