remove IMAP address from Outlook

Question

My laptop Outlook application lists my email address then IMAP/SMTP after. When I try to add another account using my email address nothing happens

Answer 1

Hi Kathleen Roche,

I understand that classic Outlook displays your email address with “IMAP/SMTP,” and nothing happens when you try to add another account.

Please note that this is a user-to-user forum, so contributors cannot access or change your Outlook configuration.

The Q&A Assist answer provides valid removal and manual setup steps. Have you had a chance to try them?

I would also like to clarify that IMAP and SMTP describe how Outlook receives and sends email. Before removing anything, could you confirm whether you are trying to add:

1. The same email address again with different settings, or
2. A different email address?

If you mean the same address, please explain what you want to change. Removing the account from Outlook will stop it from sending and receiving mail in Outlook, but it will not deactivate the email account. If it is the only account in the profile, Outlook may require a new data location before allowing its removal.

References:

• What are IMAP and POP?
• Remove an email account from classic Outlook

Your clarification will help determine whether the account should be removed, reconfigured, or whether a different account should be added.

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Answer 2

If the account shown in Outlook is an IMAP account, remove it from Outlook and then add it back only if needed.

In classic Outlook for Windows:

1. If this is not the only account in Outlook, right-click the email account and select Remove.
2. If it is the only account, go to File > Account Settings > Account Settings > Remove.
3. To add the account again manually, go to File > Add Account.
4. If Outlook does not set it up correctly, choose manual setup and enter the IMAP/SMTP settings from the email provider.

If the problem is that Outlook shows the account in an incorrect Outlook.com-style format or adding the same address does nothing, create a new Outlook profile and set the account up manually:

1. Close Outlook.
2. Press Windows key + R, type outlook /profiles, then select OK.
3. In Choose Profile, select Options > New.
4. Enter a new profile name and select OK.
5. Select Advanced options > Let me set up my account manually.
6. Enter the account password and select Connect.
7. If setup fails, select Change Account Settings and enter the server information from the email provider.
8. In Choose Profile, select Set as default profile and select OK.

If the account is in new Outlook instead of classic Outlook:

1. Go to View > View settings, or File > Account info > Accounts > Your accounts.
2. Under Email accounts, find the account.
3. Select Manage > Remove.

Removing an account from Outlook removes it from the app. It does not delete the email account itself. In new Outlook, any offline cached content for that account is deleted when the account is removed.

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References:

• Add an email account to Outlook for Windows
• Fix problems importing contacts to Outlook
• Outlook.com email account appears as "outlook_[long series of letters and numbers]@outlook.com" in Outlook for Windows