Outlook error: The action cannot be completed
When opening Outlook® on Windows, you might receive the error:
The action cannot be completed. The connection to Microsoft Exchange is unavailable. Outlook must be online or connected to complete this action.
It's common to get this error if the email address that you are attempting to set up in Outlook was already set up on the same Outlook client (i.e. if you had the same email address in Workspace Email on your Outlook client, and then switched to Office 365 and tried to set it up again, on the same Outlook client).
Here's a helpful Outlook troubleshooting path, for resolving this issue. Try each step, in order, and check to see if Outlook is functioning normally, after each step. If not, proceed to the next step.
Note: If you are using Outlook 2010, you must install the Office 365 patch. Please do that, before attempting these troubleshooting steps.
| Step | How to... |
|---|---|
| Restart the computer | Close all programs and completely restart your computer. Then try to open Outlook. |
| Check the Windows Credential Manager | Sometimes Outlook won't open because the credentials are in a format that is not compatible with Office 365. How to remove incompatible Windows credentials. |
| Reset the password | Log in to Office 365 at login.microsoftonline.com to confirm you are using the correct username and password. If you can't log in, reset your password. |
| Create a new Outlook profile | Make sure Outlook is closed. Then create a new profile through the Control Panel. You can set Outlook to prompt you for a profile when it starts. |
| Test the connectivity | Outlook may not be connecting to the server. Test the connectivity of Outlook. |
| Briefly disable firewall settings | Review any firewall settings that might block the connection. It might be beneficial to disable the firewall temporarily to confirm that it's causing the error. |
| Try manually configuring Outlook | It's always suggested to use Autodiscover first. If Autodiscover fails, try to set up Outlook manually. |