How to troubleshoot mail stuck in the Outbox in Outlook 2000 (195922)

MORE INFORMATION

You Opened the Message from Your Outbox

After you send a message, Outlook moves it into your Outbox. When Outlook establishes a connection to your mail server, it attempts a delivery and a copy of the sent message appears in your Outbox. If you open and close a message while it is still in your Outbox, you change the status of the message and it is not sent. The message title will no longer appear in italic formatting in the Outbox Messages view.

To return the message to Send status, open the message, and click Send on the message toolbar. The message title should become italicized in the Outbox Messages view. During the next connection with the mail server Outlook should deliver the message.

You Are Working Offline

If you use the Internet Mail Only (IMO) installation:

1. On the File menu, click to clear the Work Offline check box.
2. On the Tools menu, point to Send/Receive, and click the name of the Internet Service account to resend the message.

If you use the Corporate Workgroup (CW) installation with Microsoft Exchange Server service:

1. On the Tools menu, click Services to open the Services dialog box.
2. On the Services tab, click to select the Microsoft Exchange Server check box, and then click Properties.
3. On the Advanced tab, click to clear the Enable offline use check box.
4. Click OK twice to close all dialog boxes.
5. Quit and restart Outlook.

NOTE: When you are working offline with your Microsoft Exchange Server service, your Microsoft Fax service is in an offline state as well. Fax messages remain in the Outbox when it appears that the only service set to offline is the Microsoft Exchange Server service.

You Have Damaged Personal Folders or Personal Address Book Files

If your personal folder (.pst) files or Personal Address Book (.pab) files are damaged, perform the following procedures, each of which is explained in the following sections.

Repair Damaged Folders or Files

The first troubleshooting step is to run Inbox Repair Tool to repair your damaged files. To do so:

1. If the Folder List is not visible, click Folder List on the View menu while the Inbox is open.
2. In the Folder List, right-click the Personal folders icon, click Properties, and on the General tab, click Advanced. Write down the path and name of your .pst file. Click Cancel twice to close the dialog boxes.
3. Quit Outlook.
4. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Inbox Repair Tool.
   
   NOTE: If Inbox Repair Tool does not appear on the System Tools menu, click Start, point to Find, click Files or Folders, and then search for the Scanpst.exe file.
   
   If you are running Microsoft Windows 2000 or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), click Start, point to Search, click For Files or Folders, and then search for the Scanpst.exe file. When you find the program, double-click it to run it.
5. In Inbox Repair Tool, click Browse, and then select your Personal Store file (.pst), recorded in step 2.
6. Click Start to begin scanning your file.
7. When you are finished with Inbox Repair Tool, restart Outlook.
8. Copy the contents of the message that is stuck in your Outbox, and paste it into a new message.
9. Delete the original message, and then try to send the new message.

Create a New Personal Folders File

The second troubleshooting step is to create a new personal folder (.pst) file.

If you are running the Internet Mail Only (IMO) installation:

1. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Personal Folders File (.pst).
2. Type a name for the new personal folders file, click Create, and then click OK.
3. Right-click the new personal folder file, and click Properties on the shortcut menu.
4. Click to select the Deliver POP mail to this personal folders file check box. Click OK, and then close and restart Outlook.
5. Copy the contents of all of the folders to the new personal folder (.pst) file, excluding the Outbox, and then re-create and send your messages.

If you are running the Corporate Workgroup (CW) installation and are having mail delivered to your personal folder (.pst) file:

1. On the Tools menu, click Services.
2. Click Add, click Personal Folders in the Available Information Services list, and then click OK.
3. Type a unique name for the new personal folder (.pst) file, click Open, and then click OK.
4. On the Delivery tab, click the new personal folder (.pst) file under Deliver new mail to the following location, and then click OK.
5. Copy the contents of all of the folders to the new personal folder (.pst) file, excluding the Outbox.
6. Restart Outlook.
7. Re-create, and then send your messages.

Create a New Profile

The third troubleshooting step is to create a new profile with a new personal folder (.pst) file and a new Personal Address Book (.pab) file.

If you use the Internet Mail installation (IMO), follow these steps:

1. Quit Outlook if it is running.
2. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
3. Double-click the Mail icon.
4. Click and then remove each of your mail accounts. Then add each one back.
   
   NOTE: Make certain you know all of the required settings before you remove any of these items.
5. Click Close when you are finished, and then close Control Panel.
6. Restart Outlook, and try to send a message.

If you use the Corporate Workgroup installation (CW), follow these steps:

1. Quit Outlook if it is running.
2. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
3. Double-click the Mail And Fax icon or the Mail icon, click Show Profiles, and then click Add to add a new profile.
4. Follow the Inbox Setup Wizard to create a new profile with a new personal folder (.pst) file and Personal Address Book.
5. Start Outlook, and try to send a message.

Search for and Rename Any Additional .pst and .ost Files

The fourth troubleshooting step is to search your system for multiple personal folder (.pst) files or offline folder (.ost) files. Rename each file, and then create a new profile.

Ensure that the Addressee's E-mail Address Is in Your Personal Address Book

The fifth troubleshooting step is to check for the addressee's e-mail name in the Personal Address Book. If it is not present, add it. If it is present, delete the entry and re-add it.

Try Another E-mail Client

The last troubleshooting step is to try another client. Quit Outlook, and then search your hard disk for Exchng32.exe. Run exchng32.exe and use your existing services to send mail.

If you can send mail with the Exchange client, remove, and then reinstall Outlook. To do this, follow these steps.

NOTE: Because there are several versions of Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, please consult your product documentation to complete these steps.

1. Quit Exchange.
2. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon.
3. Click either Microsoft Office 2000 or Microsoft Outlook 2000, click Add/Remove, and then click Remove.
4. Click Start, point to Find, click Files or Folders, and type Outllib.dll in the Named box.
   
   With Windows 2000 or Windows Me, click Start, point to Search, click For Files or Folders, and type Outllib.dll in the Search for files or folders named box. If the file is found, click the file. On the File menu, click Rename, rename the file to Outllib.bad, and then press ENTER. Close the Find dialog box.
5. Reinstall Outlook.

You Have an Outdated or Incompatible Add-in

Outdated or incompatible add-ins may cause mail delivery problems.

Add-ins, such as old Netscape extensions or Fax software, may cause e-mail delivery problems. Follow these steps to check your active add-ins:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options to open the Options dialog box.
2. On the Other tab, click Advanced Options, and then click Add-In Manager. Your active add-ins have check marks beside the add-in name.
3. To deactivate an add-in, click to clear the add-in check box, and then click OK three times to close all the dialog boxes.

If other methods in article do not fix issue, it is possible that the following method may clear the outbox.

1. Create a new folder, and name it Not Sent.
2. Move existing messages from the Outbox into the Not Sent folder.
3. Test by sending a new message. If you can send the new message successfully, you may have an improperly formatted message in the Not Sent folder.

You Replied to a Message from an Old Account

When you reply to an e-mail message in Outlook, Outlook tries to send the reply by using the same account through which you originally received the message. If the account in which you received the message no longer exists in your Outlook profile or account settings, the message may not leave your Outbox. This scenario is most likely to occur when you have old mail delivered to an Inbox in a personal folder (.pst) file on your local hard disk, and you have changed mail accounts since you received the message.

The easiest way to resolve this issue is to move the message that is stuck in your Outbox to your Inbox, create and address a new message, paste the information from the message that is stuck in your Outbox to the new message, and then send the new message. Outlook attempts to send the new message from your current default e-mail account instead of the old account.