Outlook forced new outlook.com account on my new computer - can't access old email

Question

Outlook forced new outlook.com account on my new computer - can't access old email

Dan Hamilton 0

I recently bought a refurbished Dell desktop. When starting it up and adding data from old computer, Outlook would not proceed until I clicked on an [moderator's note: PII removed]@outlook.com email address. Now, I cannot receive emails from my working email address. I can send from the new computer but cannot receive any emails. And the forced @outlook.com address is completely idle.

How can I resolve this?

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2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Hi Dan Hamilton

I understand how confusing it can be to see an unfamiliar Outlook.com account on a new computer while messages to your usual work address are no longer arriving.

The new Outlook.com address is likely a separate Microsoft account that was added while the refurbished computer was being set up. Its empty inbox does not necessarily mean that your existing work email has been erased.

Please check the following:

Open a sent message and confirm which address appears in the From field.
Sign in to your work email through its normal webmail website and send a test message to that address.
In New Outlook, go to Settings > Accounts > Your accounts and check whether the work address is listed. If it is missing, add it separately and set it as the primary account.

If the test email appears on webmail but not in Outlook, remove and re-add the work account in New Outlook. If it does not appear on webmail either, contact the administrator or provider responsible for the work mailbox.

Could you confirm whether your work address is a Microsoft 365/Exchange account or is hosted by another email provider? Please mask the address before posting it publicly. Thank you so much for your understanding.

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Answer 2

Try these checks in order:

Check whether mailbox storage is full. If Microsoft cloud storage is full, Outlook cannot send or receive email, and messages sent while storage was full are bounced back and are unrecoverable. Check mailbox storage and clear space if needed.
Verify the account on the new computer:
- If the password was changed recently, update it.
- If the account was temporarily blocked because of unusual sign-in activity, unblock the Outlook.com account.
In Outlook.com, check whether incoming mail is being hidden or redirected:
- Check the Other tab.
- Check the Junk Email folder and Junk Email settings. If a message was marked as junk by mistake, right-click it and choose Mark as not junk.
- Check Filter > Sort > Date to restore chronological order.
- Check whether email forwarding is enabled.
- Check whether there are email rules moving or hiding messages.
If this started after setting up the account on the refurbished PC, remove the account from Outlook and add it again.
If Outlook on the desktop still shows a strange Outlook.com address such as outlook_[long series of letters and numbers]@outlook.com, create a fresh Outlook profile and set the account up manually:
- Close Outlook.
- Press Windows key + R, type outlook /profiles, and select OK.
- In Choose Profile, select Options > New.
- Enter a new profile name and select OK.
- Choose Advanced options > Let me set up my account manually.
- Enter the account password and choose Connect.
- If setup fails, select Change Account Settings and enter the server information from the email provider or the POP and IMAP server reference.
- Finish setup, then in Choose Profile, select Set as default profile.
If mail still does not arrive, test in Outlook.com on the web. If mail appears there but not in the app, the issue is with the Outlook app profile on the new computer.

If none of these steps help, use Outlook.com support from within Outlook.com: select Help on the menu bar, enter the issue, then go to Still need help? and select Yes.

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