Deleting new Outlook account tied to 365 that is set up as an IMAP rather than POP3 account

Question

Deleting new Outlook account tied to 365 that is set up as an IMAP rather than POP3 account

Diane Brown 0

I set up a new free Outlook account as an IMAP rather than POP3 account. I want to delete it because I don't want an account tied to Microsoft 365. I am worried that if I delete the account since it is an IMAP account and all actions are duplicated on the AOL server that I will delete all my emails and folders on the server. Is that the case, or will deleting the IMAP Outlook account not affect emails and folders on the AOL server?

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2 answers

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Answer 1

Hi Diane Brown,

Your concern is understandable because IMAP synchronizes mailbox activity between Outlook and AOL. However, simply removing the AOL connection from New Outlook should not delete the email account, messages, or folders stored on AOL’s server.

To do this, open New Outlook > Settings > Accounts > Email accounts, locate the AOL address, select Manage, and then choose Remove. If prompted, select Remove from this device. This removes the account configuration and cached Outlook content from that device while leaving the AOL mailbox active.

As a precaution, first sign in directly to AOL Webmail and verify that the important messages and folders are present there. Any deletions you make inside Outlook before removing the IMAP account may synchronize back to AOL, but removing the account connection itself is not the same as deleting its mailbox.

If by “new Outlook account” you mean that you also created a separate Outlook.com email address or Microsoft account, please clarify whether you want to remove only the AOL account from the Outlook app or permanently close the separate Microsoft account, since those are two different actions. Thank you so much for your understanding.

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Answer 2

Removing the AOL IMAP account from new Outlook removes its connection and cached Outlook content, but it does not delete the AOL account, emails, or folders stored on AOL’s server.^1^

Remove the AOL account from new Outlook

Open new Outlook for Windows.
Select View → View settings.
Alternatively, select File → Account info → Accounts → Your accounts.
Under Email accounts, locate the AOL address and select Manage.
Select Remove.
Choose:
- Remove from this device if you only want it removed from this PC.
- Remove from all devices if you want the AOL connection removed from every Outlook client where it was added.
Select Return to accounts page, or close Settings.

Removing it deletes Outlook’s offline cached content for that account. The AOL mailbox itself remains active because Outlook is only an email application connected to AOL—not the mailbox provider.

Important precaution

Before removal, sign in to AOL webmail and verify that the expected messages and folders appear there. IMAP normally keeps mail on the email provider’s server, and Outlook displays and synchronizes that server content.^2^

If Outlook asks whether to remove the account from all devices, note that this also removes associated Microsoft Cloud data across Outlook clients. Calendar entries or other items that exist only in Microsoft Cloud and do not appear in AOL webmail could be permanently lost.^1^ Choose Remove from this device if uncertain.

Removing is different from deleting

These are separate operations:

Removing the AOL account from Outlook: disconnects Outlook from AOL; AOL mail and folders remain on AOL.
Deleting messages or folders while the IMAP account is connected: those deletions can synchronize to AOL.
Deleting the AOL account itself: must be done through AOL and could delete the mailbox.
Deleting a separate Microsoft/Outlook.com account: is not required merely to stop using AOL in new Outlook.

Adding AOL to new Outlook does not convert the AOL mailbox into a Microsoft 365 mailbox. It remains an AOL account accessed through IMAP.

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