OL2000: How to Troubleshoot Mail Stuck in the Outbox

• Microsoft Outlook 2000

SUMMARY

In some situations, your sent mail may move to your Outbox folder but never move to your Sent Items folder. This article describes how to troubleshoot problems with mail that remains in your Outbox in Microsoft Outlook.

MORE INFORMATION

Any of the following can cause sent mail to remain in your Outbox:

• You opened the message from your Outbox before it was sent.



• You are working offline and have not made a remote connection.



• Your Personal Folders (*.pst) file is damaged.



• Your Personal Address Book (*.pab) file is damaged.



• You have an outdated or incompatible add-in.

Message Opened From Your Outbox

Working Offline

1. On the File menu, click to clear Work Offline.



2. On the Tools menu, point to Send/Receive, and click the name of the Internet Service account to resend the message.

1. On the Tools menu, click Services to open the Services dialog box.



2. On the Services tab, click to select Microsoft Exchange Server and click Properties.



3. On the Advanced tab, click to clear the "Enable offline use" check box.



4. Click OK and OK again to close all dialog boxes.



5. Quit and restart Outlook.

Damaged Personal Folders or Address Book Files

1. If the Folder List is not visible, click Folder List on the View menu while displaying the Inbox.



2. Right-click the Personal Folders icon in the Folder List, click "Properties For 'Personal Folders,'" 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 search for Scanpst.exe. Double-click to run the found program.



5. In the Inbox Repair Tool, click Browse and select your Personal Store file (.pst), recorded in step 2.



6. Click Start to begin scanning your file.



7. When you are finished with the Inbox Repair Tool, restart Outlook.



8. Copy the contents of the message stuck in your Outbox and paste it into a new message.



9. Delete the original message and try sending the new message.

Create a New Personal Folders File

1. On the File menu, point to New and click "Personal Folders File (.pst)."



2. Type a name for the new personal folders file and click Create and OK.



3. Right-click the new personal folder file, on the shortcut menu click "Properties for Personal folders" click to select the "Deliver POP mail to this personal folders file" check box. Click OK, close and restart Outlook.



4. Copy the contents of all of the folders to the new Personal Folders file, excluding the Outbox, and then re-create and send your messages.

1. On the Tools menu, click Services.



2. Click Add, click to select Personal Folders in the Available Information Services list, and click OK.



3. Type a unique name for the new PST file and click Open an OK.



4. On the Delivery tab, click to select the new PST under "Deliver new mail to the following location" and click OK.



5. Copy the contents of all of the folders to the new Personal Folders file, excluding the Outbox. Quit and restart Outlook, and then re-create and send your messages.

Create a New Profile

1. Quit Outlook if it is running.



2. Click Start, point to Settings, and click Control Panel.



3. Double-click the Mail icon.



4. Select and remove each of your Mail Accounts, and then add each one back.
   
   NOTE: Make certain you know all the required settings before removing any of these items.



5. Click Close when you are finished, and close Control Panel.



6. Restart Outlook and try to send a message.

1. Quit Outlook if it is running.



2. Click Start, point to Settings and click Control Panel.



3. Double-click the Mail And Fax icon or the Mail icon, click Show Profiles and click Add to add a new profile.



4. Follow the Inbox Setup Wizard to create a new profile with a new .pst and .pab file.



5. Start Outlook and try to send a message.

1. Quit Exchange.



2. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon.



3. Click to select Microsoft Office 2000 or Microsoft Outlook 2000, click Add/Remove, and then click Remove.



4. Click the Start button, point to Find, click Files Or Folders, and type Outllib.dll in the Named box. If the file is found, click to select the file. On the File menu, click Rename, and rename the file to outllib.bad, and then press ENTER. Close the Find dialog box.



5. Reinstall Outlook.

Outdated or Incompatible 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 click OK three times to close all the dialog boxes.

REFERENCES

For additional information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q195924 OL2000: Error Message That Sent Items Remain in Outbox

Q195778 OL2000: (CW) Email Does Not Leave the Outbox

Additional query words:

Keywords : MsgSend
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowto