Most users expect essential programs, like Microsoft Outlook, to “just work.” But anyone who has used these programs knows that while it does perform 99.9% of the time, there is still that 0.1% where something doesn’t go quite right. One of the more common issues is email that just sit in the outbox. Thankfully, there are some steps you can take to fix this problem.

Here are three tips on what to do if you find email stuck in your outbox.

Re-send it
From Outlook’s main window, click on the Send/Receive tab (usually located beside Home), followed by Send All. This will tell the program to try and send any outgoing email again. After you press this, check your outbox again to see if the email is still there.

Check the attachment
If you notice an email is still sitting in your outbox, check and see if you attached a file. As a general rule of thumb: Larger files will take longer to send. Is the attachment a big file? If yes, try waiting a few minutes (it could take upwards of 10 minutes depending on file size).

Another problem may be that the file size is above the attachment limit, which is ordinarily set by the email server. If the attachment is over the limit, Outlook will continuously try to send the message, but it won’t be able to send it. You often won’t be able to change the email once it’s in the outbox. The easiest way to remedy this is:

• Click on the Send/Receive tab.
• Select Work Offline from the ribbon.
• Open the message and delete the attachment.
• Re-work the intended attachment to reduce the file size.
• Re-attach the file and send the email again.

There are many ways you can make attachments smaller. One of the most popular is to zip it using a program like WinZip, or PeaZip. If the attachment is still too large, you may be better off trying one of a number of cloud storage solutions like DropBox which allow you to upload and share larger files. You then only have to share the DropBox link in your email and the recipient can download the file.

You’re offline
If the email still isn’t being sent, take a look at the bottom of the window in Outlook. There should be a grey bar, called the Status Bar. If you see a yellow warning triangle with an exclamation point in it and the words Disconnected beside it, that means either your Internet connection isn’t working or the email server is offline.

To check if your Internet connection is working, try loading any webpage. Most browsers will display an error message, telling you to check your Internet connection, if they can’t load a webpage. If the Internet is working fine, it’s possible that your email service is offline. When the server comes back online, the warning triangle should be replaced with the Outlook logo and a note stating you are connected.

To learn more about how to ensure Office and all of the related products are helping make business easier, please contact us.