Stop Outlook for Mac form constantly attempting sign-in

Question

Stop Outlook for Mac form constantly attempting sign-in

Chris Gawarecki 0

I attempted to add outlook 365 to my Mac. now it constantly asks me to login when ever any application attempts to send an email.

I have set another mail application as default (Apple Mail). Bit outlook continually tries to login.

I am NOT able to sign in to the corp mail -- no do I want to any more.

Several other posts say go to Tools or to Settings. But that assumes you are already logged in and outlook is running.

How to:

1: stop Outlook from grabbing mail requests.

2: stop asking me to login.

0 comments

2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Jeronimo Fuerte 46,845 Independent Advisor

Since Apple Mail is already your default, the issue may be that another application is explicitly trying to open Outlook rather than using macOS's default email handler. Which applications trigger the Outlook sign-in window when you attempt to send an email? Does this happen with Safari, Word, Excel, or another application? Does Outlook itself open and request credentials?

Since you no longer intend to use Outlook, you can remove the application without signing in to the corporate account:

Completely quit Outlook using Command + Q.

Open Finder > Applications.

Locate Microsoft Outlook, right-click it, and select Move to Bin.

Restart your Mac and test the email function again.

Chris Gawarecki 0 Reputation points

2026-10-16T15:52:50.3+00:00

App is Zoom. When setting up a meeting, you identify attendees. You can select type of Calendar to sync with (Outlook, Google and Other). I selected Other. This should select the system default.

Additionally, I did remove Outlook, but also have Teams loaded. Next, I'll try to remove Teams too.

Answer 2

Remove the unwanted corporate account from Outlook’s profile; Outlook for Mac does not require a successful mailbox sign-in before you can open Tools > Accounts and remove it.^1^

Remove the corporate account

Dismiss or cancel the sign-in prompt.
With Outlook active, use the macOS menu bar at the very top of the screen—not a control inside the mailbox window.
Select Tools > Accounts.
Select the corporate account.
In New Outlook, select Manage > Remove Account > Continue.
In Legacy Outlook, select the – button, then Sign Out.^1^
Quit Outlook and restart the Mac.

Removing the account stops Outlook from trying to authenticate that mailbox. Apple Mail can remain your default email application.

If the prompt prevents Outlook from opening

Delete the Outlook profile without launching Outlook:

Quit Outlook.
Open Finder > Applications.
Control-click Microsoft Outlook, then select Show Package Contents.
Open Contents > SharedSupport.
Launch Outlook Profile Manager.
Select the profile containing the unwanted corporate account and click Delete the selected profile.^2^
Restart the Mac.

Warning: Deleting a profile removes its locally stored Outlook messages, contacts, calendars, account settings, and other profile data. Do not delete it if it contains local data you need; create and set a new empty profile as the default instead.

If Outlook still opens for “send email” requests

Apple Mail’s setting controls the default handler for email links and sharing requests. Reapply it from:

Open Apple Mail.
Select Mail > Settings > General.
Set Default email reader to Mail.^3^

Then quit both Mail and Outlook and restart the Mac.

If Outlook is no longer needed, remove only Microsoft Outlook from Finder > Applications by moving it to the Bin. Microsoft’s full Office-removal procedure also deletes shared Office files and Outlook data, so do not perform the broader cleanup when Word, Excel, or other Office applications must remain.^4^

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