What to Do Guide for Outlook Emails Stuck in Outbox

Outlook emails get stuck in outbox during the sending process, causing frustration for users. However, worry not! In this guide, we’ll provide step-by-step instructions on resolving the issue of emails getting stuck in the outbox. Let’s dive in and get started!

Are you tired of sending email again and again but it gets trapped in Outbox folder? You face this issue most of the times, and want to know the exact cause why does email stuck in outbox? No need to worry, you are at the right place. In this blog, we have covered all about this problem i.e., how email gets hung up in outbox, its reasons and solutions. Explore in detail to find how to get rid of an email stuck in outbox.

One of the most frustrating issues faced by Outlook users is email messages with attachments stuck in Outbox. Whenever a user tries to send an email and it goes to Outbox instead of sent items folder and gets traps there. It means Outlook is not sending email even a user is clicked on the send/ receive button. Emails are not received by the respective recipient and get trapped in Outbox.

It is the most common problem faced by the Outlook users and they want to get rid off this problem as soon as possible. Therefore, before switching to its fixes directly, it is important to understand the why does email stuck in outbox of Outlook. This will help users in repairing PST file and preventing such a situation in the future.

Why Email Gets Hung Up in Outbox?

It is better to understand the why does Outlook email stuck in outbox in MS Outlook 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003 versions in Windows OS 11, 10, 8, 7 versions. So that a user can avoid it in the future from occurring. There are several reasons and all of them are discussed below:

• One of the major reason due to which message get hang up is, the large size of the email attachment. That is, Outlook email with large attachment stuck in outbox when the size of attachment has exceeds the size limit of sending an email message.
• A user has Outlook to work in offline mode only via Work Offline option. This can also result in email stuck in Outbox of Outlook in Windows OS.
• There is some technical error i.e., Outlook is unable to communicate with the outgoing mail server.
• If there is a problem in Outlook account authentication with the mail server, then also the email keeps getting stuck in Outbox Outlook.
• A user has not set any of the email accounts as a default account.
• Some other program accessing data files of Outlook.
• Antivirus or some anti-spam program scanning the outgoing email.
• A user has opened the message or Outbox when emails are in the queue to be sent.
• There is a corruption in Send Receive Settings or SRS can also result in emails get stuck in outbox issue.

Methods to Fix Outlook Email Stuck in Outbox Issue

Depending upon the reason associated with the problem mail is stuck in outbox, it can be fixed via multiple solutions recommended below. The methods discussed below are applicable on all versions of Outlook. An user can try any of the appropriate method based on their requirement to get rid of this Outlook email getting stuck in Outbox issue.

Method-1: Try to Resending The Email

• First of all, navigate to the Send/ Receive tab and click on Send All button. It will display a dialog box that shows the process result. This way the email might come out of the outbox. If the issue emails stuck in outbox issue still persist move to next solution.

Alternative Way:

• Drag the email from Outbox and drop it in the Drafts folder. After that, open the mail that you have dragged from Outbox and click on the Send button.

If your email still trapped in Outbox, then there might be some other issue. And, for that, you have to try the various troubleshooting tricks discussed below.

Method-2: Work Offline Option in Outlook Can Cause Emails Stuck in Outbox

For remove or delete hang up email messages from Outbox, you need to verify the “Work Offline” option is not enabled. Follow the steps given below to delete the email stuck in outbox of Outlook.

• Outlook 2010, 2013, 2016: Navigate to Send/Receive tab and click on the Work Offline option.
• In Outlook 2007, 2003: Navigate to File tab and click on the Work Offline option.
• After that, simply close the MS Outlook application.
• Now, you have to open Task Manager on your machine by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys.
• In the Task Manager window, you have to click on the Processes tab and verify that Outlook.exe file is not running in the background. If it is running, then choose the running Outlook process and click on the End Process button to stop it.
• Next, you have to start Microsoft Outlook application again.
• After that, go to the Outbox folder and view the email, which has been stuck into it.
• Then, depending upon your requirement, you can either delete it or move the email to the Drafts folder as done in Method 1.

Method-3: Compress Large Size Attachment

An email with large attachment may get stuck in outbox. If the size of the attachment is exceeded then the limit, i.e. if it larger than 15 MB, there are chances for attachments to get hung up in Outbox folder. Reducing the size of email attachment will also help to speed up Outlook performance to a large extent. So follow the step given below:

• If your email attachment is large than 15 MB, then either remove it or compress the attachment (.zip). After that, attachment it with the email
• Then, click on the Send/Receive button to make sure that email was sent or not.

Method-4: Verify Send Receive Settings (SRS)

A file containing all settings related to send/receive authentication are saved in SRS file. However, if the SRS file becomes corrupted, then it starts creating disturbance in sending / receiving emails. Thus, to fix the mail is stuck in outbox issue, you have to rename the SRS-file to old. This SRS file is located on the following location:

C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook\

Method-5: Disable Antivirus and Anti-spam Program

If you are using scanning programs on the local machine, then it could be the reason why Outlook is not sending emails or the emails get stuck in outbox. All of them are going to the Outbox directly. So, to check antivirus programs are not creating the issue, disable the settings of scanning programs.

Alternative Approach to Fix Email Trapped in Outbox Issue

If any of the above methods are unable to troubleshoot email stuck in Outbox of Outlook, then there must be some other reason behind this error. For most of the Outlook errors, corruption in Outlook data file is one of the primary reasons. Thus, to deal with a severely corrupted PST file, a user can try the Outlook PST File Recovery Tool. It removes all type of corruption from Outlook data file and it can fix outlook email stuck in outbox issue without any hassle. It recovers all data items from Outlook mailbox like emails, contacts, calendars, etc.

Conclusion

The basic functionality of an email client is to send and receive emails. If a user is unable to do the same, then it is of no use. Thus, fixing such type of issues is really important for the users. Keeping such requirement of users in mind, different troubleshooting tricks are discussed above to resolve emails keep getting stuck in outbox in Windows Outlook. A user can take help of the above-discussed methods to get rid of email stuck in Outbox of Outlook 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007 and other lower editions efficiently.