The set of folders cannot be opened. The attempt to log on to Microsoft Exchange has failed.

Craig Smith 21

We have an on prem shared mailbox on Exchange Server 2016 CU19. All users have full access but 2 users in finance get the "The set of folders cannot be opened. The attempt to log on to Microsoft Exchange has failed" while 3 users that are in admin group have no issues. I have checked permissions on the shared mailbox via powershell and there is no difference between the users. I gave the user local admin rights to workstation no help.

I tried all the usual suspects, New profile, disbale add-ins, deleted and re-installed outlook which is 32 bit, add/remove users via powershell. No fix. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Andy David - MVP 150.3K Reputation points MVP

2021-12-02T21:42:16.003+00:00

How are they accessing the other mailbox and are they in cache mode?
Kael Yao-MSFT 37,656 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2021-12-03T07:24:21.997+00:00

Hi @Craig Smith

If the users switch to online mode, would it help with this issue?
How to switch between cached mode and online mode: Turn on Cached Exchange Mode
You may turn off cached mode to use online mode.
Kael Yao-MSFT 37,656 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2021-12-08T09:04:15.29+00:00

Hi @Craig Smith

I am writing here to confirm with you how thing going now?

If you have any questions or needed further help on this issue, please feel free to post back.
Andrew Doran 1 Reputation point

2021-12-08T17:38:25.82+00:00

Seeing this with a few different customers this week. One user suddenly didn't have access to Shared Calendars - with the error "The set of folders cannot be opened" - when trying to select a Shared Calendar we get "Cannot display the folder properties. The folder may have been deleted or the server where the folder is stored may be unavailable. Cannot display folder properties."

Disabling of Cached Exchange Mode doesn't help.

Trying to add a new profile to a users Outlook getting - "Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window. The set of folders cannot be opened. The attempt to log on to Microsoft Exchange has failed."

So it seems to be affecting more than just Shared Calendars, and now I can't even add a profile to Outlook. Something changed!
Carol Holt 0 Reputation points

2023-04-21T17:58:55.4466667+00:00

Was there a fix found? I've tried different computers; wiped the mail account out; tried to set it back up, etc. Still the same error message.

1 answer

Amit Singh 4,986 Reputation points

2021-12-03T05:59:14.347+00:00

I would suggest checking via OWA first to see if the archive mailbox can be accessed. If OWA works fine, please try recreating the Outlook profile and see if it works for you.

Please mark as "Accept the answer" if the above steps helps you. Your suggestion will help others also !
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2 people found this answer helpful.
Ivan Chavez 0 Reputation points

2023-06-13T21:35:46.34+00:00

I am having the similar situation with a user in our environment.

Tried disabling cache mode.

Tried starting with safe mode.

Recreating Outlook profiles.

Recreated user account on computer.

Built a new laptop.

Disabled add-ins.

Tried both x32 and x64 bit.

Repaired OST file.

Trying all this and still get the same error of "Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window. The set of folders cannot be opened. The attempt to log on to Microsoft Exchange has failed". When Outlook does decide to open, it shows as disconnected and shared calendars give errors of not having permissions.

OWA works fine and on Outlook for Mac.
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