Shared mailbox emails are not updating automatically in Outlook

Question

Shared mailbox emails are not updating automatically in Outlook

John Wall 0

Hello,

One of our users has access to a shared mailbox in Outlook for Windows. The mailbox opens normally, but new emails don’t show up unless the user manually clicks Update Folder or restarts Outlook.

The user’s own mailbox updates without any problem. We have already removed and re-added the shared mailbox and created a new Outlook profile, but the behavior is the same.

Is there a specific cached mode setting that could cause this, or anything else we should check?

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2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Hi @John Wall

First, I recommend referring to the AI Answer, as it provides some additional information about shared mailbox synchronization in New Outlook for Windows.

According to Microsoft documentation, if the shared mailbox was added through automapping, incoming emails in the shared mailbox Inbox are not automatically synchronized in New Outlook. If automatic synchronization and notifications are required, you might consider adding the shared mailbox as an account instead.

For reference:

To help narrow this down, could you please confirm the following information?

-Could you please confirm whether the affected user is using New Outlook for Windows or Classic Outlook? Since you mentioned creating a new Outlook profile, please note that creating a profile through Mail in Control Panel is only available in Classic Outlook.

-If the affected user is using New Outlook, is the shared mailbox appearing under Shared with me through automapping, or has it been added as a separate account? If it is currently listed under Shared with me, please check whether a Convert option is available for the shared mailbox and, if so, try converting it to an account to see whether the mailbox begins updating automatically.

-If both New Outlook and Classic Outlook are available on the user’s device, could you switch between them and check whether the shared mailbox updates automatically in either version?

-Could you also check the same shared mailbox in Outlook on the web (OWA) and confirm whether new emails appear there automatically?

I look forward to your response.

Answer 2

For new Outlook for Windows, this behavior can be expected when the shared mailbox was added by automapping. Incoming email in the Inbox of an automapped shared mailbox is not automatically synchronized. It updates when Sync is selected in the View section of the ribbon or when the folder is selected.

If automatic sync and notifications are required, add the shared mailbox as an account instead of relying on automapping.

If this is actually classic Outlook rather than new Outlook, there is also a known issue where shared mailboxes stop updating automatically and Outlook can show “Updating this folder”. Since removing and re-adding the mailbox and creating a new profile were already tried, the remaining documented checks are:

Check the Sync Issues folder of the primary Exchange account for synchronization log errors.
If the profile is in the known broken state, either:
- create a new Outlook profile, or
- remove the profile corruption by deleting the 0102663e registry key under the affected Outlook profile.

Warning: Registry editing is risky and can cause serious problems if done incorrectly. Back up the registry first before making changes.

Registry path: Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Profiles

Then:

select the affected Outlook profile
use Edit > Find and search for 0102663e
locate the key where the parent key is just above GroupStore
delete 0102663e
restart Outlook and verify the shared mailbox updates

So the key distinction is:

New Outlook: automapped shared mailboxes do not auto-sync Inbox; add the shared mailbox as an account for automatic sync.
Classic Outlook: check for the known shared mailbox refresh issue and, if present, repair the profile corruption.

References: