4 Ways to Fix Microsoft Outlook Stuck on Updating Inbox on Windows
Pankil is a Civil Engineer turned freelance writer. Since his arrival at Guiding Tech in 2021, he delves into the world of how-tos, and troubleshooting guides for Android, iOS, and Windows. Besides his new-found love for mechanical keyboards, he’s a disciplined footfall fan and loves international travel with his wife.
Fix 1: Disable Cached Exchange Mode
Cached Exchange Mode (CEM) is a feature available in Microsoft Outlook that allows you to keep a copy of your Exchange mailbox on your local computer’s hard drive. This feature provides you with offline access to your emails, contacts, and tasks. However, sometimes Outlook may get stuck on inbox updates due to CEM.
You can start by disabling Cached Exchange Mode in Outlook to see if that solves the problem.
Step 1:Open the Outlook app and click theFilemenu at the top-left corner.
Step 2:In theInfotab, click onAccount Settingsand selectAccount Settingsfrom the list.
Step 3:Select your email account and click theChangebutton.
Step 4:Clear theUse Cached Exchange Mode to download email to an Outlook data filecheckbox and hitNextto save changes.
Restart the Outlook app to check if the issue still persists.
Fix 2: Delete the OST File
Another reason why Outlook may not update your inbox is if the OST files associated with your account have become corrupt. In that case, you will need to delete theproblematic Offline Outlook Data (OST) file. This will force Outlook to rebuild the file from scratch, resolving the issue.
Step 1:Press theWindows key + Rto open the Run dialog box. Type the following path in the text box and pressEnter.
Step 2:In the File Explorer window, select the OST file associated with your account and click thetrash iconat the top to delete it.
Fix 3: Open Outlook in Safe Mode
One of your add-ins may be causing the Outlook app to becomestuck while updating your inbox and outbox. If you suspect that is the case, you can open Outlook in safe mode. For that, press and hold theCTRLkey on your keyboard and double-click the Outlook shortcut. Then, selectYesto confirm.
Once Outlook opens in safe mode, check if the app updates your emails as expected. If it does, you should disable all the add-ins and re-enable them one at a time. This will allow you to determine which add-in is causing the issue.
Step 1:Click theFilemenu at the top in the Outlook app.
Step 2:SelectOptionsfrom the left pane.
Step 3:Switch to theAdd-instab and use the drop-down menu next to Manage to selectCOM Add-ins. Then, click theGobutton.
Step 4:Uncheck the boxes to disable add-ins and clickOK.
Restart the Outlook app after this and enable your add-ins one by one. Check your inbox after enabling each add-in until the issue occurs again. Once you find the problematic add-in, consider removing it.
Fix 4: Run the Office Repair Tool
Microsoft offers a dedicated tool forfixing issues with Office appslike Outlook. You can try running this tool to see if that gets Outlook to update your inbox on Windows.
To run the Office repair tool on Windows:
Step 1:Press theWindows key + Rto open the Run dialog box. Typeappwiz.cplin the box and pressEnter.
Step 2:In the Programs and Features window, select the Microsoft Office product on the list and click theChangebutton at the top.
Step 3:Select theOnline Repairoption and clickRepair.
This might take a while, so be patient. Once the repair process is complete, check if the issue is still there.
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Last updated on 10 August, 2024
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