Outlook trying to log in to azure servers before mail server

hi Johan18​  This usually happens because newer Outlook builds attempt modern authentication (OAuth) or autodiscover lookups through Microsoft 365 endpoints before connecting to your on-premises or third-party mail server. When your mail server blocks cloud sources, Outlook may appear to “connect to Azure servers first.”

A few things you can try: [ take backup before you do ]

Disable modern authentication for that profile (if you’re using basic auth or IMAP/POP):

• Go to Control Panel → Mail → Email Accounts → Change → More Settings → Security tab.
• Uncheck “Always prompt for logon credentials” and ensure it’s not configured for modern auth.
• If it’s Exchange, you may need to force RPC over HTTP instead of MAPI over HTTP.

Manually configure the account

• Skip autodiscover and set incoming/outgoing mail server names manually.
• Disable the “Guess smartly” options by creating the profile from Control Panel → Mail → Show Profiles → Add.

Registry policy (advanced)

• You can disable Microsoft 365 autodiscover lookups by adding this registry key:

o   [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\AutoDiscover]

o   "ExcludeHttpsAutoDiscoverDomain"=dword:00000001

o   "ExcludeSrvRecord"=dword:00000001

o   "ExcludeExplicitO365Endpoint"=dword:00000001

(Restart Outlook after adding these entries.)

Test with Outlook Web Access or another client

• If the second account works fine, compare its connection type under File → Account Settings → Server Settings.

These steps prevent Outlook from defaulting to Microsoft 365 autodiscover endpoints and force it to connect directly to your configured mail server.