IMAP inbox display not updating in Classic Outlook

Calloo 40 Reputation points
2026-09-08T17:24:53.6666667+00:00

I recently changed from Microsoft 365 to Office Home and Business 2024. I had some trouble getting Outlook set up, but eventually it was fine. (I use Classic Outlook since New Outlook is missing important features.) But now a problem has emerged. I have two email accounts in Outlook: my Outlook email, and an IMAP email for another provider. The inbox for the IMAP isn't displaying new emails, and it continues to display deleted emails. If I click on any folder in the folder tree, even the Inbox folder, the correct emails do appear--in fact the folder even indicates the number of new emails--so it appears to be a display issue rather than a syncing issue. It's like the IMAP inbox always starts by displaying an old list of emails and won't save the new list. The inbox shown through the email's web interface is up to date.

I have doublechecked the IMAP settings. I have tried repairing Office (both the offline and online approaches) and updating Office. I have tried removing the IMAP email and setting it up new. And I have tried clearing Outlook's cache. The problem survives computer restarts.

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For home
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Answer accepted by question author
Ian-T 14,120 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2026-09-09T23:46:38.99+00:00

Hi @Calloo

Thanks for testing all of that. The Sign in button in the upper-right is related to your Office/Outlook sign-in and connected features, rather than the IMAP account itself. If selecting it confirms that you are signed in, it is probably not relevant to the Inbox display problem.

outlook.exe /cleanviews does not always show a confirmation or an obvious change. At this point, creating a completely new Outlook profile is the most useful remaining test.

Please add the IMAP account first and check whether the Inbox opens with the current message list before adding your Outlook account.

I hope this helps

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Answer accepted by question author
Ian-T 14,120 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2026-09-09T03:49:05.33+00:00

Hi @Calloo

Since the correct messages appear as soon as you select the Inbox, synchronization seems to be working. This is more likely a corrupted Inbox view or Outlook profile.

First, select the IMAP Inbox, then go to View > Reset View. If that does not help, close Outlook, press Windows + R, enter:

outlook.exe /cleanviews

This resets all custom Outlook views.

If the issue remains, create a completely new Outlook profile through Control Panel > Mail > Show Profiles > Add, then add both accounts and test before removing the old profile. Re-adding the account inside the existing profile may not fix profile-level corruption.

You can also test Outlook in Safe Mode using outlook.exe /safe. If the Inbox refreshes normally there, an add-in may be interfering with the display.

Hope this helps

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