Classic Outlook will not add another email address nor send or receive fro m it.

Question

I have Outlook classic; my gmail account works normally but I cannot even install another email account nor send nor receive from that account which Outlook will not allow me to add to send or receive. HELP

Answer 1

Hi Randall S. D. Jacobs,

Good day and thank you for the detailed description.

Good day, and thank you for clearly explaining the issue. Based on what you described, this is a Classic Outlook profile or account‑configuration problem, not a Gmail issue especially since Gmail works normally while the business account cannot be added and no mail can be sent or received.

Since this issue can be caused by many factors, can you please answer the following question to help narrow down the issue:

1. Does the business email account work in Outlook on the web (OWA)?
2. What type of business email account is it?
   • Microsoft 365 / Exchange Online
   • On‑premises Exchange
   • IMAP / POP hosted by a third‑party provider
3. What happens exactly when you try to add the business account in Classic Outlook?
   • Does Outlook fail silently, loop back to the sign‑in screen, or show an error message?
   • If there is an error, please share the exact wording.
   Are you using the same Windows user profile as before, or was this PC previously used by another user? (This helps identify credential or profile conflicts.)
4. Have you recently changed the password for the business account or had MFA / security settings updated?
5. Is this issue specific to this one business account, or does the same problem occur with any other non‑Gmail account you try to add?

These answers will help determine whether the root cause is:

• Outlook profile corruption
• Cached credentials / authentication conflicts
• Account‑type or tenant policy restrictions
• Add‑in interference in Classic Outlook

Once I have a clearer understanding of your current situation, I’ll be happy to assist you with greater accuracy. Please feel free to share any additional details you believe are relevant. Screenshots are especially helpful and much appreciated.

In the meantime, you can try the two following methods to work around with this issue:

1/ Clear the credentials cache:

You can try the following steps to clear your credentials cache to ensure a clean reset for your Outlook

1. Please sign out your accounts from Office applications, then close all Office applications.   
2. Open File Explorer, paste the following path, and delete all files and folders. %localappdata%\Packages\Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin_cw5n1h2txyewy   
3. In the Windows search bar, search for "Access Work or School".   
4. Check if you can see your school account in "Access Work or School".   

If you don't see it, please select Connect and add your business account.   

If you can see it, please select it and select Disconnect. After that, please click "Connect" and log into your account again to register the device.   

• Open the Control Panel on your PC.   
• Go to User Accounts > Credential Manager.   
• Under both Windows Credentials and Generic Credentials, look for any entries related to your Microsoft 365 business account and Office apps.   

• Select and remove those entries.   
• Restart your computer and try adding your account in Office again.  

Download OLicenseCleanup.vbs and run it. In this way, you can use this package to remove the license, clear the stored identities in the registry, and remove the credentials. You can follow this: Reset activation state for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise - Microsoft 365 Apps | Microsoft Learn to reset activation state 

Restart your device.

Reopen Office apps and sign in with the correct account.

2/ Create a new profile:

To create a new profile, use the profile picker:

1. Hold Shift while starting Outlook. Tips: You can also use one of these alternative options to access the profile picker: Using a command line switch, right click the Windows Start button and select Run. In the Run dialog box, type: Outlook.exe /profiles and then press Enter. While Outlook is running, select File > Account Settings > Change Profile. Outlook will restart.
2. On the profile picker dialog box, select Options. __
   Note:__ Before selecting New, consider selecting the check box for "Prompt a profile to be used." If this is enabled, you will get a prompt every time you start Outlook to pick which profile you want to open. This is helpful when you have multiple profiles and need to switch between them.
3. Select New.
4. Type a name for the new Outlook Profile and select OK
5. Once the new profile is created, you will need to add an email account to the profile. In the add account dialog, you can optionally add more accounts.

You can add more (non-Exchange) mail accounts to your profile, like Gmail or Live.com. Or you can change options for your account’s data files. See Edit an Outlook profile to learn how.

If you need to switch to an old Outlook profile on the same PC in order to copy data from it, you can follow the steps in the Switch to another Outlook email profile article.

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow the steps above and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can continue working together to resolve the issue.  

Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have any questions or need additional assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out so I can continue to support you. If you found the response useful, please consider marking it as accepted, as this may help other community members who are looking for similar guidance.  

I look forward to continuing the conversation.

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