Outlook for iOS & Android FAQs

Use the categories here to find the help you need.

Getting Started

Adding Accounts

How do I add an account for O365, Outlook.com, or Exchange?

How do I add an account for Yahoo, Gmail, or iCloud?

How do I add a Google Apps account?

How do I set up an IMAP account?

Adding Storage Accounts

Do you support Hotmail, MSN, and Live?

Can I add an Outlook.com child account to the app?

Does your app support 2-step authentication?

Can I connect with an MDM profile?

Can I connect to the app using a VPN?

Which Exchange mail settings do I use on Android?

Which Exchange mail settings do I use on iOS?

iCloud accounts: 2 step authentication/App-specific password troubleshooting

How do I remove my email account?

Why can't I log in?

Learning the Basics

How do I write/create/compose a new email message?

How do I send an email?

How do I delete an email?

How do I archive an email?

What's the difference between delete and archive?

How do I select multiple emails?

I am just setting up an Outlook.com account and I'm unable to send email.

How do I add or create folders?

How do I view my sent, trash, archive and other folders?

How do I sort my inbox by unread, flagged/starred, or attachments?

Focused Inbox

What is Focused Inbox?

How do I disable Focused Inbox?

How do I toggle between 'Focused' and 'Other'?

How do I consolidate/unify my email accounts in my inbox?

How do I view a single email account in my inbox?

Settings

Where can I find the app settings?

Can I change my email signature?

Can I change my font size?

How do I change my language?

Can I change the font when composing an email or reply?

How do I enable out of the office messages for each of my accounts?

How do I enable thread-less mode / disable conversation mode?

How do I remove my email account?

How do I enable the All Mail, Drafts, Sent Mail, Spam and Trash folders in Gmail or G Suite IMAP?

How do I change the IMAP folder limit for Google Apps and Gmail?

Choosing how you want to open links in Outlook mobile apps

Email Auto-Advance Setting

Copilot Toggle

Sender Screening

Notifications & Sounds

Why don't I get new message notifications?

How can I snooze my notifications in Outlook?

Do not disturb is enabled for my account but it doesn't seem to be working.

How do I enable/disable Background App Refresh?

How can I turn on/off push notifications & sounds?

How do I enable background downloading of emails?

How do I change mail or calendar sounds?

How do I turn off mail and/or calendar sounds?

What does the Badge Count Icon represent, and how do I change it?

How do I disable grouping of notifications in Outlook?

Why am I not receiving new email alerts and calendar invites with Android 9 (Pie)?

Why can't I see any results when I type in a query?

Why can't I see all of the historic suggestions when I type in a search query?

How do I search based on a keyword?

How do I delete the history suggestions?

Is there a limit for results when searching my archive online?

General Questions

Common Questions

What version of Android does your app support?

What version of iOS does your app support?

What versions of Exchange do you support?

Can I setup the app to fetch email only when the app is open?

What does it mean to ‘Schedule' an email?

How do I permanently delete an email?

How far back can I search my inbox?

Does your app support draft syncing?

How do I act on individual messages within a thread/conversation?

Can I undo/recall a sent email?

How do I remove recipients that I've added when composing a mail?

Does your app encourage me to reach Inbox Zero?

Can I join your beta program on iOS?

How do I change the initials that appear in my app navigation?

How much space should I have free in my device for optimal usage?

Where can I find rich formatting options?

What formatting is available in Outlook for iOS and Android?

How do I take action on just one message in a conversation?

Choosing how you want to open links in Outlook mobile apps

Where can I get a new license for my Outlook account?

Does Outlook work with Skype for Business/Microsoft Teams meeting?

Why can't I create a recurring event in Outlook on my phone?

Note to Self: How does it work?

How do I switch between my accounts without the navigation bar dismissing?

How can I export Outlook contacts from my Exchange account?

How do I get to the page that shows all my files, including those from my cloud storage accounts?

What's the fastest way to search for an attachment in my mail?

How do I search within a specific account?

What are the suggestions I see when I tap on the search box?

How do I switch between reply all/reply/forward? How do I edit recipients?

How can I free up space on my Android device so Outlook and other apps can run more smoothly?

How much of my mailbox data is synchronized with Outlook for iOS and Android?

What are the limitations of my connected Calendar Apps on Android?

I don't see the option to Add a Teams Meeting, I only see Skype Meeting

How can I manage my Outlook tasks on mobile?

How much of my email does your app sync?

What is the difference between POP and IMAP?

Does Outlook for Android support adding POP3 accounts?

What email services does your app support?

What keyboard shortcuts are available?

Ads in Outlook Mobile

How do I report phishing or junk email?

What happened to my Outlook.com Groups?

Files

Send attachments and images in Outlook mobile

How do I connect a Dropbox or Box account?

How do I add my OneDrive for Business account?

Folders

Can I delete a folder on Outlook?

Where did my folders go?

How do I expand and collapse folder in the navigation pane?

I don't like collapsible folders. Can I go back to the old layout?

Suggested Folders or Smart Move

Storage

How does Microsoft Storage work?

How do I clean up my Microsoft and email storage?

What's the best way to manage my OneDrive files?

What's the best way to manage my storage in Outlook Mobile?

People (Contacts)

How do I save my contacts to my device?

Is there a limit on the number of contacts that can be sync'd in the app?

Can the People list be edited?

Can I save Outlook contacts to my address book if my app is managed with Intune?

How do I search for contacts?

What can others see on my contact card?

Who can see my files?

Why can't I change all my profile information or organizational info that other people can see on my contact card?

I can't find organizational or reporting details for my company contacts in Outlook, why not?

How do I save my Outlook contacts to my iOS contacts app?

If I add or edit a new contact to Outlook, will it sync with my Contacts app on my device?

I use my Gmail account with Outlook for iOS, can I still export my contacts?

How do I remove the contacts that I've exported from outlook for iOS without changing my native contacts?

Who do I see in the Works With section on the profile card?

Why am I seeing some of my contacts hidden under ‘Show More Contacts'?

Why am I not seeing the option to ‘Search Directory' when writing from my personal email account?

Why am I seeing a work contact show up as a suggestion when writing from my personal email address?

Favorites

Can the favorites list on my Outlook mobile be seen on my other Outlook apps such as Win32 or Outlook Web?

How do I add a folder to my favorites?

How do I add a Group to my favorites?

How do I add a Person or People to my favorites?

How can I reorder my favorites list?

How do I move an email from my Inbox to one of my favorite folders?

My folders are in a new order! What happened?

How do I remove a favorite that I no longer need?

How can I only receive notifications from my Favorite people?

Microsoft 365 Feed

Why does the Microsoft 365 feature not show for me?

What documents are shown in the Microsoft 365 Feed?

Who can see my documents in their Feed?

What are Civic Engagement cards?

How do I get Civic Engagement cards for my country?

How do I show the Civic Engagement cards in my Outlook Experience?

How do I remove the Civic Engagement cards from my Outlook Experience?

Where do I find out more information about Voter Registration in the US?

Upgrade to Microsoft 365

Data Privacy and Security

Privacy Policies

Security and Privacy Policy

GDPR

How do I access my privacy settings?

What is the Primary Account in my Privacy Settings?

What features will I turn off for Analyze Content and Download Content in my Privacy Settings?

Why do I see different Privacy settings for my work account and my personal account?

How can Outlook detect my e-mail address?

S/MIME

What is S/MIME?

Why is conversation view turned off when I turn on S/MIME?

How are certificates going to be moved to the device?

When a certificate is installed as a duplicate, is it overwritten or just detected that it exists?

How do I configure my Exchange server to remove blocking of .pfx files?

Where are the certificates stored on the device?

Does Outlook mobile store the email unencrypted?

What are the requirements for running S/MIME?

How do I turn on SMIME?

Why can't I encrypt?

Can I export my own certificate and email it to myself?

How do I install certificates on my device?

My company uses Microsoft Intune for delivering my certificates. How do I get certificates?

Calendar Management

General Calendar Questions

How do I collapse or expand the mini-calendar in the RSVP overlay?

How do I switch to Month view?

How do I turn on weather on calendar on Outlook mobile?

How do I add a location to an event?

Why can't I see any conference rooms in Room Finder?

How do I add a calendar that is already on my device to Outlook?

Calendar Sharing

How can I share my calendar?

How do I open a shared calendar?

Can I open any shared calendar from any account?

How do I enable or disable a shared calendar?

How do I remove a shared calendar?

Some Google Calendars are missing (shared calendars).

How can I accept shared calendar invites?

Why does my shared calendar not show up in mobile?

Why do I not see the delegate option?

What does ‘my organization' mean?

How do I remove someone from my list of shared calendars?

Send Availability

How do I send my availability to someone via email?

How do I remove the "Send Availability" content once it's included in an email draft?

Does "Send Availability" send an event invite to the recipients of the email?

Does "Send Availability" allow me to propose a new time for an event invite I've received?

When I receive an email with a "Send Availability" block in it, can I create an invite from that mail?

Troubleshooting: I'm not seeing the calendar or calendars I expect when choosing my availability.

Calendar Category Colors

Calendar Category Colors

How do I enable Calendar Category Colors on Outlook for Android?

Booking a Workspace

What is a workspace and how do I book it?

Groups and Collaboration

Groups

What are Groups?

Why don't I see Groups? What do I need to use Groups?

Why should I use Groups over Distribution Lists (DLs)?

How can I access Groups mailbox from Outlook app?

How can I add a group event from groups shared mailbox to my personal calendar?

How can I access the group contact card?

How can I join or leave a group?

How can I customize how I receive group messages in my personal inbox?

How do I create a group?

How can I edit a group?

How do I delete a group?

What does deleting a Group do?

How do I add and remove Group members?

I'm getting an error when trying to share to a Distribution list or a Microsoft 365 Group.

Shared Mailboxes

What is a Shared Mailbox?

Why should I set up a Shared Mailbox?

How do I add a shared mailbox to my mobile device?

How do I remove a shared mailbox?

How do I change my send-as or send on behalf of permissions?

Where can I find more information about shared mailboxes?

Delegate Mailboxes

What is a delegate mailbox?

I am an owner. How do I delegate permissions on my mailbox to someone else in my organization?

I am a delegate. How do I add that mailbox to my mobile device?

I am a delegate of another mailbox. How do I remove that mailbox from my mobile device?

How do I change my level of access as a delegate?

Features

General Walkthroughs

Events from Emails Troubleshooting

I seem to have a new design: How do I change between reply all/reply/forward and edit recipients?

What is Block External images in my settings?

How do @ mentions work on iOS?

Why am I seeing an alert in Outlook telling me there are external recipients on my message?

Suggested Folders or Smart Move

What is Split View for iPAD iOS?

Office Lens

What are the different kind of images I can take with the in-app camera icon?

How do I capture and send a photo from within Outlook?

How do I scan a document or a whiteboard in Outlook?

How do I click multiple images in Outlook with the Lens feature?

How do I crop the image I have selected?

How do I change the mode of the image after I have clicked on it?

Can I import an image from custom device folders or OneDrive or Google Drive?

Why can't I see videos in my gallery?

What do the numbers in the image thumbnails mean after I tap them?

The folder icon is greyed out when I go to the immersive gallery. How can I import images from the device folders?

How do I remove the filmstrip gallery when I'm taking a picture?

Report Message

How can an admin enable the reporting to Microsoft feature?

I used to have the Report message add-in and it disappeared. Why?

If I choose "remember my decision" on the report message dialog, can I change this later?

Can my company see messages I report?

Add-ins

I can't find a specific add-in.

Why don't I see the add-ins button on iOS?

I am getting an error when attempting to use add-ins?

Ignore Conversations

What happens when I ignore a conversation?

How do I restore a conversation I've ignored?

Suggested Replies

What are suggested replies?

How are suggested replies generated?

How do I turn off suggested replies?

Why don't I see suggested replies?

Dark Mode

How do I enable Dark Mode on Outlook for iOS?

How do I enable Dark Mode on Outlook for Android?

Does Dark Mode optimize for certain visual accessibility needs such as high contrast?

If I turn on Dark Mode, will every screen in Outlook for iOS be dark?

I'm seeing email content like images and highlighting that don't look optimal in Dark Mode.

In Dark Mode, why is the area for the message body white when I'm editing a draft?

If I turn on Dark Theme, will every screen in Outlook for Android be dark?

I don't see the Dark Mode setting, What's wrong?

Sensitivity Labels

What are sensitivity labels?

What is the External label on Outlook mobile email?

Will tapping on the External label at the top of the message block a sender?

Why is there no External label or External mail tooltip on an External email?

Tasks and To Do

Where can I see my tasks in Outlook for iOS?

Why am I not seeing tasks?

If I have multiple accounts added on Outlook for iOS, which account's tasks will you show?

How do I create a task in Outlook for iOS?

Pride Mode

What does the "Show Your Pride" switch do in Outlook Mobile settings?

How does the "Show Your Pride" user experience theme appear?

Can my contacts see that I have enabled "Show Your Pride" or is it shared in any of the emails or event invitations I send?

Why don't I have a "Show Your Pride" switch in Outlook mobile settings?

Up Next

How does Up Next work?

What happens if there are multiple events starting at the same time?

Play My Emails

Important

Outlook Mobile will be retiring the Play My Emails feature in June 2024. To learn more, see End of support for Cortana.

iOS and Android Devices

Android Widget

How do I add the Outlook for Android Email widget to my home screen?

How do I resize the Outlook for Android Email widget on my home screen?

I'm not seeing emails on my email widget, how do I fix this?

How do I add the Outlook for Android Calendar widget to my home screen?

How do I resize the Outlook for Android Calendar widget on my home screen?

How do I change dates for Calendar views on the Android Tablet version of Outlook?

On Android for tablet devices, how do I navigate between tabs (Mail, Calendar, etc.) and access Settings?

Android Keyboard Shortcuts

What is the two pane layout on my Android tablet/foldable device?

Can I adjust the width of the list and detail panes while in two pane viewing mode?

Can I read emails in full screen view?

If I use Android Work Profiles, will my work contacts appear in my personal apps?

Why do web links open inside of Outlook?

Choosing how you want to open links in Outlook mobile apps

Samsung Devices

What actions can I take on a message using an S Pen?

How can I activate hover using S Pen in Outlook?

Using Outlook in Samsung DeX mode and tablets

Are Samsung Galaxy Wearables Supported?

How do I enable Samsung Edge Lighting?

Apple Watch

How do I get Outlook notifications to show up on my Watch?

Why is Schedule an email (from the Outlook Watch app) not making the item disappear from my Inbox on my iPhone?

How do I get Outlook information to show up on the Watch face (i.e. show up as a Complication)?

How do I open a mail from the notification on Watch?

Why is my mail/calendar information not up to date on the Outlook app for Watch?

Swiping to archive/delete is noticeably slower on the iPhone app since the latest update. I have the latest Watch app installed as well.

I'm having trouble with the Apple Watch.

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

How do you report an issue or bug?

Updating your email account password

Why is my Microsoft Exchange account disabled?

How do I unblock my Outlook.com account?

How do I clear the cache or locally reset/refresh the client/app?

How do I manually enter my Exchange account information?

Error: Invalid IMAP Server Info

Error: SMTP Invalid Server Info

Error: SMTP Autodiscover Failed

Error: SMTP SSL Check Failed

Error: SMTP Secure Connection

Error: IMAP Autodiscover Failed

How do I enter IMAP port numbers?

I can't add a second Microsoft 365 account to my Outlook app. What's going on?

After I changed my primary alias on my outlook.com account, I can't log back in.

Is there a limit to how many accounts I can add to my Outlook app?

I see Error 403, or disallowed_useragent and a Google error. What's up?

How can I recover my password for Microsoft accounts: including outlook.com, Hotmail, Live, MSN, Onenote, etc.?

I don't see how to forward or reply to a message anymore: It used to be on the bottom navigation bar. Where did it go?

I need help with my outlook.com account.

My iPhone X doesn't have a home button. How can I kill the app, take a screenshot, or force reset on this device?

Where are my starred and important folders in my Gmail account?

2 factor authentication with AOL accounts

How can I update my profile information or change my picture?

I haven't used Outlook for a while. Why are my messages taking a long time to sync on my Gmail or Exchange account...

My notifications are delayed and my mail isn't syncing quickly, or until I open Outlook for Android. Battery Optimization Settings

Mailbox Quota Exceeded

Failed to add Microsoft 365 account or cannot syncing new messages with your existing Microsoft 365 account?

NoSuchAccountException: Login Error

Access Denied: Login Error

WrongServerType: Login Error

Error: New Contact Security Notice

Why can't I see my calendar or contacts from my Yahoo account?

Phone numbers with special characters do not initiate a call

Why do I get the error 'Your mail server certificate is invalid. Please contact your system administrator.

Support/Feedback

Outlook Dogfood

How can I leave a feature request or feedback on the design of the app?

Languages supported by Outlook Mobile Support