Classic Outlook shows error "Contacting the server for information"

Last Updated: December 17, 2025

ISSUE

When opening an email in classic Outlook, you see the error:

“Contacting the server for information.”

Contacting server for info error in classic Outlook

This issue occurred because the CDN URL was incorrectly using the file:// protocol instead of https://. In affected emails, the URL for the Smartlink images were using the file:// protocol instead of the https:// protocol. 

To verify this issue, please do the following:

Open the email in classic Outlook.
On the ribbon, under the Move grouping, select More move actions, Other actions, then View source.
- Look for the URLs for the smartlink images or URLs with CDN in the path such as: src=file://res.public.onecdn.static.microsoft/assets/fluentui-resources/1.1.0/app-min/assets/item-types/20_2x/pptx.png.
- The URLs should have the https:// protocol such as: src=https://res.public.onecdn.static.microsoft/assets/fluentui-resources/1.1.0/app-min/assets/item-types/20_2x/pptx.png

STATUS: FIXED

This issue is addressed for new emails with a service side change that rolled out starting November 12, 2025. The fix ensures that CDN asset URLs included in new emails have the correct prefix as https:// instead of file://.

The Outlook Team implemented a client fix. The fix is now available in the following builds: Beta Channel – Version 2512 Build 19515.15000 Available 11/18/25 Current Channel Preview – Version 2512 Build 19530.20000 Available 12/8/25 Current Channel – Version 2510 Build 19328.20244 - Available 11/20/25 Version 2511 Build 19426.20114 Version 2509 Build 19231.20278 Version 2510 Build 19328.20244 Version 2511 Build 19426.20114 Version 2508 Build 19127.20416 Version 2502 Build 18526.20680

Note: The description of the fix is that when classic Outlook receives an email where the IMG SRC attribute is 'invalid' it drops the image during HTML import. This keeps Outlook from attempting to download invalid files and therefore the image is not shown in the email. Invalid is defined as: <img src="//cdn.vsassets.io/content/notifications/v3/microsoft.png"> <img src="file://cdn.vsassets.io/content/notifications/v3/microsoft.png"> This change also means that if you send an internal email in your company that reference images on a company UNC share, classic Outlook will not show the image. The Outlook Team considers ‘file:’ image sources to be not secure.

WORKAROUND

To work around the issue, delete the broken images next to the shared files in the email on your next reply. For example, the red x is for the pptx.png image that normally shows next to the PowerPoint file. Delete just that image for each occurrence that you see it in the email. Deleting the image does not delete the link to the file.

Contacting server error delete image in Outlook

Another solution would be to start a new email thread and insert the file into it. Now that the service fix is implemented, the issue should not occur for new emails.

Or if it’s an option, another solution would be to reply to those emails in new Outlook or Outlook Web Access (OWA). This issue will not occur in either of those clients.

Additional Resources

Office 365 Content Delivery Network (CDN) Quickstart