Symptoms
In Microsoft Outlook 2010, if you configure your Outlook profile to connect to multiple Internet email accounts, an email message may unexpectedly be sent from an account other than the default sending account.
Consider the following scenario:
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You have an IMAP account that is configured to use the Send from this account by default option (where "this account" means the primary account).
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You have a POP3 email account that is configured as a secondary account and is configured to use the default personal folders (.pst) file
In this scenario, all email messages that you create in Outlook are sent from the POP3 (secondary) email account instead of the IMAP (primary) account. Additionally, email messages that are initiated outside Outlook by using Sendto or Simple MAPI are also sent by using the POP3 account instead of the IMAP account.
Cause
When a new email message is created, Outlook 2010 determines the sending account based on the context of the selected store. This behavior represents a change from previous versions of Outlook and effectively causes the default sending account setting to be ignored. In the example scenario, when the new email message is created in Outlook, the context that is used is the default PST store. This store is associated with the POP3 account.
When an email message is initiated outside Outlook by using Simple MAPI, there is no context in the Outlook application. When there is no context, the sending store that is used is always the default PST. In the example scenario, the default PST is associated with the POP3 account and not with the IMAP account.
Resolution
Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs.
For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
322756 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows
You can configure this behavior by using a new registry value that was introduced in Outlook 2010 Service Pack 1 (SP1).
Path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Options\Mail
DWORD: NewItemsUseDefaultSendingAccount
The following table provides details about the possible values for NewItemsUseDefaultSendingAccount:
|
Value |
Action |
|---|---|
|
0 |
(default) Outlook uses the pre-SP1 behavior and determines the sending account for new outbound email messages based on the account in which the user is working. The default sending account is ignored for Outlook mail but is used for Mail to and Simple MAPI operations. Forwards and Replies continue to use the account by which they were received as the sending account. |
|
1 |
Outlook honors the default sending account on all new outbound mail, regardless of the account that is ly selected. Forwards and Replies continue to use the account by which they were received as the sending account. |
When you set NewItemsUseDefaultSendingAccount to 1, all email messages are sent by using the default sending account. In the scenario that is described in the "Symptoms" section, the default sending account is IMAP. This applies to both email messages that are created in Outlook and those that are initiated from outside Outlook by using Simple MAPI.
More Information
Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs.
For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
322756 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows
You can also work around this behavior by using a policy setting that forces you to select the email account through which to send new email messages. When the ForceAccountSelection policy is set, the From button in the header of the new email message displays the text Choose an address next to it. Use the following registry value to force account selection:
Path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Options\
DWORD: ForceAccountSelection
Value: 1 = On
Value: 0 = Off (default if absent)
For Outlook 2010, much work was done around mail flow to support multiple Microsoft Exchange accounts in a single profile. One of the major changes is in how the default sending account is handled. In Outlook 2010, the sending account changes based on the context of which store the user is in at the time that a new email message is created. The goal is to better handle how to send email messages in a profile that has multiple Exchange accounts so that the user can "send from where they are." Background mail-flow changes also handle the context for Sent Items and Deleted Items folders.
Simple MAPI is used in the following scenarios:
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File -> Send To -> Mail Recipient
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Send File in Office applications
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Mail merge from Word
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Clicking an email address in your web browser (mailto: link)
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Clicking an email address in an email message (mailto: link)
