Nothing is more annoying than not being able to get your email when you want it and be presented with a sometimes very cryptic or a seeming meaningless error code instead. Although there are a multitude of error codes that you could be presented with, there are a couple of common solutions that work for many cases.
Aside from offering common solutions, this guide also contains a list of send/receive error codes which you may encounter and their meaning. For certain error codes, a more specific solution is mentioned.
- Check your email account settings
- Disable virus scanner integration
- Check your firewall settings
- Issues with add-ins
- Check data store integrity
- Stuck message or hidden read receipt
- Other send/receive issues
- Send/Receive error codes
- Enhanced Mail System Status Codes
- Other error codes
Check your email account settings.
If you just configured your mail account and are directly presented with a send/receive error, you should start with verifying if your account settings are correct. You can get this information from your ISP or email administrator. Settings for several large free email providers can be found here.
When you are trying to send a message from another network than the network where the mailbox is located (for instance, from a hotel or a wifi hotspot, then you need to enable authentication for the configured SMTP server as well.
When Outlook worked before and you're suddenly presented with send/receive errors, it is still good practice to verify your account settings and make sure that they are current. For example, several ISPs have increased their email security settings which could require you to enable SSL or make port changes. Also, sometimes they have merged with other ISPs and decommission the old account settings over time requiring you to make changes.
Trying your account settings on another computer or creating an additional mail profile for testing could help you determining if it is an issue with your current account configuration settings.
Disable virus scanner integration.
Virus scanners which integrates themselves with Outlook are a known source of causing all sorts of send receive issues. For instance, the following time-out issues are often a result of this;
-The operation timed out waiting for a response from the receiving (POP) server
-A time-out occurred while communicating with the server
-The operation timed out waiting for a response from the receiving (POP) server
-A time-out occurred while communicating with the server
Other issues that are often caused by having a virus scanner integrated with Outlook are;
-Outlook being very slow in collecting your email
-Messages ending up stuck in your Outbox (also see below)
-Messages being sent but never received
-Sending or receiving blank messages
-General message corruption
-Outlook being very slow in collecting your email
-Messages ending up stuck in your Outbox (also see below)
-Messages being sent but never received
-Sending or receiving blank messages
-General message corruption
Disabling your virus scanner's integration with Outlook does not compromise your security as you'd still be sufficiently protected by the on-access scanner part of the virus scanner. For more details see; Disable virus scanner integration?
Check your firewall settings.
Firewalls can block incoming and outgoing traffic so make sure that Outlook and/or the required ports for email are listed as an exception to go through.
If you are presented with send/receive errors after updating Outlook, you probably need to reconfigure your firewall to re-allow Outlook to pass-through again. This is because several firewall solutions (such as ZoneAlarm) verify via a hash that it is indeed the correct outlook.exe that is trying to pass through the firewall and not some virus which named itself outlook.exe. Since with some updates the outlook.exe gets updated as well, you'll need to accept it as safe again. You can find more information about this in the manual of your firewall solution.
Issues with add-ins
Aside from virus scanners, there could be other add-ins installed which integrate itself with the send/receive process of Outlook. Loading Outlook in Safe Mode is a good first step to see if add-ins are indeed the cause of the issues.
To further troubleshoot add-ins, manually disable each of them and re-enable them one-by-one to find the culprit.
Check data store integrity
If there are issues with the delivery location (your Outlook mailbox), then this could result in send/receive issues. Checking the integrity of your delivery location can be done with scanpst.exe or scanost.exe (depending on your mail account type). In some cases you'll need to run thepst2gb tool when the data store is full.
If you are using an Exchange account, then you could also try it with Cached Exchange Mode disabled and see if it works correctly now. If it does, rename the ost-file to .old and have Outlook rebuild the ost-file or verify that the configured location for the ost-file in your account settings is valid.
Stuck message or hidden read receipt
A stuck message is also often a source of having send/receive issues. While it is easy enough to spot a message stuck in your Outbox, in some cases the stuck message can be a Read Receipt which are hidden messages and thus much harder to recognize as the issues and to delete.
Other send/receive issues
Below is a short list of other common send/receive issues which you could encounter but which are not directly identified by a send/receive error.
- Password prompts
In some cases Outlook can not remember your password for your mail account which results in being prompted for it. - Receiving duplicates
When you receive multiple copies of a message or receiving the same message(s) over and over again see this guide. - Rules not being processed automatically
When you have rules configured but they are not executed automatically when you receive new emails, see this guide. - No automatic send/receive upon starting Outlook or cannot edit Send/Receive settings.
In those cases, reset your srs-file by renaming it to .old.
Send/Receive error codes
Searching in the error list below probably goes best with the Find function of your browser. For most browsers the keyboard shortcut for the Find function is CTRL+F.
When typing in the error code, please note that the error code starts with the digit 0 and not with the letter O.
When typing in the error code, please note that the error code starts with the digit 0 and not with the letter O.
General Errors
| Error Code | Description | Error Type |
| 0x800CCC00 | Authentication did not load | LOAD_SICILY_FAILED |
| 0x800CCC01 | Invalid certificate content | INVALID_CERT_CN |
| 0x800CCC02 | Invalid certificate date. | INVALID_CERT_DATE |
| 0x800CCC03 | User already connected. | ALREADY_CONNECTED |
| 0x800CCC04 | - | CONN |
| 0x800CCC05 | Not connected to server. | NOT_CONNECTED |
| 0x800CCC06 | - | CONN_SEND |
| 0x800CCC07 | - | WOULD_BLOCK |
| 0x800CCC08 | - | INVALID_STATE |
| 0x800CCC09 | - | CONN_RECV |
| 0x800CCC0A | Message download incomplete | INCOMPLETE |
| 0x800CCC0B | Server or maildrop is busy. | BUSY |
| 0x800CCC0C | - | NOT_INIT |
| 0x800CCC0D | Cannot locate server. | CANT_FIND_HOST |
| 0x800CCC0E | Cannot connect to server. | FAILED_TO_CONNECT |
| 0x800CCC0F | Connection closed. | CONNECTION_DROPPED |
| 0x800CCC10 | Address not known on server. | INVALID_ADDRESS |
| 0x800CCC11 | Mailing list not known on server | INVALID_ADDRESS_LIST |
| 0x800CCC12 | Unable to send Winsock request. | SOCKET_READ_ERROR |
| 0x800CCC13 | Unable to read Winsock reply | SOCKET_WRITE_ERROR |
| 0x800CCC14 | Unable to initialize Winsock. | SOCKET_INIT_ERROR |
| 0x800CCC15 | Unable to open Windows Socket | SOCKET_CONNECT_ERROR |
| 0x800CCC16 | User account not recognized. | INVALID_ACCOUNT |
| 0x800CCC17 | User canceled operation | USER_CANCEL |
| 0x800CCC18 | Logon attempt failed. | SICILY_LOGON_FAILED |
| 0x800CCC19 | A time-out occurred while communicating with the server | TIMEOUT |
| 0x800CCC1A | Unable to connect using SSL. | SECURE_CONNECT_FAILED |
Winsock Errors
| Error Code | Description | Error Type |
| 0x800CCC40 | Network subsystem is unusable. | WINSOCK_WSASYSNOTREADY |
| 0x800CCC41 | Windows Sockets cannot support this application. | WINSOCK_WSAVERNOTSUPPORTED |
| 0x800CCC42 | - | WINSOCK_WSAEPROCLIM |
| 0x800CCC43 | Bad address. | WINSOCK_WSAEFAULT |
| 0x800CCC44 | Unable to load Windows Sockets. | WINSOCK_FAILED_WSASTARTUP |
| 0x800CCC45 | Operation now in progress. This error appears if a Windows Sockets API is called while a blocking function is in progress. | WINSOCK_WSAEINPROGRESS |
SMTP Errors
| Error Code | Description | Error Type |
| 0x800CCC60 | Invalid response. | SMTP_RESPONSE_ERROR |
| 0x800CCC61 | Unknown error code. | SMTP_UNKNOWN_RESPONSE_CODE |
| 0x800CCC62 | Syntax error returned. | SMTP_500_SYNTAX_ERROR |
| 0x800CCC63 | Parameter syntax incorrect. | SMTP_501_PARAM_SYNTAX |
| 0x800CCC64 | Command not implemented. | SMTP_502_COMMAND_NOTIMPL |
| 0x800CCC65 | Improper command sequence. | SMTP_503_COMMAND_SEQ |
| 0x800CCC66 | Command not implemented. | MTP_504_COMMAND_PARAM_NOTIMPL |
| 0x800CCC67 | Command not available. | SMTP_421_NOT_AVAILABLE |
| 0x800CCC68 | Mailbox is locked and busy. | SMTP_450_MAILBOX_BUSY |
| 0x800CCC69 | Mailbox not found. | SMTP_550_MAILBOX_NOT_FOUND |
| 0x800CCC6A | Error processing request. | SMTP_451_ERROR_PROCESSING |
| 0x800CCC6B | User mailbox is known but mailbox not on this server. | SMTP_551_USER_NOT_LOCAL |
| 0x800CCC6C | No space to store messages. | SMTP_452_NO_SYSTEM_STORAGE |
| 0x800CCC6D | Storage limit exceeded. | SMTP_552_STORAGE_OVERFLOW |
| 0x800CCC6E | Invalid mailbox name syntax. | SMTP_553_MAILBOX_NAME_SYNTAX |
| 0x800CCC6F | Transaction failed. | SMTP_554_TRANSACT_FAILED |
| 0x800CCC78 | Unknown sender. This is caused by having the incorrect e-mail address in the Reply-To field. | SMTP_REJECTED_SENDER |
| 0x800CCC79 | Server rejected recipients. | SMTP_REJECTED_RECIPIENTS |
| 0x800CCC7A | No sender address specified. | SMTP_NO_SENDER |
| 0x800CCC7B | No recipients specified. | SMTP_NO_RECIPIENTS |
POP3 Errors
| Error Code | Description | Error Type |
| 0x800420CB | Mail cannot be stored on server. | POP3_NO_STORE |
| 0x800CCC90 | Client response invalid. | POP3_RESPONSE_ERROR |
| 0x800CCC91 | Invalid user name or user not found. | POP3_INVALID_USER_NAME |
| 0x800CCC92 | Password not valid for account. | POP3_INVALID_PASSWORD |
| 0x800CCC93 | Unable to interpret response. | POP3_PARSE_FAILURE |
| 0x800CCC94 | STAT Command required. | POP3_NEED_STAT |
| 0x800CCC95 | No messages on server. | POP3_NO_MESSAGES |
| 0x800CCC96 | No messages marked for retrieval. | POP3_NO_MARKED_MESSAGES |
| 0x800CCC97 | Message ID out of range. | POP3_POPID_OUT_OF_RANGE |
IMAP Errors
| Error Code | Description | Error Type |
| 0x800CCCD1 | Login failed. | IMAP_LOGINFAILURE |
| 0x800CCCD2 | Message tagged. | IMAP_TAGGED_NO_RESPONSE |
| 0x800CCCD3 | Invalid response to request. | IMAP_BAD_RESPONSE |
| 0x800CCCD4 | Syntax error. | IMAP_SVR_SYNTAXERR |
| 0x800CCCD5 | Not an IMAP server. | IMAP_NOTIMAPSERVER |
| 0x800CCCD6 | Buffer limit exceeded. | IMAP_BUFFER_OVERFLOW |
| 0x800CCCD7 | Recovery error. | IMAP_RECVR_ERROR |
| 0x800CCCD8 | Incomplete data. | IMAP_INCOMPLETE_LINE |
| 0x800CCCD9 | Connection not allowed. | IMAP_CONNECTION_REFUSED |
| 0x800CCCDA | Unknown response. | IMAP_UNRECOGNIZED_RESP |
| 0x800CCCDB | User ID has changed. | IMAP_CHANGEDUID |
| 0x800CCCDC | User ID command failed. | IMAP_UIDORDER |
| 0x800CCCDD | Unexpected disconnect. | IMAP_UNSOLICITED_BYE |
| 0x800CCCDE | Invalid server state. | IMAP_IMPROPER_SVRSTATE |
| 0x800CCCDF | Unable to authorize client. | IMAP_AUTH_NOT_POSSIBLE |
| 0x800CCCE0 | No more authorization types. | IMAP_OUT_OF_AUTH_METHODS |
NNTP (News Server) Errors
| Error Code | Description | Error Type |
| 0x800CCCA0 | News server response error. | NNTP_RESPONSE_ERROR |
| 0x800CCCA1 | Newsgroup access failed. | NNTP_NEWGROUPS_FAILED |
| 0x800CCCA2 | LIST command to server failed. | NNTP_LIST_FAILED |
| 0x800CCCA3 | Unable to display list. | NNTP_LISTGROUP_FAILED |
| 0x800CCCA4 | Unable to open group. | NNTP_GROUP_FAILED |
| 0x800CCCA5 | Group not on server. | NNTP_GROUP_NOTFOUND |
| 0x800CCCA6 | Message not on server. | NNTP_ARTICLE_FAILED |
| 0x800CCCA7 | Message header not found. | NNTP_HEAD_FAILED |
| 0x800CCCA8 | Message body not found. | NNTP_BODY_FAILED |
| 0x800CCCA9 | Unable to post to server. | NNTP_POST_FAILED |
| 0x800CCCAA | Unable to post to server. | NNTP_NEXT_FAILED |
| 0x800CCCAB | Unable to display date. | NNTP_DATE_FAILED |
| 0x800CCCAC | Unable to display headers. | NNTP_HEADERS_FAILED |
| 0x800CCCAD | Unable to display MIME headers. | NNTP_XHDR_FAILED |
| 0x800CCCAE | Invalid user or password. | NNTP_INVALID_USERPASS |
RAS (Remote Access) Errors
| Error Code | Description | Error Type |
| 0x800CCCC2 | RAS/DUN not installed. | RAS_NOT_INSTALLED |
| 0x800CCCC3 | RAS/DUN process not found. | RAS_PROCS_NOT_FOUND |
| 0x800CCCC4 | RAS/DUN error returned. | RAS_ERROR |
| 0x800CCCC5 | Connectoid damaged or missing. | RAS_INVALID_CONNECTOID |
| 0x800CCCC6 | Error getting dial settings. | RAS_GET_DIAL_PARAMS |
Enhanced Mail System Status Codes
Aside from getting the reported errors, there usually also is another error code listed. These error codes consist of 3 digits which could be separated by a dot. For instance; 553 or 5.5.3
These errors could also be sent to you in an email (usually from System Administrator) with a Delivery Status Notification code in it.
These errors could also be sent to you in an email (usually from System Administrator) with a Delivery Status Notification code in it.
The first number will tell you the general status of the message;
- 2
Success. The message has been delivered. - 4
Persistent Transient Failure. This means that the message was valid and accepted by the server but there is a temporary problem which prevents it from being delivered. The mail server will usually try to send it again later until a time out is reached. Until you get the a message that the server is giving up (see "5" below), there is no direct need to resend the message. - 5
Permanent. This is a fatal error and the message sent cannot be delivered. It's unlikely that the message can be delivered by a simple resend. A change must be made either within the message (wrong address, too big, too many recipients, etc), within the account settings or at the mail server of the sender or receiver.
The second 2 numbers will give you more details about why the message is delayed or failed;
- X.0.0 Other undefined Status
- X.1.0 Other address status
- X.1.1 Bad destination mailbox address
- X.2.0 Bad destination system address
- X.1.3 Bad destination mailbox address syntax
- X.1.4 Destination mailbox address ambiguous
- X.1.5 Destination mailbox address valid
- X.1.6 Mailbox has moved
- X.1.7 Bad sender's mailbox address syntax
- X.1.8 Bad sender's system address
- X.1.9 Message relayed to non-compliant mailer
- X.2.0 Other or undefined mailbox status
- X.2.1 Mailbox disabled, not accepting messages
- X.2.2 Mailbox full
- X.2.3 Message length exceeds administrative limit.
- X.2.4 Mailing list expansion problem
- X.3.0 Other or undefined mail system status
- X.3.1 Mail system full
- X.3.2 System not accepting network messages
- X.3.3 System not capable of selected features
- X.3.4 Message too big for system
- X.3.5 System incorrectly configured
- X.4.0 Other or undefined network or routing status
- X.4.1 No answer from host
- X.4.2 Bad connection
- X.4.3 Routing server failure
- X.4.4 Unable to route
- X.4.5 Network congestion
- X.4.6 Routing loop detected
- X.4.7 Delivery time expired
- X.5.0 Other or undefined protocol status
- X.5.1 Invalid command
- X.5.2 Syntax error
- X.5.3 Too many recipients
- X.5.4 Invalid command arguments
- X.5.5 Wrong protocol version
- X.5.6 Authentication Exchange line is too long
- X.6.0 Other or undefined media error/bad content
- X.6.1 Media not supported
- X.6.2 Conversion required and prohibited/bad domain or alias
- X.6.3 Conversion required but not supported
- X.6.4 Conversion with loss performed
- X.6.5 Conversion failed
- X.6.6 Message content not available
- X.7.0 Other or undefined security status/authentication failure/violating site policy
- X.7.1 Delivery not authorized, message refused
- X.7.2 Mailing list expansion prohibited
- X.7.3 Security conversion required but not possible
- X.7.4 Security features not supported
- X.7.5 Cryptographic failure
- X.7.6 Cryptographic algorithm not supported
- X.7.7 Message integrity failure
- X.7.8 Trust relationship required/Authentication credentials invalid
- X.7.9 Authentication mechanism is too weak
- X.7.10 Encryption Needed
- X.7.11 Encryption required for requested authentication mechanism
- X.7.12 A password transition is needed
- X.7.13 User Account Disabled
- X.7.14 Trust relationship required
- X.7.15 Authentication credentials invalid
- X.7.16 Future release per-user message quota exceeded
- X.7.17 Future release system message quota exceeded
Common combinations are;
| 421 or 4.2.1 | Service not available, the connection will be closed (the server could be about to be restarted) |
| 450 or 4.5.0 | Requested action failed: mailbox unavailable (for instance, the mailbox is busy or locked) |
| 451 or 4.5.1 | Requested action aborted due to an error on the server (contact your ISP) |
| 452 or 4.5.2 | Requested action not taken due to insufficient system storage on the server (contact your ISP) |
| 453 or 4.5.3 | Requested action not taken due to policy settings (for instance, too many recipients specified) |
| 500 or 5.0.0 | Syntax error, command unrecognized (This may include errors such as command line too long) |
| 501 or 5.0.1 | Syntax error in parameters or arguments |
| 502 or 5.0.2 | Command not implemented |
| 503 or 5.0.3 | Bad sequence of commands |
| 504 or 5.0.4 | Command parameter not implemented (for instance, Helo command rejected: need fully-qualified hostname) |
| 550 or 5.5.0 | Requested action not taken: mailbox unavailable (for instance, mailbox not found, no access due to policy reasons) |
| 551 or 5.5.1 | User not local and an issue occurred when the server tried to forward the message. |
| 552 or 5.5.2 | Requested mail action aborted: exceeded storage allocation |
| 553 or 5.5.3 | Requested action not taken: mailbox name not allowed for instance, the mailbox name is invalid) |
| 554 or 5.5.4 | Transaction failed |
More details about the individual error codes can be found within the base RFC document and its listed updates at the top.
Other error codes
Aside from the above listed error codes, there are many more error codes which you could encounter during send/receive. These usually refer to internal errors from Outlook, are specific to a certain mail server or are actually coming from your virus scanner or another add-in that integrates with your send/receive or networking process.
Due to the nature and origins of these error codes, the list above will probably always remain incomplete. If you encounter a new send/receive error, have a better description or even a solution for it, please email it to me (preferably with a screenshot of the error attached) and I'll update the list accordingly.
| Error Code | Description | Cause/Possible solution |
| 0x0004b9 | ||
| 0×000501 | ||
| 0×80000003 | ||
| 0×80004001 | Not implemented | |
| 0×80004005 | The operation failed | Virus scanner integration issue usually related to script blocking. |
| 0x800300FD | Unknown Error | Indicates that there is insufficient space in the Temp folder -Empty your Deleted Items folder -Empty your Temp folder; C:\Windows\Temp |
| 0×80040109 | The Operation cannot be performed because the message has been changed | Virus scanner integration issue. Some add-inmay have altered the message upon sending. |
| 0x8004010F | Microsoft Exchange offline address book. Not downloading Offline address book files. A server (URL) could not be located. | Verify the publication address for the Offline Address Book (OAB) in Exchange. |
| 0×80040115 | The connection to the Microsoft Exchange server is unavailable. Outlook must be online or connected to complete this action. | The server is not reachable, check your connection and verify that Outlook is in on-line mode. This issue could also occur with other mail servers, not just Exchange. |
| 0×80040119 | An unknown error has occurred. Messaging interface has caused an unknown error. | Virus scanner integration issue usually related to authentication. This issue could also occur when there are errors in your pst-file. |
| 0x8004011D | Task “Microsoft Exchange Server” reported error (0×8004011D): “The server is not available. Contact your administrator if this condition persists.” | The server is not reachable, check your connection and verify that Outlook is in on-line mode. This issue could also occur with other mail servers, not just Exchange. |
| 0×80040126 | The operation cannot be performed because the connection to the server is offline. | This issue is an Outlook Connector issue. If there is no general issues with Hotmail itself, make sure you have the latest version installed. Removing and re-adding your Hotmail account might help. |
| 0×80040305 | Your server administrator has limited the number of items you can open simultaneously. Email too big (Google Apps Sync) | These limitations can be set on the mail server. Contact your mail admin to find out which limitations are in affect. |
| 0×80040600 | An unknown error has occurred. | Virus scanner integration issue usually related to authentication. This issue could also occur when there are errors in your pst-file. |
| 0×80040607 | An unknown error occurred | Virus scanner integration issue. Authentication not enabled for the configured SMTP server. |
| 0x8004060C | Unknown Error | |
| 0×80040900 | ||
| 0x80040FB3 | Error encountered. Check documentation. | This issue is related to BlackBerry accounts. It appears that your account is not associated with a BES or Exchange account. Other causes could be a corrupted item that is trying to be synched. Remove this item and try again. |
| 0×80042108 | Outlook is unable to connect to your incoming (POP) e-mail server. If you continue to receive this message, contact your server administrator or ISP. | |
| 0×80042109 | Outlook cannot connect to your outgoing (SMTP) e-mail server. If you continue to receive this message, contact your server administrator or ISP. | |
| 0x8004210A | The operation timed out waiting for a response from the receiving (POP) server. If you continue to receive this message, contact your server administrator or Internet service provider (ISP). | Virus scanner integration issue |
| 0x8004210B | The operation timed out waiting for a response from the sending (SMTP) server. If you continue to receive this message, contact your server administrator or Internet service provider (ISP). | An address in the distribution list might be malformed or corrupted. Update/remove the address or recreate the distribution list. |
| 0×80042112 | ||
| 0×8004218 | ||
| 0×80048002 | This task was cancelled before it was completed. | Virus scanner integration issue. Some add-inmay have altered the message upon sending. |
| 0x8004DF0B | ||
| 0×80070005 | You don't have appropriate permissions to perform this operation | Refers to issues with the delivery location; -scan it for errors with scanpst.exe or scanost.exe -verify that you have read/write permissions on the pst-/ost-file -verify that the path to the pst-/ost-file is valid -verify that the ost-file belongs to the correct user and mailbox |
| 0x8007000E | ||
| 0×80070021 | ||
| 0×80070057 | Could not complete operation. One or more parameter values are not valid. Sending reported error parameters not correct. | Virus scanner integration issue. This error could also occur with Google Apps Sync trying to sync your RSS folders to the server. |
| 0x80072F17 | Synchronization could not be completed. Try again later. | This issue is usually caused by issues with the SSL certificate. |
| 0x8007007E | Unknown error | |
| 0x80090FB3 | ||
| 0x800C0131 | Unknown error has occurred. | data storage issue |
| 0x800C0133 | data storage issue virus scanner integration issue | |
| 0x800C013B | ||
| 0x800CCC33 | Task 'Hotmail: Folder:Inbox Synchronizing headers.' reported error (0×800CCC33) : 'Access to the account was denied. Verify that your username and password are correct. The server responded 'Forbidden'. | This error is encountered when you are trying to make a connection to a Live Hotmail account without the Outlook Connector installed. |
| 0x800CCC7D | Unknown Error | The outgoing SMTP server does not support secure connections. Verify your account settings or contact your ISP. |
| 0x800CCC80 | None of the authentication methods supported by this client are supported by your server. | |
| 0x800CCCF7 | ||
| 0x81FC0005 | Close and reopen Outlook | |
| 0×834005 | ||
| 0xC0000005 | ||
| 0xD4904005 |
