I use Outlook to check multiple email addresses, but a message is stuck in the outbox...

Hi Arnold G Murray, 

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Forum! 

Have a good day and I hope you're doing well! 

I completely understand how frustrating it can be when an email gets stuck in the Outbox being unable to send or receive messages can really disrupt your workflow. In many cases, this doesn’t mean Outlook is completely broken; the issue often comes from a stuck message, conflicting add-ins, or a damaged user profile. 

Please try the following steps in order the goal is to “refresh” Outlook gradually and identify where the problem originates, while keeping all your data safe. 

Switch Outlook to Offline Mode and remove the stuck message 

1. In Outlook, go to Send/Receive > Work Offline to temporarily disconnect from the Internet. 
2. Open the Outbox, locate the stuck email, and delete it or move it to Drafts. 

Turn Work Offline off to reconnect online. 

3. Try sending a new test email to check if it goes through. 

Start Outlook in Safe Mode 

This helps check if a problematic add-in is causing the issue. 

1. Close Outlook completely. 
2. Press Windows + R, type: outlook.exe /safe 
3. When Outlook opens in Safe Mode, try sending an email again.  If it sends successfully, one of your add-ins may be the culprit. You can disable them under File > Options > Add-ins. 

Create a new Outlook profile 

If the problem persists in Safe Mode, the existing profile might be corrupted. 

Close Outlook. 

1. Open Control Panel > Mail > Show Profiles > Add…. 

2. Give it a name (for example, TestProfile) and add just one email account for testing. 
3. Open Outlook with this new profile and try sending an email again. 

If the email sends successfully, it indicates that the old profile is corrupted in that case, you can delete the old profile and continue using the new one. 

Detailed instructions from Microsoft: Create an Outlook profile 

Repair the Office application 

If none of the above steps help, try repairing Office to restore Outlook components: 

1. Open Control Panel > Programs and Features. 
2. Select Microsoft Office > Change. 
3. Choose Quick Repair first. 

4. If the issue remains, choose Online Repair for a deeper fix. 

Official guide from Microsoft: Repair an Office application 

I hope the information I’ve shared will be at least partially helpful to you, and that Outlook will soon send and receive smoothly again! 

If the steps above don’t resolve the issue, please feel free to let me know. We can then move on to the uninstall and clean setup approach. And if anything I’ve explained seems unclear or if I’ve misunderstood any part of your issue, don’t hesitate to reach out.

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