Outlook receives email but will not send

Question

Outlook receives email but will not send

Stephen Rochford 5

My outlook can receive emails but will not send. The emails go direct to outbox but stay there

Locked Question. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

simo-k 99,955 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2025-11-23T06:23:18.65+00:00

Which email service are you using?
What is the domain of your email address (the part after the @ symbol, with the company name masked)?
What is the email connection method? (Exchange, IMAP, or POP)
RogerR 0 Reputation points

2026-02-12T11:37:13.45+00:00

Hi I have the same problem - i can receive emails with no problem but cant send them - they go straight into my outbox and stay there.

i have a somewhat older Mac computer and having trouble following the instructions et out below. Where do i find the "outlook setting Send immediately when connected?" Or how do i go to the registry setting you describe. any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

2 answers

simo-k 99,955 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2025-11-23T06:23:18.65+00:00

Which email service are you using?
What is the domain of your email address (the part after the @ symbol, with the company name masked)?
What is the email connection method? (Exchange, IMAP, or POP)
RogerR 0 Reputation points

2026-02-12T11:37:13.45+00:00

Hi I have the same problem - i can receive emails with no problem but cant send them - they go straight into my outbox and stay there.

i have a somewhat older Mac computer and having trouble following the instructions et out below. Where do i find the "outlook setting Send immediately when connected?" Or how do i go to the registry setting you describe. any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

Answer 1

Francisco Montilla 31,825 Independent Advisor

Hello Stephen,

Quick question first. Are you using an Outlook mailbox (hotmail, outlook, msn, live)? Or are you using another social or own domain? (google, icloud, stephen.com...)

Steve Rochford 0 Reputation points

2025-11-23T06:07:07.6666667+00:00

Hi. I am using outlook classic
Deleted

This comment has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The comment was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.

Answer 2

If your Outlook is receiving emails but not sending them, and the emails are stuck in the Outbox, this could be due to a couple of common issues:

Send Immediately When Connected Option: Ensure that the Send immediately when connected option is enabled in Outlook. If this option is not enabled, emails will remain in the Outbox until you manually initiate a Send/Receive operation (for example, by pressing F9).
Registry Settings: This setting can also be controlled via the registry. If the registry value for sending mail immediately is set to 0, it can prevent emails from being sent automatically. You can check the registry key at:
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office<x.0>\Outlook\Options\Mail
- Here, <x.0> corresponds to your version of Outlook (e.g., 16.0 for Outlook 2016).
Delegate Sent Items Style: If you are using a shared mailbox and your Outlook profile is configured in online mode, the DelegateSentItemsStyle registry value may also affect sending emails. If this value is set to 1, emails sent from the shared mailbox may remain in the Outbox until a Send/Receive operation is performed.

To resolve the issue, you can enable the Send immediately when connected option in Outlook settings or adjust the relevant registry settings as needed.