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I can't add an O365 email to Outlook desktop client but I can access it from the web
I can't add a O365 to Outlook desktop client but I can access from the web
This a weird thing, whenever I try to add in Outlook from File > Add Account I get the message "Something went wrong and Outlook couldn't set up your account".
From Control Panel > Mail > Email accounts > New > Manual Setup > here I put the email and gets stuck at "Searching for... Settings" and then " An encrypted connection to your email is not available, click Next to attempt using an unencrypted connection", so I do that and get the error "We're sorry we couldn't set up your account automatically. To try setting up the account yourself click Next" which is basically the same.
Everything works fine in the browser, any ideas on this?
12 Replies
Hi there- I am an non-IT person looking for help on this topic. I have an O365 license for my LLC and access my email through the desktop version of Outlook. I work with another business as a 1099 contractor that requires me to have an email under their domain to use when dealing with their clients. This email is accessible through Outlook on their O365 license. Up until a few months ago, I was accessing this email by adding it as another account to my O365 Outlook desktop version. Then all of a sudden it stopped working. I can still access the online version.
I've tried fixing through their vendors, but all troubleshooting to this point has not resolved the issue. They were suggesting that the other company provide me with another Pro license, which was really not a solution. It appears that I need to troubleshoot through other means.
Checking here to see if someone would be able to help. I have added/deleted, restarted, logged in/out of accounts more times than I can tell you. I've tried checking the "prompt when opening" button in Control Panel, as suggested here. Nothing works. Below is a screenshot of the error message I'm getting.
I get this even though I have not been prompted to enter User ID/Password or when I do. Once in a while I get past this and it adds the account for a few hours, then it stops working.
Any help or guidance would be appreciated. Again, I'm not an IT person - just a freelance business consultant.
Thank you in advance for your consideration!
I have a workaround to create/ add a profile of outlook.
I was having same issue in my organisation, when I go to control panel > mail > show profile > add profile> and try to add the email account details, it didnt worked.
instead, go to control panel > mail > show profile and make sure - Prompt for a profile to be used option is selected.
then open outlook and it will prompt for a profile - select options > New > rename the profile > enter email address and proceed - next are the same steps what we do usually.
incase after entering the email address its freezed then end task of outlook from task manager and do the same steps by opening outlook > select options> new profile >......
one thing I noticed :
this issue usually come for the system which had office 365 installed and the system which had office professional 2016 are able to add the email account from control panel without any problem.
THANK YOU
2025-11 thank you, jubin JubinF for the answer and jorge jorgecg for posting the question. microsoft win 10 control panel mail panel is unable to display website popup for accepting permissions. so it just says encrypted connection is not possible. but if you use open outlook then add profile, it works. just like you said.😀
It worked. Thanks. At first, I was skeptical, but then I remembered that there’s a similar quirk when adding an additional account—taking a different path but seeing the same menu items somehow makes it work. Now it would be good to understand why everything worked perfectly until now, and starting today it stopped working for two corporate users. Why does everything work fine on the same computer for one Windows account, but for another you have to go through this workaround? And is this just a random Microsoft Office bug, or will we have a widespread issue in a few days and very hot phone lines?
Hi jorgecg,
That's probably an Autodiscover or connection issue, ( firewall, proxy... ).
You can try to perform an outlook test connection from https://testconnectivity.microsoft.com/
There you should see if it's successfull or not and the reason.
But, if the problem is with the machine itself, try to install SARA, ( Support And Recovery Assistant tool ). This tool is able to solve many problems related to local machines or client failures:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/100607
FcoManigrasso thanks for the reply.
I forgot to mention that this is corporate.
In the outlook app I have my personal e-mail but I can't add another account, it is not an SPA, just a "normal" mail. Is it possible to do that? Last year work perfectly and all January and February 2023. My boss can use it but I can't.
I contacted IT from my company but I'm desperate and looking for answers everywhere.
Hi jorgecg,
If it was working until now maybe it's simply a client issue. Ensure that Outlook is up to date and try to perform a quick office repair. Using "SARA" as suggested in my first reply could also help.
If you need further assistance, then please reach me by private message in order to get more specific details.
