outlook.com stopped retrieving email

Question

outlook.com stopped retrieving email

John Bancroft 0

I use outlook.com to access mail from a pair.net server. Outlook.com stopped retrieving new email, although it can still send new email. The Pair webmail page shows I am continuing to get email on the pair server. My iPhone email functions correctly, sending and receiving. The problem with outlook.com is on both Firefox and Chrome, on both my desktop and laptop. I have cleared cache. I have no extensions enabled. Has Microsoft changed outlook.com in the past two days?

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Answer 1

Victor1-V 9,280 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi John Bancroft,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum.

From what you described (mail still arrives on the pair.net server and on your iPhone, but Outlook.com on the web stopped pulling in new items across multiple browsers), this looks less like a browser “connectivity check” scenario and more like an Outlook.com third‑party sync limitation.

Regarding the Q&A Assist reply: some items there (checking rules, signing out/in, clearing cache) are reasonable general checks, but it doesn’t address the key point for your setup. Outlook.com’s “connected account” syncing for non‑Microsoft mailboxes has been removed/limited, and Microsoft’s guidance is to use other Outlook apps (desktop/mobile) or forwarding instead. Please see: Connected email accounts like Gmail and Yahoo not working in Outlook.com - Microsoft Support

At this point, please consider the following:

Continue using the Outlook app on iPhone (since it is already receiving mail) or add the pair.net account to Outlook on Windows/Mac instead of relying on Outlook.com web to fetch it. Microsoft’s supported steps for adding accounts in Outlook for Windows are here: Add an email account to Outlook for Windows - Microsoft Support
If you want everything to show in a single Outlook.com mailbox, set up forwarding from the pair.net mailbox to your Outlook.com address (forwarding is one of the options Microsoft lists).
If your actual Outlook.com mailbox (messages sent directly to your Outlook.com address) is also not receiving, use this Microsoft checklist for Outlook.com mail flow and storage items: Can’t send or receive email in Outlook.com.

About “connectivity check”: Outlook.com on the web does not provide a built-in “test account settings/connectivity” button like the desktop Outlook client does, so there isn’t a specific test to run inside Outlook.com itself. In this case, the best “check” is what you already did: confirm the server receives mail (pair.net webmail/iPhone) and confirm the web issue reproduces across browsers.

If you would like Outlook.com Support to check this further on their side, please sign in to Outlook.com, select Help on the top menu, search for your issue, then scroll to Still need help? and select Yes to submit a support request.

Hope this clarifies why the web experience changed and points you to the reliable workaround.

Victor1-V 9,280 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-28T13:25:33.1433333+00:00

Hi John Bancroft,

I hope you are doing well!

I'm following up to check if you've had a chance to look over my reply.

Please feel free let me know if you need any further assistance. I look forward to hearing back from you.
John Bancroft 0 Reputation points

2026-02-28T15:31:57.5233333+00:00

Thanks for following up, Victor.

I activated the Outlook app as a precaution after Outlook.com suddenly came to life and then faltered again. I might try the forwarding ploy you suggested, but I'm inclined to move off Outlook.com as it doesn't seem a priority for Microsoft.

I would like to transfer the calendar and folders of saved email from Outlook.com to the Outlook app. If I'm reading the Help correctly, I would have to delete the Pair [Moderator note: PII removed]@pgart.com account, set the app up for Outlook.com, export the account, delete it from the app and set up the app for the pair account again. Is there any easier way of getting the folders in Outlook.com (which are not duplicated on the pair server) into the app?
Victor1-V 9,280 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-03T14:27:01.69+00:00
Hi John Bancroft,

Thanks for the update, and I can see why the intermittent behavior you’ve observed would lead you to consider alternative options.

To address your main concern directly: unfortunately, there isn’t a simpler or automated way to move folders that exist only in Outlook.com (and not on the pair server) into the Outlook app without an export step. Those folders are stored exclusively in the Outlook.com mailbox and are not synchronized back to the original IMAP/POP server.

Here is what is realistically possible, with clear expectations:

1, Saved email folders

The only supported way to preserve Outlook.com–only folders is to add the Outlook.com account to Outlook for Windows or Mac and export the data to a local file (PST on Windows).

After that, you can add your pair account to Outlook and manually import or drag the needed folders into the pair mailbox (or keep them locally if you prefer).

There is no server-side copy or merge option that avoids this export/import step.

2, Calendar data

Outlook.com calendars can be exported (ICS) from Outlook.com or Outlook desktop and then imported into the Outlook app.

Once you stop using Outlook.com, the calendar will not automatically carry over unless you export it first.

3, Account removal/reconfiguration

Deleting and re-adding accounts, as you described, is not required unless you specifically want to clean up the Outlook app configuration.

The key step is exporting the Outlook.com data before you remove or abandon that account.

I hope this clarifies the limitations and helps you choose the least disruptive path forward.

Answer 2

It seems that you are experiencing issues with Outlook.com not retrieving new emails while it can still send them. Based on similar cases, there could be several reasons for this issue:

Server-Side Issues: Sometimes, problems with email retrieval can be due to server-side issues. If other users are experiencing similar problems, it could indicate a broader issue with Outlook.com.
Email Rules: Check if there are any rules set up in your Outlook.com account that might be diverting incoming emails to folders or causing them not to appear in your inbox.
Connectivity Issues: You might want to run a connectivity check to ensure that Outlook.com can properly connect to your email server. Microsoft provides tools to diagnose and fix connectivity issues.
Temporary Glitches: Occasionally, logging out of your account and logging back in can resolve temporary glitches that might be affecting email retrieval.
Browser Issues: Since you mentioned that the problem persists on both Firefox and Chrome, it might not be browser-related, but clearing the cache and cookies can sometimes help resolve issues.

If the issue continues, you might want to reach out to Microsoft support for further assistance.

References:

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outlook.com stopped retrieving email

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