How do I remove an old work email from my mobile Outlook? (All other Microsoft apps work properly)

Question

I just joined a new company and my new IT department and I have been scratching our heads. I want to connect to my new company's Outlook on my iPhone 16 but it keeps asking me to sign into my old work email, which I no longer have access to, so I am not able to add my new work email. My old work used Okta Verify to help sign in. I have:

• Deleted the Okta Verify app
• Cleared the VPN / Device Management Profile that I used to have for my work email
• Cleared any passwords with my old work email
• Cleared the safari cache with my old work email
• Deleted and reinstalled all Microsoft apps.

For whatever reason, all of my microsoft apps (Teams, Word, Excel) have no signs of my old work email and I can use my teams/word/excel just fine on my mobile phone. Some old threads say that within the Outlook app, I can delete an account, however I do not see any "Settings" button within the Outlook app to do so and there isn't a way to clear the Outlook app cache within my phone's settings. Ultimately, I am not able to sign into my Outlook. Is my outlook or phone just coupled to my old work email? How can I get rid of this old connection?

Thanks you

Answer 1

Dear @Anthony Tang,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Based on your description, you are unable to sign in to Outlook on your iPhone because it keeps prompting you to log in with a previous work account that you no longer have access to.

For better understanding your situation, could you please confirm information as:

As you mentioned, you have deleted and reinstalled all Microsoft apps and they are working properly. However, have you tried uninstalling only the Outlook app from your phone and reinstalling it to check whether the issue still persists?

In the meantime, you can try to follow this suggestion:

Open the Outlook app on your iPhone > tap the profile icon in the top-left corner > tap the Settings (gear) icon in the bottom-left corner > under General, tap Accounts > select Edit > choose the account you want to remove > scroll down and tap Delete Account.

Please update me know if you have tried this method before. Looking forward to your update so I can support you more effectively.

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Answer 2

There is no "home" icon within the Outlook app so there is no way to delete the old email when in the app.

Answer 3

On iOS, Outlook is not tied permanently to the old work account. The old connection can be removed from within Outlook and, if needed, from the mailbox/device partnership side.

Use these steps in order:

1. Remove the old work account from Outlook for iOS
   1. Open the Outlook app on the iPhone.
   2. Tap the profile icon or the “home” icon in the top-left corner to open the side menu.
   3. In the side menu, tap the gear icon (Settings) at the bottom.
   4. Tap Accounts.
   5. Select the old work email account (or any account that shows as signed in with that address).
   6. Tap Remove Account.
   This removes that mailbox from Outlook mobile and stops it from prompting for that account.
2. If the old account is a delegate/shared mailbox If the old work mailbox appears as a shared/delegate mailbox rather than a primary account:
   1. Go to Settings in Outlook.
   2. Tap the delegate/shared mailbox entry.
   3. Tap Delete Account.
   This only removes access on the device; it does not affect the mailbox itself.
3. Remove the old device partnership from the mailbox (if still present) If the old work mailbox is an Outlook.com or Microsoft 365 mailbox that still has a device partnership, removing that partnership can clear stuck sync/sign-in states:
   • For Outlook.com / Microsoft 365 personal accounts:
     1. Sign in to Outlook on the web.
     2. Go to Settings > General > Mobile devices.
     3. Select the iPhone in the list and delete the device partnership.
     4. Power off the iPhone completely, then turn it back on and try adding the new work account in Outlook again.
   • For Exchange/organization mailboxes (old employer): The old IT department would need to remove the device partnership from the mailbox in their Outlook on the web / Exchange admin environment. If that is not possible anymore, removing the account from the Outlook app (step 1) and reinstalling Outlook is the main option on the device side.
4. Re-add only the new work account After removing the old account and any device partnership:
   1. Open Outlook on iOS.
   2. If prompted to sign in, choose Add account and enter the new work email address.
   3. Complete the sign-in flow (which may use a different MFA method than Okta, depending on the new company’s setup).

If Outlook still insists on the old account after these steps, the next escalation is to:

• Delete Outlook again.
• Reboot the iPhone.
• Reinstall Outlook and, on first launch, skip any suggested accounts and manually add only the new work account.

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References:

• How do I remove my email account?
• I am a delegate of another mailbox. How do I remove that mailbox from my mobile device?
• Fix email sync issues by removing a device from your Outlook mailbox
• Troubleshoot Outlook mobile issues
• Outlook for iOS & Android FAQs