Does your Outlook 2016/2013 always starts in offline mode? Then you are at the right place to find a solution.

Here at Bobcares, we have seen several such Outlook related errors as part of our Server Management Services for web hosts and online service providers.

Today we will take a look at the causes for this error and see how to fix it.

Why does Outlook 2016/2013 always starts in offline mode

Sometimes, Outlook frequently reports it to be offline. Outlook versions from at least Outlook 2013 work online or offline for some tasks like drafting emails. But it needs to connect online to send and receive emails.

If the Outlook always start in the offline mode, e-mails cannot be sent or received. Also, the Outlook icon in the system tray has a red cross on it with the message: “Microsoft Outlook is offline”.

In order to disable this offline mode, everytime the user has to press the corresponding button (“Work Offline“) on the Send/Receive tab. But when you start it next time, it starts offline again. This process of switching from offline to online is very annoying.

This happens if there is any problem with the Internet connection. Also, it may automatically go offline in case of any network/Exchange connection problems.

How we diagnose this Outlook problem

• Ensure that the mailbox is available through the OWA interface.
• In Exchange 2010, you need to check the CAS server availability from the user computer thought port TCP/135 (RPC locator). To do it use the Test-NetConnection cmdlet: ‘tnc ber-msgcas –port 135’ and confirm whether the port is available. In Exchange 2013/2016, the main protocol for connecting Outlook clients to CAS is HTTPS (MAPI over HTTP), so it suffices to check the availability of port TCP/443.
• Start the Outlook in the Safe Mode (outlook.exe /safe command) and disable all Outlook add-ons.
• Ensure that you are running the latest version of Outlook by going to the File menu and clicking Office Account. Under Product Information click Update Options, then the Update Now button.
• Also, adjust the email server settings.
• Try to delete an Outlook profile and re-create it again. Also, try to reinstall and repair Outlook.

How we resolve ‘Outlook 2016/2013 always starts in offline mode’ problem

Most of our customers who reported this error had the Skype for Business (Lync) installed. Here, if both the Lync and Outlook are started at the same time, changing Offline mode is not saved after Outlook is closed (Lync somehow blocks saving offline mode settings, maybe, due to its constant connection to Exchange).

So in order to disable running Outlook in the offline mode, you need to close Lync / Skype4B (ensure that there are no processes in the Task Manager) and disable Work Offline mode in Outlook.

After that, you can run the Lync (Skype4B). The next time Outlook must start online.

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Conclusion

Today, we saw how our Support Engineers diagnose this Outlook error and then fix it.