Periodic Outlook Failures to Send Email

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Periodic Outlook Failures to Send Email
Posting on behalf of WSC3

I have Outlook 2019 (not 365, single license) on a Windows 10 platform. Outlook has always worked fine until around this past Christmas where it began to experience intermittent failures in sending email. It works for a while as expected and then suddenly fails on a Send. Receiving seems to work consistently and reasonably well except during the “Send” jams. A restart of Outlook will usually rectify any receive email issues.

On a Send Failure, emails sit in the Outbox as the sending progress bar crawls across the bottom of the screen. I timed one send at more than 20 minutes. When this occurs, only on rare occasions will the email ultimately send. Sometime the progress bar ends and the email is still sitting in the Outbox. Outlook just ignores it from then on. I have occasionally had success dragging said email into the Drafts box and resending it from there. Other times the progress bar stalls out completely at about 95% of completion and just hangs there.

On other occasions I can end the program and restart it (and kill a remaining process in the task manager) and the stuck email will send. Sometimes that doesn’t help. I have had a send email jam up, add a couple of more “to send” emails, restart Outlook, the new emails send, but the first one still hangs.

This seems to me to be a problem with Outlook (an Outlook system file corruption or defective Microsoft patch) or an issue at Comcast.

Here are some other data:

1. I can send email on my iPhone fine during an Outlook failure.

2. My provider is Comcast. I called them once about this issue but they weren’t able to help. They denied any culpability.

3. I have plenty of internet bandwidth and my desktop is Ethernet connected to the router. My browser is working fine during these instances. It’s not a connectivity problem.

4. I use the Comcast email website to access my secondary email address, and these webpages have often been problematic, long before the Outlook issue. The web pages are often slow to load or generate random error messages. Sometimes the error message clears and the page loads; other times I have to start over.

5. My computer is a Dell XPS, 32GB Ram, 10 core.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Replies

I’ve seen send failures with corrupted email files. Are the emails particularly complex or have lots of recipients?
Have you tried sending them with Blat?

cheers, Paul

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You could double-check these settings which seem to work fine for others:

How to Setup Comcast Email in Outlook 2019

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We also use Outlook 2019 (not 365, single license) on a Windows 10 platform and were having problems with the app.

The problem presented itself as:

• Send/receive error messages,
• Extended periods of send/receive activity, and
• Extended delays in the app shutting down.

Our problem was related to a slow internet connection that was resolved after an Xfinity tech repaired our internet connection (see my topic Xfinity technical support phone number at  https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/xfinity-technical-support-phone-number/ ).

All is well now.

Try running a Comcast Business speed test to see if you have an internet related problem.

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Paul: No, the emails can be very simple.
Kathy: As I noted, I’m ethernet connected directly and have top notch speed. I’m sure that’s not it.

I will check the settings after my meeting, but since it’s intermitent, I’m guessing that’s not the issue.

Thanks for the suggestions.

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b

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WSC3

You may want to also run Microsoft Office Click to Run to see if it is a software problem.

• Start,
• Settings,
• Apps,
• Microsoft Office 2019,
• Modify,
• Click to Run, then
• Online repair.

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Have you tried creating a new email profile? Go to Control Panel | User Accounts | Mail | Show Profile. You may add a new profile there. If you have a corrupted profile this may resolve your issue.

--Joe

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Kathy Stevens

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I agree, a new profile may solve the problem.

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I went to Control Panel/User Account/ and there’s no option for mail. Windows 10.

When I type “profile” into the start menu, I get my name as Microsoft account holder. I’m assuming this is the wrong profile.

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Did you try searching in Control Panel when you first open it?

--Joe

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I can’t seem to get my responses to post here….

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To address your inability to post here:
Have you tried a different browser and/or a different device, like a phone?

For Outlook:
check these:

Outgoing Mail Server Name: smtp.comcast.net
Outgoing Mail Server Port Number: 587

Encryption: TLS (use SSL if TLS isn’t available)
Authentication: Your Comcast.net email address

(for the port setting you should also try 465

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Hi Vincenzo,
As you’ll note from my original post, this is an intermittent problem. It hasn’t happened at all today, e.g. And, as I noted, it works fine on my iPhone. And the settings match your suggestion.
Comcast’s website is always problematic, which adds to my evidence that the problem is somehow on their end. And yes, I’ve used Chrome (my default) and Edge too.

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When Outlook jams, the Outlook Send/Receive Progress bar jams on “Synchronizing subscribed folders for name@comcast.net.” The rest of the time, it’s fine.

What does this mean or indicate?

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We can’t know without understanding what is causing the jam.

As it only happens on send it may be an issue copying the mail to “sent items”.

When it jams, does the mail go or does it sit in the queue? If it is in the queue it is probably not “sent items”.

cheers, Paul

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I’m trying to figure out what causes the jam, yes. The email is sitting in the “Outbox” and not sending. ONce it sends, the outbox is empty and the sent email is in the “Sent items” folder. But, it’s stuck in the Outbox.

Make sense?

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Sounds like corruption somewhere. Have you created a new profile as suggested by @joep517 above?

cheers, Paul

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I did. The problem persists, stalling at “synchronizing subscribed folders…”

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I don’t know if this change occurred before I deleted and recreated my email account or not, but when I look at my Outlook Data files via Control Panel, one of my archived files from 15 years ago is checked as the default file. Shouldn’t it be the one named “name@comcast.net.ost”?

If I try to change the default to that one, I get a warning message, “The default data file contains the calendar that appears in the to-do bar and settings for Favorites, shared folder, and RSS feeds. It does not change where the messages are saved. Do you want to change the Outlook Data file?”

What should I do? Thx.

Moderator’s Note: Edited example email/file name to make it non-clickable

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It seems as if the problem has been solved. I deleted my “email@comcast.net.ost” file as per a suggestion from this web site below and Outlook recreated it. Now the issue seems much better. This page was very helpful too, giving me this suggestion (along with others) which I’ll pass on:

https://www.cigatisolutions.com/blog/outlook-stuck-on-synchronizing-subscribed-folders/

My “Outlook Send” action still jams a bit from time to time which I can’t tell is normative or not. But it’s better than it was.

Thanks for you help.

PS
I’d still like to know which of my Outlook data files should be the default. I have about 9 files.

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Since I last wrote, I have had to update from Office 2019 (32) to Office 2021 (64) in response to a syncing issue with iCloud that occurred when I created a new Outlook profile to address the sending issue. My problem with syncing with iCloud was resolved. It was not easy.

But the “hanging of sending emails” issue continues. I followed a list of solutions I noted above (https://www.cigatisolutions.com/blog/outlook-stuck-on-synchronizing-subscribed-folders/) but I was not able to compact the OST file nor delete it as this author suggested. If I delete it, Outlook used to build a new, clean one, optimally thus removing any corruption in the file which seems to be the most likely source of the problem. But with Outlook 2021 I get an error message that Outlook cannot open without the OST file being present.

Any thoughts here? And anyone have any input, experience or advice on the product Cigati OST File Recovery Tool (https://www.cigatisolutions.com/ost-file-recovery-tool/)?

Thanks

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WSC3 wrote:

But with Outlook 2021 I get an error message that Outlook cannot open without the OST file being present.

Have you looked in the Recycle bin to see if the old deleted OST file is there?

If not, then:
Try opening Outlook in the Safe mode and see if it opens.  If it does then create the new IMAP account which will create the ost file.

To open Outlook in the Safe Mode:

With Outlook closed, hold down the Ctrl key while clicking the shortcut you use to open Outlook.  Answer the query to start Outlook in Safe mode.  It should offer the Outlook profile to open it, but use any profile it offers to get it to open in Safe Mode.

It may not work, but is worth a try.

Also do you make backups of your PC?  The old OST file will be in those backup images.

 

HTH, Dana:))

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windbg

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Hey Dana,

I renamed the OST file to prompt Outlook 2021 to automatically create a new one as it did in version 2019. That apparently doesn’t work here, as I got an error message that I noted. So I undid the rename and Outlook opened fine. I need to get it to somehow create a new OST file with minimal risk.

The guy with the possible repair list offered this idea as an easy option. Not so easy.

Thanks.

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WSC3 wrote:

I need to get it to somehow create a new OST file with minimal risk. The guy with the possible repair list offered this idea as an easy option. Not so easy.

I would try the Microsoft Repair for this. Not sure with the 2021 version, but look at File>Account Settings>Account Settings>the Email tab. Highlight your account and select repair. If the Repair option is not there refer to the Microsoft link below to download and use the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant. This tool doesn’t work for the New Outlook.

Fix your Outlook email connection by repairing your profile

Post back if that doesn’t work for the manual method.

HTH, Dana:))

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windbg

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I didn’t know there was a sync folder visible via Ctrl 6. I had a bunch of errors that mentioned the Trash folder. I emptied the Trash folder and the problem went away. I’m guessing that either it was overfull or there was a corrupt email in there. I’m guessing it was too full but that presents the question of why the latest version of 35-year-old Outlook would not throw out an alert or an error message that a folder is too large. And in 2024 you’d think that size would be very high, even gigabytes? I last emptied this at the end of last year. I didn’t check the size before I emptied it.

Was this a folder size issue or a corrupt/dangerous spam email issue?

Ctrl 6 to view errors, Ctrl 1 to return to base view.

Wow. Amazing. It runs like a top now. Thanks for all of you all’s help, though….

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windbg

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Glad all is fixed.

WSC3 wrote:

I emptied the Trash folder and the problem went away. I’m guessing that either it was overfull or there was a corrupt email in there. I’m guessing it was too full but that presents the question of why the latest version of 35-year-old Outlook would not throw out an alert or an error message that a folder is too large.

In the future
To keep your Trash empty:

Go to Outlook… File> Options
Select Advanced tab
Under Outlook start and exit place a checkmark next to Empty Deleted Items folder when exiting outlook.
This will delete all emails in the Trash folder when you close Outlook.

OR

If you want the emails to remain in the Trash folder for a few days you can set the folder to delete all emails that are over X number of days old, which will keep the Trash folder from getting too full.

WSC3 wrote:

I’m guessing it was too full but that presents the question of why the latest version of 35-year-old Outlook would not throw out an alert or an error message that a folder is too large. And in 2024 you’d think that size would be very high, even gigabytes? I last emptied this at the end of last year. I didn’t check the size before I emptied it.

This may not be Outlook. That Trash folder on the mail server may have size limits that prevented it from syncing what you added to the Trash folder in Outlook. This explains the Trash sync errors as you move emails to the Trash folder in Outlook which then has to sync (move those same emails to the Trash folder on the mail server) which creates the error when the mails server’s Trash folder can’t sync with the Outlook Trash folder due to its size limitations.

At least you know now not to let your Trash folder get that large again.

HTH, Dana:))

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Drcard:)) wrote:

Go to Outlook… File> Options
Select Advanced tab
Under Outlook start and exit place a checkmark next to Empty Deleted Items folder when exiting outlook.
This will delete all emails in the Trash folder when you close Outlook.

This also won’t let you to restore deleted emails when in need.

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Alex5723 wrote:

This also won’t let you to restore deleted emails when in need.

This is an IMAP account. Any emails deleted in Outlook will still be in a folder on the mail server and thus not really permanently deleted and easily retrieved.

HTH, Dana:))

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Dana,

The “send” problem resurfaced today and so did the sync errors. I emptied the trash can (which was obviously not very full) and again the problem stopped. Sooo, what is this telling me? Is there some corruption in the trash file or something? I’m still reflecting on whether this is something on Comcast’s side or not…. It’s troubling.

I do tend to delete files with big attachments becasue they have large size attachments. Today’s trash size was about 3MB.

And any idea of what the size limits are?

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3MB is tiny these days, even on O2019. And trash is not used to send mail, unless you have a rule that sends sent items straight to trash.

Is your disk OK?
Have you tried fixing Window files with “sfc” and “dism”.

cheers, Paul

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WSC3 wrote:

The “send” problem resurfaced today and so did the sync errors. I emptied the trash can (which was obviously not very full) and again the problem stopped. Sooo, what is this telling me? Is there some corruption in the trash file or something? I’m still reflecting on whether this is something on Comcast’s side or not…. It’s troubling.

It could very well be Comcast, but that would involve many other users besides you.
It may not be the Trash folder not syncing and could be the next folder failing to sync and only records the Trash folder as an error.

I have one last “fix” for you to try. It may fix the problem and it may not, but is worth a try. We are going to reset the IMAP folders so their sync settings with the server are correct for each folder.

In Outlook, right click the account name (email address) in the left pane and select IMAP Folders which will open the IMAP Folders windows as shown below.

In the IMAP Folders window click the Query button which show the IMAP folders in the box below. Notice there are two tabs, label ALL and Subscribed. Also notice the statement When displaying hierarchy in Outlook, show only subscribed folders below the box and is it checked? This should be checked. Displaying an IMAP folder in Outlook that Outlook in not subscribed to will cause a sync error anytime an email is moved to that unsubscribed folder.

Now look at the list of folders on the ALL tab. Some will not have a folder icon to the left of the folder name as [Gmail]/Important in my screenshot. No folder icon means Outlook is not subscribed to that folder for syncing. That not subscribed folder should not be In the Outlook left pane nor should it be listed on the Subscribed tab. All the folders on the Subscribed tab should be in Outlook’s left pane (may have to expand to see all folders). Also note with Gmail that the first “folder” listed is [Gmail] which really isn’t a folder and is the first name of all Gmail folders.

Check each folder in the ALL list to make sure that
1)If that folder is subscribed to that the folder appear in the Outlook left pane and on the Subscribed tab.
OR
2)If that folder is not subscribed to that the folder does not show in either Outlook’s left pane or the Subscribed tab.

If you make any changes be sure to click OK to save those changes.

If all the IMAP folders are displaying correctly then proceed to the next step.

For each IMAP folder in the Subscribed tab (IMAP folders Outlook is subscribed to sync with) perform the following steps that will reset the sync setting for each IMAP folder.
1) In the IMAP Folder window select to highlight a folder on the Subscribed tab. For Gmail IMAP folders do not select [Gmail] without a folder name
2) Press Unsubscribe button.
3) click the Apply button.
4) Click the OK button which will close the IMAP folder window.
You will see that folder disappear from Outlook’s left pane.
5) Right click the account email address name in the left pane of Outlook and again select IMAP Folders to open that window.
6) In the IMAP Folders window, click Query to show the folders.
7) On the ALL tab select to highlight the folder that you unsubscribed to in the steps above.
8) Press the Subscribe button.
9) Press the Apply button.
10) Press the OK button which will close the IMAP Folder window.

The above extra steps of opening and closing the IMAP Folder window when unsubscribing and subscribing is to make sure these changes occur on the server which will make the server make new sync settings. I have also found that unsubscribing and subscribing for one folder at a time works better than trying to do several folders at the same time.

HTH, Dana:))

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Hey Dana,

Thanks so much! Problem is, if I click right on my email address, there is no option for IMAP folders at all in the short box that appears. If I click on “Inbox”, I get a long list with this option including IMAP, but it’s empty. There are no folders shown, all or subscribed. what am I missing? (See attachment)

Paul T: My disk is fine. It’s an SSD.

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WSC3 wrote:

If I click on “Inbox”, I get a long list with this option including IMAP, but it’s empty.

The IMAP Folders of the Inbox right click menu will work just fine. After the IMAP Folder window opens it will appear empty but you have to click the Query button to get anything to show in the boxes. Once there you can follow my prior instructions.

HTH, Dana:))

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Oh thanks. That was dumb of me. yes, I see the folders and “show only…” is indeed checked. Interestingly, I don’t have a folder icon for inbox for “all” but obviously it’s in in the left pane. It is not one of the subscribed folders listed.

As an aside, I’ve never been sure of the difference between Deleted Items and Deleted Messages, Sent and Sent messages and junk vs. trash. Actually, they all seem redundant. I guess junk is auto and my deletes are trash. Both “deleted” folders are empty. Trash and junk are not.

I performed your test and it worked perfectly. I tried to unsubscribe to trash but that was not allowed. So this is all good but “send” is just going to keep jamming once my trash hits some magic size. Is this a known issue?

Thanks again so much.

Oh, if I may bother you with one last question on a completely different topic. In my Outlook 2021, when I select a contact folder, right click, make it an “Outlook Address Book” and then change the name of the address book for uniqueness, the name change doesn’t stick. It did in Outlook 2019. In my Address Book: Contacts under the mail option, the names of my 2 primary address books are both just “Contacts.” I’d like to make them unique. What am I missing? I’ve tried just adding 1 character; no change.

Thanks again!

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WSC3 wrote:

Interestingly, I don’t have a folder icon for inbox for “all” but obviously it’s in in the left pane. It is not one of the subscribed folders listed.

This is a problem as the Inbox must be subscribed to in order to sync properly. This is why we went thru these steps to find a mismatch of the folders. The Trash is not where the problem is but the error ends there and thus appears that way. There can be many reasons why the Inbox is listed in Outlook folders but isn’t subscribed to and is most likely for your syncing problems.
To fix this: select the Inbox in the All list and press the Subscribe button, press Apply and OK. This may/may not add a second Inbox in the Outlook pane. If it does add a second Inbox, just leave it there until you are sure which Inbox the downloaded emails are going into.

WSC3 wrote:

s an aside, I’ve never been sure of the difference between Deleted Items and Deleted Messages, Sent and Sent messages and junk vs. trash. Actually, they all seem redundant. I guess junk is auto and my deletes are trash. Both “deleted” folders are empty. Trash and junk are not.

The different names for these folder has to do with the names for these folders that Outlook uses and the names for these folders that the mail servers use. Deleted Items, Trash, and Deleted messages are the same folder with different names. Junk, Junk Emails, and Spam are all the same folder with different names. Outlook knows these different names. When you set Outlook to empty the Deleted Items folder upon exiting, it will also empty the folder named Trash.

WSC3 wrote:

So this is all good but “send” is just going to keep jamming once my trash hits some magic size. Is this a known issue?

Hopefully, fixing the Inbox syncing above will take care of the problem.

WSC3 wrote:

Oh, if I may bother you with one last question on a completely different topic. In my Outlook 2021, when I select a contact folder, right click, make it an “Outlook Address Book” and then change the name of the address book for uniqueness, the name change doesn’t stick. It did in Outlook 2019. In my Address Book: Contacts under the mail option, the names of my 2 primary address books are both just “Contacts.” I’d like to make them unique. What am I missing? I’ve tried just adding 1 character; no change.

This is an easy one.
You change the Name of that Contacts folder before you select to Show that address book in Outlook Address Book.
In Outlook, select the Contacts icon to show the Contacts folders in the left pane.
Right click the Contacts folder that you want to change the name of and select Rename Folder. Rename the same as you would rename a file and press the Enter when finished.
When you check to Show this folder as an email Address Book, it will only allow the name of the folder in Outlook (which you just changed).

Side Note: You can adjust the Options in the Outlook Address Book and select which Contacts folder opens first when you open the Address Book.

HTH, Dana:))

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WSC3

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Hey Dana,
Wow. That worked. I now have a folder icon for Inbox. No second inbox created either. Great! So the trash can was irrelevant here, even though emptying made a big difference.

I did find this in the sync log:
17:28:28 Synchronizing local changes in folder ‘Inbox’
17:28:28 Error synchronizing folder

So we’ll see. Thanks so, so much. This has been a struggle. I so appreciate it all

And the contacts name change worked perfectly too….

Appreciatively,

WSC3

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I glad you got that fixed. Once you are sure it is working OK, return to this thread and mark it Resolved.

WSC3 wrote:

I did find this in the sync log: 17:28:28 Synchronizing local changes in folder ‘Inbox’ 17:28:28 Error synchronizing folder

Unless the sync log specifically lists below the error statement that some action was not done which you have observed as being undone, then you can ignore the error. A lot of things can cause this kind of error with Outlook’s cache mode like temporarily network failure, other client modify the status of mailbox items like changing read status, etc. If you perform a function such as Outlook changing the email to having been read and then perform another function before the folder was synced will cause such an error. My Outlook functions perfectly and just for grins I checked my sync errors…I had over 3,000 sync errors and nearly all were the similar to yours above. None of these “errors” affect Outlook’s functioning. Sync error logs are only useful when you have a syncing problem.

HTH, Dana:))

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WSC3

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Hey, it’s me again. Sorry to bother you, but…

Ok, so I sent three emails this morning, 2 small, 1 at 10mb. Two took 2 min and 6 min to send the first two, a pretty long time. The third one was still there 2 hours later and other subsequent auto sends ignore it. Interestingly, I noticed that of the three emails, the third hanging one (at 10kb) was listed in a group in the Outbox as having no date (“none”). The others in the Outbox were listed under today’s date.

Resending it again failed but moving it to “Drafts” and resending it from there resulted in an instant send.

My trash folder is 2579kb and the IMAP folders all look as they should. There are no sync issue messages for this week at all.

So what’s up with all of this? My sends have all been measured in seconds and suddenly i’m losing ground.

Thanks again.

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WSC3 wrote:

There are no sync issue messages for this week at all.

Great, the sync problem is fixed. The problem you describe is not due to syncing.

The email that was 10 mb I assume was due to an attachment. Others have reported that Outlook sends emails with attachments to the Drafts folder which then will send from the Drafts folder. There are two things to try:
1) Open Outlook in safe mode and see if sending an email with an attachment sends.
To Open Outlook in safe mode:
With Outlook closed, press WinKey + R to open a Run box.
Enter outlook.exe /safe and press the Enter key (note space after oulook.exe and before /).
Accept the current profile.
Test sending emails
2) Open Outlook. Select File> Options. Select Mail Tab. Scroll down to the Save messages section. Uncheck the statement Automatically save items that have not been sent after this many minutes. Click OK to close the Options. Close and restart Outlook for the change to take effect. Test sending emails now.

WSC3 wrote:

So what’s up with all of this? My sends have all been measured in seconds and suddenly i’m losing ground.

The slow time for sending can be caused by things out of your control or your PC. Slow sending is a problem when all sending is slow. Slow one time sending the first 2 emails and sending instantly from the Drafts folder appears more like a busy server one time and a not busy server the next.

HTH, Dana:))

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Actually, the one that hung was small in size. I’ll attach it. Why no date??

The problem seemed to get better for a bit when I emptied the trash which had 114mg in it. I delete emails with attachments. If I just remove the attachment, the size showing in Outlook stays the same. (It still says 10mb, e.g.) So I delete the whole email.

I did get a single sync error. Here:

11:46:12 Synchronizer Version 16.0.17628.20110
11:46:12 Synchronizing Mailbox ‘xxxxxxx@comcast.net’
11:46:13 Synchronizing local changes in folder ‘Inbox’
11:46:13 3 item(s) updated in online folder
11:46:13 Synchronizing local changes in folder ‘Drafts’
11:46:13 1 item(s) deleted in online folder
11:46:13 Synchronizing server changes in folder ‘Deleted Messages’
11:46:13 Synchronizing server changes in folder ‘Sent Messages’
11:46:14 Synchronizing server changes in folder ‘Deleted Items’
11:46:14 Synchronizing local changes in folder ‘Sent’
11:46:14 1 item(s) deleted in online folder
11:46:14 Synchronizing local changes in folder ‘Trash’
11:51:08 Error synchronizing message ‘Sister talk – Pride & Prejudice’
11:51:08 [800CCC0F-0-0-322]
11:51:08 Error synchronizing folder
11:51:08 [800CCC15-0-0-560]
11:51:08 Canceled

I ran Outlook in safe mode and the send/receive bar still crawls and there was nothing in the Outbox. I sent a 2mb attachment and it dragged worse than ever. I added a small second file to send.

I waited 10 minutes with the send still hanging, and restarted Outlook normally (after ending the service still running in Task manager as I used to have to do) and the 2 small files sent instantly. The one with the 2mb attachment sent after 4 or 5 minutes. That seems long for 2MB.

Now, the send is still crawling but there’s nothing in the Outbox. My upload speed is running 24 Mbps

I made the changes to not save after 3 minutes. It’s running ok for now. But, it seems to back to the way it was several days ago. What changed?

Thanks!

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The error does show a sync problem with one of the messages

WSC3 wrote:

I waited 10 minutes with the send still hanging, and restarted Outlook normally (after ending the service still running in Task manager as I used to have to do) and the 2 small files sent instantly. The one with the 2mb attachment sent after 4 or 5 minutes. That seems long for 2MB.

With Outlook not closing when you want and hanging means it is having a communication problem with the mail server and is still waiting for a response from the mail server.  Also to start syncing the Trash and 5 minutes pass before an error is detected indicates a very slow response to mail server. This is either a fault of the mail server or the setup between the mail server and Outlook is corrupted and delaying the communication with timeout overrides. Since none of the other things we did could correct this problem, the only solution I know is to create a new Profile with a new connection to the mail server. Any emails on the server will still be in that account and any email saved to an Outlook Data file will still be available. Also the old profile will still be there. All is explained at the Microsoft link for your Outlook 2021. Do not try to modify your Profile as you need to create a new one with new settings to connect to the mail server.

Overview of Outlook email profiles

HTH, Dana:))

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Creating a new profile is the first thing I did when all of this started. It didn’t help. I ended up in the process of creating the new profile, in some way that is a puzzle to all, breaking the connection to iCloud. I put this “send” problem aside and spent hours on the phone with my local tech gal and on the phone with Apple 3 times with no resolution. The only fix was to upgrade from 32bit Office 2019 to 64 Office 2021, which is where I am now. And I’m using that new profile I created for Office 2019, if that matters.

You mention the mail server; I have to admit that my web connection to my accounts with Comcast are horribly slow. I get a “server unreachable” in Chrome on a very regular basis. Chrome crawls if I move from one page to another, sometimes taking several minutes despite great upload and download speeds. Doesn’t this indicate an overloaded server on their side? Would this be affecting my issue here?

Needless to say, it makes me queasy to think about a repeat of the iCloud linkage debacle again I went through a couple of weeks ago doing a new profile. The profile was easy to create.

I did just send an email to that junk account with a 3MB attachment, and it took almost 5 minutes to send but did. And the progress bar jumped immediately to the end during the entire event as opposed to going 30% and stopping, whatever that tells us. Now there’s nothing to send but the progress bar is crawling…..

Thoughts? Thanks for your patience…..

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I’m going to ask a question which may seem irrelevant. But since the slow down affects downloads other than email….
Is your Internet connection set to Metered?
Settings\Network & Internet\<your connection>\Status

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I was assuming the logging would track all of Outlook’s activities (normal and abnormal) to get a deeper look into what’s going on. Ok then, only errors.

I want to get my ammunition lined up.

So, to summarize, the sync logs demonstrate that this is a server side (a.k.a. Comcast) issue, and you as an expert are almost completely sure about this. And, the fact that the Outlook error logging came up empty also endorses this conclusion.

Does the fact that the problem is intermittent impact this conclusion of a server-side issue?

Does the abominable web performance of Comcast’s email (and other) pages also support a server-side cause?

Did I leave anything out?

Of course, you’d think Comcast would be inundated with people like me who can’t send emails….

When you said Comcast would make me start over, you mean deleting what besides my profile?

And my connection is not set to Metered.

Thanks so much!

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WSC3 wrote:

The only fix was to upgrade from 32bit Office 2019 to 64 Office 2021, which is where I am now. And I’m using that new profile I created for Office 2019, if that matters.

I have not seen this before, but using a profile created in a 32 bit app in a 64 bit app sounds like a coding conflict as there will be commands in a 64 bit app that a 32 bit app would not understand and would cause a hang.  Like I said I’ve never seen that before.

WSC3 wrote:

You mention the mail server; I have to admit that my web connection to my accounts with Comcast are horribly slow. I get a “server unreachable” in Chrome on a very regular basis. Chrome crawls if I move from one page to another, sometimes taking several minutes despite great upload and download speeds. Doesn’t this indicate an overloaded server on their side? Would this be affecting my issue here?

This could be the problem.  Not familiar with Comcast, but have seen cable internet set up on a shared network where the speed is based upon other user’s usage.  During heavy usage individual users will see very slow speeds, but 29 Mbps upload speed  should send emails with 3 Mb attachments a lot faster than what you are seeing.

WSC3 wrote:

I did just send an email to that junk account with a 3MB attachment, and it took almost 5 minutes to send but did. And the progress bar jumped immediately to the end during the entire event as opposed to going 30% and stopping, whatever that tells us. Now there’s nothing to send but the progress bar is crawling…..

This points to the server as Outlook is waiting on confirmation from the mail server that the email was sent.

I think your problem is a combination of slow connection speeds and conflict of a profile created for a 32 bit app running in a 64 bit app.

There is one thing we can do to further investigate the problem, turn on Outlook error reporting log.

Open Outlook
Select File> Options
Select Advanced in left pane
Scroll down the Advanced page to the Other section
Place a checkmark next to Enable troubleshooting logging (require restarting Outlook).
Click OK and close Outlook.

Open Outlook and send files and other things that has been causing you a problem.
When you have enough errors you can look at the log, remove personal identifying entries and post back here.

To see the report:
Press WinKey +R to open a Run box
Enter %temp% and press the Enter key.
This will open File Explorer to the Temp folder.
The log will be imap0.log or imap.1log or any number imap.log files.
They open in Notepad.

HTH, Dana:))

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Will do tomorrow. Thanks again for all you’ve done!!!

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I turned on the log function yesterday, and I get an alert when I load Outlook that it is activated. I have looked in the temp folder and searched repeatedly on my hard drive with a quick file searching program I have for anything like “imap0.log” or “imap1.log”. There is nothing there.

I have sent 5 or 6 emails this morning. The first ran fine and I now how three backlogged in the Outbox with the progress bar at 20% and not moving much. I have exited Outlook normally with no outbox files hanging and have ended and restarted it with the bar still moving. Again, no logs have been generated. Why would this be so?

My sync log, though, has given two errors. Test 3 was a file I sent yesterday with a 3 mb attachment. Odd that it’s appearing in today error log:

11:20:07 Synchronizer Version 16.0.17726.20016
11:20:07 Synchronizing Mailbox ‘xxxxx@comcast.net’
11:20:07 Synchronizing local changes in folder ‘Trash’
11:28:33 Error synchronizing message ‘Test 3’
11:28:33 [800CCC0F-0-0-322]
11:28:33 Error synchronizing folder
11:28:33 [800CCC15-0-0-560]
11:28:33 Done

The other was this one:

11:28:33 Synchronizer Version 16.0.17726.20016
11:28:33 Synchronizing Mailbox ‘xxxxxx@comcast.net’
11:28:33 Terminated in error
11:28:33 [800CCC15-0-0-940]

We changed the setting so that Outlook would keep trying to send, but it just terminated the send twice and then restarted. Now, it’s doing nothing. The outbox has two waiting emails.

I moved the ignored emails to “Drafts” and resent each one. One sent; the other was ignored. The sending stopped. It then restarted and the last waiting email went. The outbox is now empty.

Again, no outlook logs.

Thoughts?

Oh wait. 2 more sync errors:

12:03:49 Synchronizer Version 16.0.17726.20016
12:03:49 Synchronizing Mailbox ‘xxxx@comcast.net’
12:03:49 Synchronizing local changes in folder ‘Sent’
12:03:49 Error synchronizing folder
12:03:49 [800CCC15-0-0-430]
12:03:49 Done
12:03:49 Synchronizer Version 16.0.17726.20016
12:03:49 Synchronizing Mailbox ‘xxxxx@comcast.net’
12:03:49 Synchronizing local changes in folder ‘Sent’
12:03:49 Error synchronizing folder
12:03:49 [800CCC15-0-0-430]
12:03:49 Done

And

12:03:49 Synchronizer Version 16.0.17726.20016
12:03:49 Synchronizing Mailbox ‘xxxxxx@comcast.net’
12:03:49 Synchronizing Hierarchy
12:03:49 Error in folder ‘Sent’
12:03:49 [800CCC15-0-0-733]
12:03:49 Terminated in error
12:03:49 [800CCC15-0-0-733]

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WSC3 wrote:

I turned on the log function yesterday, and I get an alert when I load Outlook that it is activated. I have looked in the temp folder and searched repeatedly on my hard drive with a quick file searching program I have for anything like “imap0.log” or “imap1.log”. There is nothing there.

That means Outlook has not detected any errors.
The errors in the sync logs is due to the mail server end and not Outlook or the errors would be recorded into the logs.
The alert when you open Outlook is to let you know the error recording is on.

There is nothing in Outlook we can do to solve this. I know that when you contact Comcast they will say it is your Outlook and most likely ask you to recreate your profile or start from scratch. I would also look into an alternative Internet provider that may be available to you. The service you are getting is well below the level most users can get.

HTH, Dana:))

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WSC3 wrote:

So, to summarize, the sync logs demonstrate that this is a server side (a.k.a. Comcast) issue, and you as an expert are almost completely sure about this. And, the fact that the Outlook error logging came up empty also endorses this conclusion.

I am not an expert. With that being said there a lot of very knowledgeable people in the Ask Woody forums and I believe that if one of those knowledgeable people knew a solution, something else to try, or believes the problem isn’t in your connection to Comcast mail server they would have said something and I encourage any other input.

WSC3 wrote:

Does the fact that the problem is intermittent impact this conclusion of a server-side issue?

Yes, intermittent points to network overload slow downs.

WSC3 wrote:

Does the abominable web performance of Comcast’s email (and other) pages also support a server-side cause?

Yes, Outlook download and upload of emails has nothing to do with Chrome and its slow response. This is the biggest piece of evidence that the problem is with your Comcast network because it affects two totally different applications.

If you desire more proof:

One way to check and be sure it is the Comcast connection speed. If you have a smart phone that is not connected to the Comcast network and configured to be used as a personal hotspot you can:
Use the smart phone as a hotspot using the phones cellular data.
Connect the PC to the phone’s hotspot, thus making your Internet connection thru the phone which is not part of the Comcast network.
If your emails send quickly, then it proves the Comcast network speed is where the problem lies; however, it could still be slow due to Comcast mail server itself rather than network speed.

HTH, Dana:))

1 user thanked author for this post.

WSC3

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Hello,

I’ve been out of town for a couple of weeks at the beach where I used my wife’s laptop to access my email on Comcast via Chrome. The response time was lightning fast which I attributed to our distance from home, and thus we were probably pinging on another Comcast server closer to where we were at the time with much better bandwidth.

Then when I got home, I tested her laptop again, and her laptop is still almost as good as it was at the beach! We’re both on the same wireless here at home, but I’m directly connected. What does this tell us? Does it indicate a problem on my PC, even after all of our research?

Thanks.

WSC3

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I’m connected via Ethernet, my wife by wifi.

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