You can finally share contacts as vCards in New Outlook!

I spent some time testing this feature, and while it works, I discovered three limitations. One of them really surprised me!

I put together a short video showing how it works, what to watch out for, and a workaround.

For my Classic Outlook users, I also explain how vCards compare to Electronic Business Cards.

Here's the video: https://youtu.be/4hjJP5BDlB8

Classic Outlook users, I'm curious. Do you still use Electronic Business Cards, or is that so 1990s? (I am telling my age. 😄)

traccreations4e-p26 10/28/2026

Users are no longer getting the email invitation when an event is added to the calendar and they are tagged as the attendee. This problem started about a week ago. Since they are not getting that invite email, they also can not RSVP for the event. Any solutions to this?

Ironically, we were having the problem of the colors of each email account changing. That has seemed to resolve and now this new problem.

I receive about 40-50 junk mail messages in my personal Outlook junk folder every day. Many of them have an "unverified" sender address. I block as many as I can, and I unsubscribe if it's someone I've done business with before, but the blocked ones simply show up the next day from a different address. In one sense, I'm glad that the junk filter is catching these messages, however I still need to review what's in that folder before deleting them, because legitimate messages that I actually want to receive will sometimes end up in my junk folder accidentally. How can I reduce the number of junk messages I'm getting every day? P.S. I pay an annual fee for the "upgraded" Outlook experience, but this doesn't seem to help.

My outlook client (new outlook) is suddenly defaulting to opening Word docs in one drive. Anyone have a fix for this or reason why?

Thanks.

My company recent migrated data from one location to another however some things in exchange are... Not quite right and I'm at a loss as to what to do.

We use Outlook 2016, Exchange Server 2008 R2 (I have no say in these versions).

We have an issue with multiple, but not all, users experiencing problems such as:

- Public folders are inaccessible and displays 'Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window. The set of folders cannot be opened. The attempt to log on to Microsoft Exchange has failed.'

- The address book will not display groups.

- Sometimes, but not consistently, the address book when accessed shows 'The connection to Microsoft Exchange is unavailable. Outlook must be online or connected to complete this action.'

- Outlook shows ‘Connected to: Microsoft Exchange’ but will give offline errors.

- Attempting to send emails to active directory/exchange server created distribution groups results in error ‘The operation failed. The messaging interfaces have returned an unknown error. If the problem persists, restart Outlook. Cannot resolve recipient.’

- Manually typing in a group name and FQDN resolves the group but will not send to it and attempting to expand a resolved group shows as outlook offline and errors out. Outlook has to be closed completely to eliminate this error.

Emails can be sent internal and external if manually entered.

Please help! :(

I'm at my wits end here.

I'm using Outlook for Android, and for the fifth or so time an incoming E-Mail randomly got flagged as "Low Importance" with the side effects that it's immediately marked as read everyhwere and I get no notification. I've had several important E-Mails slip past me this way.

- It happened on two different phones

- Gemini, focused inbox and all other smart crap are tuned off

- It happened to multiple different accounts, Microsoft, GMX and my University Mail servers, so it's not provider side

I tried Googling the issue, searching on Reddit, asking AI but nobody ever seems to have this issue or a fix for it.

Any ideas? I want to keep using Outlook because it has all the features I want, but this is genuinely infuriating.

I'm working from a non US country, I'm 1h ahead of US Eastern Time. I use a macbook and I send meeting invitations frequently to people in the US. Daylight Saving Time ends this weekend so I'll be 2hs ahead of US Eastern Time. I noticed that my meetings start time are not adjusted for the DST after this weekend, i.e., my meetings should show one hour later in my calendar, so they show up at the same time in the calendar of others in the US. My colleagues also using a mac say their meeting start times are adjusted for the DST and showing one hour later in their calendars.

What configuration am I missing to avoid changing the start time of one meeting at a time next week?

I am writing to request assistance with updating the recovery email address associated with my Microsoft account.

Unfortunately, the recovery email currently linked to my account has been permanently deleted, and I no longer have access to it. As a result, I am unable to use the standard account recovery methods available through the Microsoft website.

At this time, I still have access to my Microsoft account through the Outlook desktop application on my computer, where I remain signed in. However, I am concerned that I may lose access to my account in the future if I cannot update my recovery information.

I have already submitted multiple account recovery requests through the online recovery process, but I have not received a response or a resolution regarding my situation.

I would greatly appreciate your assistance in verifying my identity and helping me change the recovery email address to a new one. I am willing to provide any information necessary to confirm my ownership of the account, including account details, recent activity, billing information, or any other verification data you may require.

Thank you for your time and support. I look forward to your guidance on how to proceed.

Got an email saying due to suspicious activity the account was locked for my Hotmail account.

Of course couldn’t remember password so clicked forget password. I have 2 step verification enabled and was able to confirm email but when it got to cell number it says can’t be verified at this time. I tried a few times and eventually got locked out with message to wait 24 hours.

I waited and still got the cell verification said can’t do at this time. I tried to sign into the other account I had with Hotmail that used for verification and that is also now locked and the recovery email is the the one that was already locked!

I need access as this is my main email so the next step they recommended was the account recovery process which did with my Gmail account but then got another email saying that because 2 step verification Microsoft ignores these emails….what

This is just a loop with no end as I can’t sign into contact an agent and there is no number to call. I have no idea on what to do next?

I already pay for a subscription to Office365. Why do I have to live with the perpetual ad in my apps? I was able to remove them from Office apps with the registry but not Outlook.

https://imgur.com/a/OnZm8QS

I am trying to access my old hotmail account. I haven’t used this account in 15+ years. I don’t remember the password or any security info it’s asking for. I submitted a form to Microsoft to try and unlock it but I don’t have enough info. The phone number it’s sending a code to for password reset is no longer mine. What are my options? I really want to get into my old account just for nostalgia and to walk down memory lane.

Yesterday, I opened my laptop and noticed three strange EXE files. Their names included my first name, my father's name, and "Important Note."

I honestly had no idea where they came from. I opened one of them, but Windows immediately warned me that the file was malicious. After that, I deleted all three files.

This morning, when I checked my Outlook account, I found two strange and threatening messages claiming that my accounts had been hacked. The scary part is that they included some of my actual passwords. They were correct, although they were old passwords.

I immediately started changing everything. I also removed my saved passwords from my browsers and checked the devices connected to my accounts.

However, I never received any notification saying that someone had changed my passwords or logged into my accounts. The only suspicious notification I received was about an unfamiliar application accessing my Google account.

Since this morning, nothing else unusual has happened, except for one really annoying and frightening problem.

The threatening message keeps appearing in my Outlook Drafts folder.

Every time I delete it, it comes back automatically after around 8–12 minutes. I've deleted it many times, but it just keeps returning.

I've checked my connected devices, and I can only see my own laptop and phone. I've also changed my Microsoft password, but the problem hasn't stopped.

I'm seriously worried that someone might still have access to my account or that some malicious software is still running on one of my devices.

I have a few questions:

1- Why does the same threatening draft keep coming back after I delete it?

2- Could someone still have access to my Outlook account even after I changed my password?

3- Is there any way to permanently remove whatever is creating these drafts?

4- How can I make sure nobody is secretly accessing my accounts, even if the security settings show no unfamiliar devices?

Could this be malware on my laptop, or is it more likely an issue with Outlook syncing between my phone and laptop?

My Outlook account is connected to my Windows laptop and contains years of important files, photos, and personal information. I really don't want to delete the entire account unless there's absolutely no other option.

If anyone has experienced something similar or knows how to investigate this, I'd really appreciate your help.

I'm not very experienced with cybersecurity, so please explain things as simply as possible.

Thank you.

This comes up a lot, so here is what is going on and a fix that works.

Classic Outlook on Windows does not play animated GIFs. It shows the first frame and stops there. Most animated signatures are made as a "reveal": the first frame is empty or partly drawn and the image builds up from there. So Outlook shows the empty frame, forever.

The fix is not to give up on the GIF. It is to make the first frame the finished one.

1. Open the GIF and find the frame where everything is fully shown (usually the last frame, or the one it rests on longest).

2. Reorder the frames so that one comes first. The loop is the same; it just starts at the end. With gifsicle, if frame 11 is the finished one in a GIF of 12 frames (counting from 0): `gifsicle in.gif '#11' '#0-10' -o out.gif`

3. Give that first frame a longer delay, so in clients that do animate it reads as "rest, then move" rather than a flash.

4. Keep the image width at the size you display it at, or 2x for sharp phones. A signature wider than about 320px makes Apple Mail on iPhone shrink the entire email to fit.

Gmail, Apple Mail and the new Outlook play the animation; classic Outlook shows the finished frame. Nobody sees a blank box.

(Disclosure: I made a signature builder that does this automatically, which is how I learned it. Happy to answer questions either way.)

No More Moving Search Results One Email at a Time!

FYI, Microsoft is rolling out multi-select and bulk actions for search results in Outlook for Android.

If you've ever searched for emails and had to manage the results one message at a time, the wait is over.

This capability is already available in Outlook for iOS. The Android rollout is gradual, so you may not see it just yet. Also, make sure you have the latest update from the Google Play Store.

Here's my quick video demonstration: https://youtu.be/cGi-ivSHjF8

Anyone else looking forward to this update?
I know that I am. I spend a lot of time using the Outlook App on my mobile device.

traccreations4e-p26 10/26/2026

I can’t find any information on this anywhere. How do I fix it?

Won’t let me post a picture, but I get taken to a page that says something went wrong, try the recommended action (which is to refresh the page) and then a whole page of code looking stuff.

https://www.windowslatest.com/2026/10/26/tested-windows-11s-new-outlook-now-beats-outlook-classic-at-one-thing-unified-inbox-and-the-mail-app-it-killed-had-it-first/

It's done this for years now. Nobody else, just her. Not like she isn't a frequent contact, and I've been accepting the RSVPs for years...

I just want to vent how incredibly frustrating the first and last week of each month is when my Outlook calendar wont show the next or last week

I cant be the only who want the current week in middle or on top, I dont need to know what happen four weeks ago, but last week. Yes I need a reminder. And I most certainly need to know what coming up.

oh what, you're telling me just to use the the To Do window, the one i have to use because i cant view flagged emails in my email window? Get out here with that bs.

ok, i'll stop.

So recently we had some customers who are using their go daddy email to sign into outlook and they are getting redirected to a retired page. There were some steps that go daddy suggested related to registries and regarding web view but nothing seems to be working. I know webmail is an option but my users are very stubborn. The thing is after making those reg changes things started working on the local. When I made same changes on both win 2019 server and 2025 server it did not fixed the issue. Any suggestions to solve this?

My sister’s Outlook account appears to have been compromised, and I’m trying to work out how to fully secure it and remove whatever the hacker has changed.
Here’s what’s happened:
New email forwarding rules have appeared that we didn’t create. What sends her emails that come through as attachments to another email and when try to delete it makes a new rule
Weird folders in different languages have appeared in Outlook, including one called “Lưu trữ”. The delete option is greyed out.
Her Outlook nickname/display name was changed to “System AIX” without her permission.
She’s receiving constant spam and strange emails.
Sextortion scam emails have appeared in her account, including drafts that appear to be from her own email address. They claim someone installed a remote access Trojan and has access to her devices.
Her Spotify, Netflix and ChatGPT accounts have also had suspicious login activity, and she’s received unexpected login codes and password-reset emails.
We’re concerned someone still has access to her account, even after trying to secure it.
Has anyone experienced this combination of symptoms with Outlook/Microsoft accounts?
How can we find and remove any hidden forwarding rules, malicious inbox rules or connected apps?
How can we tell whether the hacker still has access through an existing session or app permission?
How do we remove the strange folders and restore the account’s original display name?
What else should we check to make sure the account is fully secure?
Any advice from people who have dealt with this would be appreciated. We’re particularly interested in steps that actually stopped the attacker getting back in.
Thanks!

Someone I know had their hotmail account compromised so I'm trying to help. She mentioned thousands of emails were clogging her inbox. So I first asked for her credentials and I logged in successfully.

As soon as I logged in, I immediately changed her password and checked the recent account activity: there were dozens of logins from different countries (some bot using a VPN, I guess), and this had been happening for over a month (but it was only yesterday that she noticed the flood of incoming messages).

Then I checked the email: inbox had over 20k messages, with more than 9k unread. The Archived folder had like 6k more and the Sent folder had thousands more. I could see a sort of "sextortion" messages requesting bitcoin in exchange for crap like not disclosing allegedly sensitive info and pictures (I already know this is a scam). The thing is: they claimed to have found her password, and what they were including in the text was indeed her actual old password (which I had already changed), so this wasn't just a random generic message: it included the compromised password.

Something else I noticed is that the Inbox messages said "[Draft]" on top, plus "This message hasn't been sent", and given the Sent folder had also thousands of emails with the same sextortion message, I assumed they were just comming back as the servers detected the spammy activity and blocked the account from sending any more.

But then I tried to delete some of the emails from the inbox, and more came. I did a search where I entered a specific string I found in the message body of one of these thousand messages, and it found only 75, but this didn't match the thousands I kept seeing. I deleted these 75 and more came. And they all had the current date and time.

I checked the account activity again and nobody seems to have logged in after I did. It's been almost 24 hours since I changed the password and nobody else logged in but me.

So I decided to create some rule to select all messages with the specific string in their body and delete them permanently. I ran the rule and some messages were deleted, but I could see the inbox count going down for a while and then going up again, as new messages arrived (and they weren't being deleted, so it was as if the rule wasn't working).

I assume I need to keep running the rule over and over until enough messages are deleted so all the queued messages can be downloaded, and I run a final round of the rule to delete them all. But if there's a better way to do this, please let me know.

Other than that, her Netflix account seems to have been compromised as well, but I didn't have the time to even take a look yet, as the flood of emails keep coming and clogging the account I need to recover the netflix credentials.

EDIT: I just found someone else had the exact same thing happen to them: https://www.reddit.com/r/Outlook/comments/1xffxfi/outlook_account_hacked_forwarding_rules_added/

I got hacked 1-2 months ago I recovered most accounts except microsoft. They changed the email attached to it from my original one and now it seems i cant get it back no matter what , most support is also just AI bots and i've tried recovery forms but they just don,t seem to be working. Please help.