Solved – Outlook Trying to Connect, Disconnected

Issues with Outlook are not uncommon despite being the most popularly used email application. In this post, we discuss a common ‘Outlook trying to connect/disconnected’ error.

Upon encountering this error, emails cannot be sent or received and your communication can come to a halt, which can be extremely frustrating. To help you resolve the error, we explain some troubleshooting steps in this article.

First of all, let’s start with a background check that will help you identify the root cause of the problem.

Test 1: Open your browser and check if your internet is working. If it’s working, then the issue may be related to the ‘mail server’.

Test 2: To check if the issue is with the ‘mail server’, log onto ‘Outlook website’ and check if you can send or receive emails. If your email isn’t working, then there may be an issue with the server. In this case, call your Internet service and ask for help.

If you pass both the tests described above, there could be an issue with ‘Outlook account’ or with ‘updates’. In this case, proceed to learn more about solutions to resolve the same.

Solution 1: Restart your computer

This may sound like a simple step, but restarting your computer can help resolve certain issues with your system. So try ‘restarting your computer’ and connect to Outlook.

Solution 2: Enable Online Mode

There are chances that your Outlook may have switched to ‘Offline Mode’ without you being aware of it. To resolve this issue, enable ‘Online Mode’ by following the steps below.

1. In the bottom of your Outlook screen, click on ‘Disconnected’ indicator
2. You will find a list of items in the menu that opens. Uncheck ‘Work Offline’ if you find that it is enabled

If this solution doesn’t help, you can proceed to the next step which involves creating a new profile.

Solution 3: Recreate your profile

Removing an Outlook profile and creating a new one can also help resolve Outlook issues. You can follow the steps below to do the same.

1. Click on ‘Start’ menu and go to ‘Control Panel’
2. To see all the icons in Control Panel, change the view to ‘Small Icons’
3. Click ‘Mail’ and select ‘Show Profiles’ in the window that opens
4. You will find a list of profiles here; select your profile and click ‘Remove’

This will delete your profile and you are ready to create a new profile. To create a new profile, go to ‘Profiles’ using the same steps explained above and click on ‘Add’ to create a new profile. Once a new profile is created, your Outlook may start functioning well.

Solution 4: Use ‘Safe Mode’ to disable add-ins

‘Safe Mode’ will open Outlook without the add-ins. This may help you identify if the add-ins are the issue. To start Outlook in ‘Safe Mode’, follow the steps below.

1. Click on ‘Windows + R’ to open ‘Run’
2. Type ‘Outlook.exe/Safe’ and click ‘Ok’

Now check if you use Outlook normally. If you can, the problem is likely with add-ins. Now you can go ahead and disable add-ins by following the steps below.

1. Click on File > Options > Add-ins
2. In the ‘Manage’ drop down menu, select ‘COM add-ins’ and click ‘Go’
3. Clear all the ‘checkboxes’ to disable add-ins; then restart ‘Outlook’ and check if it works without any issues.
4. If your Outlook works fine, select ‘one’ add-in at a time and restart Outlook. Repeat this step for all the add-ins. This will help you identify the add-in causing trouble. Once that is identified, you can disable it and use Outlook normally.

These are the various troubleshooting steps to resolve Outlook connectivity issues. If any of these solutions worked for you, well and good. If not, you can also try other solutions such as check for ‘Office updates’ and install the latest ones. Also, make sure your Outlook is not running in compatibility mode. These are simple yet powerful methods to resolve connectivity issues in Outlook.

However, in some cases, you may not be able to send or receive emails due to other reasons such as PST corruption. For more details on this regard, refer Outlook freezes when sending email.