Outlook doesn't allow me to set up a POP a/c for my Outlook.com emails

SkylineW11 · Dec 11, 2021

I have an Outlook.com email and want to download the emails to my desktop PC Office Outlook. I then want them automatically deleted on the Outlook.com server.
If I let Office Outlook set the account up automatically it does it using Exchange. But that doesn't allow the emails on the Outlook.com server to be automatically deleted after having been downloaded. I understand that to achieve this I have to manually setup the Outlook.com email account in Office Outlook as a POP account. Which is all very well, but this does not work!! I've scrupulously followed the MSoft instructions for this:

POP server: outlook.office365.com Port 995 (same for both incoming and outgoing)
Encryption method: TLS (presumably for both in and out, the instructions don't say)
SPA: not needed.

I've changed the settings in Outlook.com under 'Sync Mail' to 'let devices and apps use POP', as per instructions.

But nothing works.

Does anyone know what I might be doing wrong?
I'm using Windows 11.

Many thanks!

Berton · Dec 11, 2021

Here's what I replied on the Win10 posting:

That is the difference between the installed Outlook E-Mail program and the Outlook.com Webmail, part of Windows Live which also includes Hotmail. It's been like that with me when I first got signed up with Hotmail years ago. Then they came up with Outlook.com which was supposed to replace Hotmail and I also got an account but years later finally did merge the two with Outlook – free personal email and calendar from Microsoft. I will read a message then Save it, usually as HTML, Web page or if with images Web page complete.

After thinking a bit I will add, it seems to fit with the idea of Cloud computing.

barman58 · Dec 11, 2021

I think to do this in a totally microsoft setup you will need the full Outlook application running on your local system. which is only included with the pro office packages.

One option to bring your Mail handling to the local system, that is not some form of subscription / online service would be Thunderbird which used to be part of the Firefox suite of programs under the Mozilla name. It is also completely free to use.

It will allow the use of a POP3 or the more powerful IMAP system ( which is the base Open source system used by Exchange ) you can set this up to download mails on a schedule (or manually) and then allow storing, managing of eMail locally also using rules to segregate mail to your needs

iko22 · Dec 11, 2021

SkylineW11 said:
If I let Office Outlook set the account up automatically it does it using Exchange. But that doesn't allow the emails on the Outlook.com server to be automatically deleted after having been downloaded. I understand that to achieve this I have to manually setup the Outlook.com email account in Office Outlook as a POP account. Which is all very well, but this does not work!! I've scrupulously followed the MSoft instructions for this:

POP server: outlook.office365.com Port 995 (same for both incoming and outgoing)
Encryption method: TLS (presumably for both in and out, the instructions don't say)

Hi, does this help!!:

"If you are using POP account you cant synchronize the folders it would only sync Inbox folder. However you may try following steps to delete mails from server when you delete them in Outlook.

1. Click on FILE>Account Settings>Account Settings.

2. Double click on the email account and press More Settings.

3. Go to Advanced tab
4. Check Leave a copy of messages on the server and Remove from server when deleted from 'Deleted Items' options."

Source: Outlook - Moving email off server automatically

Dru2 · Dec 11, 2021

@SkylineW11

If you want to sync mail between client and server, you need to use IMAP - What are IMAP and POP?

That said, Is the Outlook app on your desktop? And what version of Outlook are you running? O365, 2019, 2010?

And "assuming" you're using Outlook 365 desktop app, those instructions posted by iko22 won't work.

Also why is your mail account being setup as a Microsoft Exchange account?

SkylineW11 · Dec 11, 2021

iko 22:-
The 'More Settings' option isn't visible because that is only visible when I have the POP account set up, and as I said, Office Outlook won't let me set up a POP (or IMAP) account - it always fails to link with the Outlook.com server for some unknown reason whenever I try.

SkylineW11 · Dec 11, 2021

barman58 said:
I think to do this in a totally microsoft setup you will need the full Outlook application running on your local system. which is only included with the pro office packages.

One option to bring your Mail handling to the local system, that is not some form of subscription / online service would be Thunderbird which used to be part of the Firefox suite of programs under the Mozilla name. It is also completely free to use.

It will allow the use of a POP3 or the more powerful IMAP system ( which is the base Open source system used by Exchange ) you can set this up to download mails on a schedule (or manually) and then allow storing, managing of eMail locally also using rules to segregate mail to your needs

I'm running Office Professional Plus 2019.

SkylineW11 · Dec 11, 2021

Dru2 said:
@SkylineW11

If you want to sync mail between client and server, you need to use IMAP - What are IMAP and POP?

That said, Is the Outlook app on your desktop? And what version of Outlook are you running? O365, 2019, 2010?

And "assuming" you're using Outlook 365 desktop app, those instructions posted by iko22 won't work.

Also why is your mail account being setup as a Microsoft Exchange account?

I tried to set up the account in IMAP and that also wouldn't connect with Outlook.com for some unknown reason.
Yes, Outlook is running on my desktop PC, as part of 'Microsoft Professional Plus 2019'.
The account gets set up set up by default as a Msoft Exchange account (successfully, but no way to automatically clear the Outlook.com downloaded emails) unless I opt to set the account up manually, e.g. as POP or IMAP.

Dru2 · Dec 11, 2021

SkylineW11 said:
The 'More Settings' option isn't visible because that is only visible when I have the POP account set up, and as I said, Office Outlook won't let me set up a POP (or IMAP) account - it always fails to link with the Outlook.com server for some unknown reason whenever I try.

That not true. You can manually setup an Outlook email account for Outlook 365 by going in the Windows Control Panel, choosing "Mail (Microsoft Outlook)", click email accounts and click on either an existing account or create a new account...

Here's one of my existing accounts using IMAP...

These options were available in older Outlook versions, but "Microsoft" decided to "simplify" things, and removed them from the app. However, going through the mail app in the Control Panel returns them (this affects 365, 2019 and some others)

SkylineW11 · Dec 11, 2021

Just a thought. Are 'Office 365' and 'Microsoft Professional Plus 2019' two different things? If so, should the the MSoft setup guidance on POP and IMAP servers being 'outlook.office365.com' be different for the latter?

barman58 · Dec 11, 2021

Office 2019 should have the full outlook so you would need to set that up fully and set it to download files to the local storage on a schedule.

To be honest I used to use this system with office 2016 but it did get a little hit and miss so now use a dual online system that I manage online manually, all my mail from various accounts Is collected automatically by a Free mail handler GMX.com and this removes obvious spam using it's good set of filters.

On a regular schedule the mail is collected from GMX and scanned through more spam filters (and manual rejection flags if have setup), In Gmail. Regular Mail arriving in Gmail is also sorted into folders using rules I have created and these may be read at my convenience. only unexpected mail is read when arriving

Any mail arriving is flagged and announced by my Android Smartphone I then manually check my mail when I feel like, and read and react to what I feel I need to - The double spam check means that I only have a small number of mails to read so I can manage manually the use of the mobile device means that I can answer mail anywhere.

EDIT

there may be some differences between O365 and the standalone Office pro plus 2019 in the way that they need to be set up but they are basically the same, as Pro Plus is part of O365, just using a different sales model

Dru2 · Dec 11, 2021

SkylineW11 said:
I tried to set up the account in IMAP and that also wouldn't connect with Outlook.com for some unknown reason.
Yes, Outlook is running on my desktop PC, as part of 'Microsoft Professional Plus 2019'.
The account gets set up set up by default as a Msoft Exchange account (successfully, but no way to automatically clear the Outlook.com downloaded emails) unless I opt to set the account up manually, e.g. as POP or IMAP.

First off, your avatar is throwing me for a loop as you first post shows one image, and your subsequent posts show something different. Didn't know that was possible

As to the issue at hand, and clarifying... you're using Outlook 2019?

Also is your account a business, school, or personal account? And for an exchange account there should be synchronization between server and client - delete an email on the client, the server-side email gets deleted. That's certainly how it works for my exchange account. Is yours a .com or .edu, or something else. Also is this a "Microsoft" account - example Hotmail account?

Dru2 · Dec 11, 2021

SkylineW11 said:
Just a thought. Are 'Office 365' and 'Microsoft Professional Plus 2019' two different things?

Yes, they are two different entities - one is subscription, the other is perpetual (no subscription). They are also two different versions.

barman58 · Dec 11, 2021

I have just set up my outlook 2019 part of O2019, to use my Gmail account, this was fully automatic, it needed me to enter the email address and then login with my Google account and password. It then automatically utilised the IMAP protocol and populated the folders automatically ( actually after a manual send and receive command from the task bar in Outlook).

Have not set up any delete options as I do not wish to go this way permanently, but the setup was simple and took a few minutes ( I often receive several thousand emails a month so mine would likely take a little longer to fully set up than most :wink:

)

SkylineW11 · Dec 11, 2021

I think I may have cracked it... just testing.
Dru2's steer to go into the Control Panel (I'd never have thought of that...) was the breakthrough. You can see mail setup screens there that I haven't seen for years!!
More in a minute....

Dru2 · Dec 11, 2021

barman58 said:
I have just set up my outlook 2019 part of O2019, to use my Gmail account, this was fully automatic, it needed me to enter the email address and then login with my Google account and password. It then automatically utilised the IMAP protocol and populated the folders automatically ( actually after a manual send and receive command from the task bar in Outlook).

Have not set up any delete options as I do not wish to go this way permanently, but the setup was simple and took a few minutes ( I often receive several thousand emails a month so mine would likely take a little longer to fully set up than most )

Yeah, it was automatic for me as well under Outlook 365. I'm running a Google account, Exchange account, and regular account under Outlook 365 and all well setup automatically except for website email account. That one always requires a manual setup.

While Exchange uses its own thing, the other accounts all use IMAP, even Google...

And you don't need to set up any delete options. Your accounts are automatically sync'd. Also, if using multiple devices as I do, I can delete an email off my Android phone using the Outlook 365 app, and those emails on my other devices will also be gone, or vice versa. That's the beauty of IMAP.

Dru2 · Dec 11, 2021

SkylineW11 said:
I think I may have cracked it... just testing.
Dru2's steer to go into the Control Panel (I'd never have thought of that...) was the breakthrough. You can see mail setup screens there that I haven't seen for years!!
More in a minute....

Yeah, that "discovery" has been an eye opener for many who didn't know about the Control Panel app.

That said, there's still the question about the "exchange" account.

SkylineW11 · Dec 11, 2021

Here are the screens from the Control Panel setup for Outlook email - not a lot of resemblance to those in Outlook itself. Maybe the MS chaps wanted to shield users from the 'red in tooth and claw' forms.

I turns out that I had to use POP for the incoming email and SMTP for outgoing. Who'd have thought... After a lot of trial and error of the various options this is what worked in the end - see below. I'm not a 'under the hood' bloke so I have no idea why this setup works, suffice it to say I can now retrieve my Outlook.com emails by bringing them into Office Outlook and the .com ones will be automatically deleted once they've been downloaded.

Thanks for all the input, much appreciated!

"More Settings..."

Dru2 · Dec 11, 2021

Still not clear on why you can't use IMAP?

Anyway, my suggestion is to ask the email provider what credentials they require. Most will have this info posted on their site, or in the case of an exchange account, you'd need to speak with the admin for that account.

Here you go. Click the first down arrow for your instructions...

POP, IMAP, and SMTP settings for Outlook.com - Microsoft Support

Learn more about the POP, IMAP, and SMTP settings for Outlook

support.microsoft.com

Good luck.

SkylineW11 · Dec 11, 2021

Dru2 said:
Still not clear on why you can't use IMAP?

Anyway, my suggestion is to ask the email provider what credentials they require. Most will have this info posted on their site, or in the case of an exchange account, you'd need to speak with the admin for that account.

Edit:

POP, IMAP, and SMTP settings for Outlook.com - Microsoft Support

Learn more about the POP, IMAP, and SMTP settings for Outlook

support.microsoft.com

Good luck.

The provider is Outlook.com, a free email account.
Setting up the account in Office Outlook just wouldn't work, IMPA or POP, using the instructions Microsoft have online for doing that. But that was when using the 'normal' way to set up. Using the Control Panel route could possibly work ok, but I'm going to bank my winnings now with the 'mackled up' method!