How To Fix Outlook Email Sync Issues?

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Outlook email sync issues are often the result of mismatched settings. While they might seem complicated, outlook email sync is actually a simple process - Outlook synchronises emails by communicating with Office 365 exchange server. This is why there are so many ways to make sure emails go through effectively, and why there are so many different outlook email sync issues. Regardless of which way you want your emails to get through, it is important to understand how Outlook makes the changes that are necessary for this process.

Fix Outlook Email Sync Issues

Synchronization in Microsoft Outlook occurs when OST or PST files get updates. It is a built-in process that occurs simultaneously when Outlook sends or receives emails and some folders get updated or the exchange server gets updated on those changes.

When you send, receive, edit, or delete an email in Outlook, these changes will be communicated and updated to the Microsoft exchange server simultaneously. However, this synchronization process may be interrupted or fail to work correctly.

Sometimes Outlook may fail to sync emails successfully due to faulty settings, large amount of data, and many other reasons. When such issues arise, they need to be solved at the earliest to avoid inconveniences.

Here are methods to help you fix email sync issues in Microsoft Outlook.

Method 1: Check Synchronization Status

You need to check if the OST files in Outlook are synchronized before fixing synch errors. To check this, follow the following steps:

  1. Open Outlook.
  2. Right-click on one folder from the sent items, drafts, inbox, or any other.
  3. Select Properties option.
  4. Click on the Synchronization tab and check the statistics for that folder.
  5. There should be statistics for the last synchronized data if it is synchronized. If not, follow the troubleshooting method to fix the issue. 

Method 2: Change the Outlook Profile Settings 

Your Outlook has properly synched if the number of items in the offline folder section is the same as that in the server folder section. However, if there is a difference, then you will have to fix the issue by changing the profile settings. Here is how to go about it.

  1. Open Outlook.
  2. Click on the File tab and choose the Account Settings option.
    choose Account Settings
  3. From the settings menu that will appear, select Data Files.
  4. Then check whether the Mailbox's settings are set to default. If not, restore it to default and click Change.
  5. Check the box beside the "Use Cached Exchange Modetab and click OK.
  6. To effect the changes, close the Account Settings window.
  7. Then close and restart Outlook to effect the changes.

Method 3: Fixing Issues Related to Re-Synchronizing Outlook-Email Folders

When there are issues related to Outlook synch with emails, you can re-synchronize Outlook to fix the issue. This is how to go about it.

  1. Open Outlook and click on the Tools menu.
  2. Then select Options.
  3. From the Options dialog box that will appear, select the Mail Setup option.
  4. Mark the box next to the "Send immediately when connectedoption from the menu send/receive section.
    Send immediately connected
  5. Click on the send/receive tab and choose "Perform an automatic send/receive when exiting."Perform automatic send
  6. The click on Close tab to exit.
  7. Press OK to complete the process.

This method should fix Outlook-email sync issues immediately. If the issue still persists, you can try the other method. 

Method 4: Empty Sync Issues Folder

Sometimes you can empty the sync issues or local failures folder to solve the synch issues. However, the files may not be visible unless you make them visible by changing the settings. This is how to make them visible.

  1. Select the Folder list icon on Outlook.
  2. Look for the sync issues folder from the All Outlook Items tab.
  3. Click on the "+" to expand the view.
  4. To empty the sync issues folder, select all messages and delete them. 
  5. Then exit the Outlook to effect the changes. 

This method will solve the sync issues in your Microsoft Outlook.

Final Thoughts 

Synchronization in Windows Outlook occurs simultaneously with other processes like sending and receiving emails. However, you may encounter sync issues because of various reasons like large volume of Outlook data and faulty settings. To solve the issues, follow one of the methods discussed above. 

Summary: Fix Outlook Email Sync Issues

  • Verify your account settings
  • Change your sync settings to Manually
  • Start Outlook in safe mode and disable add-ins
  • Set up Outlook as a second POP3 account and delete your old one.