Forum Discussion
Outlook 365 (classic) freezes syncing subscribed folders via IMAP
Win 11 home, with all current updates.
Outlook 365 (365) Version 2510 Build 16.0.19328.20010) 64-bit; with all current updates.
ISP: telusplanet.net (which is Google, with limited functionality),
Servers: imap.gmail.com, port 993, SSL/TSL and smtp.gmail.com, port 465, SSL/TSL
Protocol: IMAP. I was using POP before without any problems for years.
The problem: When starting OL it downloads new mail messages OK. But after a while it freezes in ‘Synchronizing Inbox’ or rarely ‘Synchronizing Trush’ and does not download new messages from the server (which are visible in Gmail on Chrome) nor delete messages from the server, which were deleted locally. When this happens, to get it back, I need to shut OL down, wait, say 15 min, or longer, start it again and usually it is enough, occasionally I need to shut down and power the PC again. I have not uninstalled and reinstalled OL yet but am thinking of it.
I use IMAP to sync mail, and Sync2 for contacts, calendar, and tasks – that works OK.
I have tried just about anything possible, rebuilding profile, repairing OL, clearing cache, unlinking OneDrive, whatever I could think of, or what Copilot suggested, all to no avail. It is obviously very annoying. I believe, if it is happening to me, it must have had happened to others as well. It all started after switching from POP to IMAP.
Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated, Jan
4 Replies
Hi Jan,
Your post is reminding me of an IMAP account with a POP import not completing.
IMAP with Google setup in Outlook Classic has a few twists to it when migrating from POP to IMAP. POP/PST can have a lot of email with many large attachments and if you imported into your Gmail IMAP account via Outlook Classic, you might not have allowed Outlook to finish the uploading process, this is very common based on my past client calls. If your Gmail was also added as IMAP on another device, your IMAP/Gmail account (and esp if an older Gmail account) can have a lot of data to sync. One trick is to close Outlook Classic, then turn off 2 folders in the Gmail labels: All Mail and Important. Those will not sync to your Outlook profile. I mention all this as you mentioned the move from POP to IMAP.
Then let it rest, keep your computer on for a couple of days, leave Outlook open and then see if it stops synching. Due to internet speed and any other issues such as VPN, AV or a firewall, the time might be delayed.
If you did all of this and are still seeing snags in the synching, you might have a very large email with an incredibly large attachment stuck. I have found this more times to be the root cause. Search in your "search folders" for large attachments, find the enormous size emails and then I would manually move them off the profile to a PST vs deleting, makes it final and can be stored in a PST for viewing now or not get caught in the sync again with the trash.
As mentioned, VPN, AV and firewalls can cause your issue as well.
OneDrive should not be a problem here as IMAP OST is stored locally by default.
I hope this advise helps,
Lisa Hendrickson, Microsoft MVP (Outlook)
Thank you Lisa,
I missed your reply, partly due to my Outlook problems. I apologize for late reply.
I have turned off All Mail and Important in Gmail labels. Deleted all add-ins. Also, I deleted a couple of >10Mb messages stored in OL Inbox, but there are a few still left.
OL behaviour has changed. It does not show the freezing sign at the bottom of the OL window anymore, but it still does not load new messages and/or remove the messages deleted in Gmail after some time from starting. It ALWAYS sync with the server when OL is first started after starting the PC, then after some time stops syncing.
Today, when my PC was left powered and I wake it up after about 2 hr, it opened with a message: ‘Time limit for logging was reached while waiting for system resources. MAPI 1.0 (00004c2)’
It can perhaps be due to corrupted OL profile, as I recall seeing popups related to the profile, but never investigated what prompted them. Will try it now.
Since when are you experiencing this issue? When did it work correctly the last time?
Which add-ins do you have installed?
Disable the non-default ones (especially any security suite which integrates itself with Outlook) and try again.
See; Enable/Disable add-ins - Robert 365Note that you are using an almost month-old Current Channel (Preview) release. There have been 5 new releases since then. Update to the latest build and see if you can still reproduce the issue. Also try using the non-Preview build and verify whether the issue goes away then.
Things breaking or not working as expected can happen more frequently when using the Preview/Beta releases.
Sorry for the delay in answering you. Trend Micro has just published a major update for their Maximum Security and wanted to see if the issue continues. It does, unfortunately.
I experience the synchronization freezes for several months now. I do not recall the exact time, but it is a good while ago when it started. I will try disable the addins, following your link - thank you. I have no active add-inn showint in OL options. there are several inactive ones: 4Team OL premium support; MS access OL add-in for data collection and publishing; MS Exchange addin; MS VBA for OL addin; and OneNote notes about OL items. the one from 4Team is likely Sync2 that I use for syncing Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks with Google.
I do not use Current Channel, never did. It's likely installed with a Win 11 or MS 365 update. I was not even aware of it untill your reply. Where is it located and do I need it, or can I force stop it, uninstall or get rid of it somehow?
Thank you very much for looking into my very annoing issue.
Jan
