Outlook for Mac

Paul S 0 Reputation points
2026-09-29T04:12:28.3+00:00

I can receive email but not send it in Outlook for Mac. And I've been on the telephone hold with support for more than four and a half hours now! I tried the chat bot, without success. How can a business let customers hold for such a long time just to get help in using its product?

Outlook | MacOS | Legacy Outlook for Mac | For home
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  1. Kai-H 27,725 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-09-29T10:40:42.8433333+00:00

    Hi, Paul S

    Sorry for this frustration. Here are some suggestions you can try:

    Sign in to your email provider’s website and send a short message to yourself. If it fails there too, contact your email provider, or your workplace IT team if this is a work account. If it sends there, focus on Outlook on your Mac.

    In Outlook, choose Help > Check for Updates, install any available update, then restart Outlook and try again.

    If webmail works but Outlook still won’t send, first make sure any important unsent drafts are saved elsewhere. Then go to Tools > Accounts, select the account, and choose Manage > Reset Account. This resyncs Outlook, but it can remove items that haven’t synced to the server.

    If it still fails, please share the exact error message and whether this is a work, Outlook.com, Gmail, or other account. That will help narrow down the next step without repeating the same checks.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-09-29T04:12:44.5566667+00:00

    For Outlook for Mac, the supported troubleshooting path for “can receive but cannot send” is:

    1. Confirm Outlook is online.
      • In Outlook, open the Outlook menu.
      • Make sure Work Offline is not checked.
    2. Check whether Microsoft cloud storage is full.
      • If mailbox storage is full, Outlook for Mac cannot send or receive email.
    3. If the account is POP or IMAP, enable SMTP authentication.
      • Go to Tools > Accounts.
      • Select the account in the left pane.
      • Under Outgoing server, select More Options.
      • Choose the authentication type and enter credentials if required.
    4. Verify outgoing server settings.
      • Go to Tools > Accounts.
      • Select the account.
      • Confirm the email address, user name, password, and outgoing server details are correct.
      • Some providers require special settings such as SSL or non-default ports.
    5. If sending fails only on a specific network, the network or ISP may be blocking SMTP.
      • In Tools > Accounts, select the account.
      • In Outgoing server, enter an alternative SMTP server if the provider or network administrator gives one.
    6. If the message is stuck because attachments are too large, check Drafts.
      • Outlook for Mac holds oversized messages in Drafts, not Outbox.
      • Remove attachments to reduce size, then send again.
      • If deleting the message, also delete it from Deleted Items to stop repeated attachment errors.
    7. If support inside Outlook is needed, use the in-app option.
      • Go to Help > Contact Support.
      • If that does not open correctly, reset Apple Keychain by opening Keychain Access, then File > Lock All Keychains, and then File > Unlock Keychain “login.”

    The context does not provide information about support hold times or business support policies.

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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