Troubleshoot sending and receiving messages

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My e-mail goes to the wrong person.

Outlook is checking names, and you are accepting the addresses with the green wavy underlines without verifying them.

I can't locate a previously started message.

In the Folder List, click Drafts, and then double-click the message.

I want to stop automatic saving of all my unfinished messages.

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click E-Mail Options.
2. Clear the Automatically save unsent messages check box.

I can't find Microsoft Outlook Help when I use Microsoft Word as my e-mail editor.

When you are in an open message in Microsoft Outlook, if you type a question in the Office Assistant, you get Help about Microsoft Word. If you want Help about Outlook, such as a topic about how to address a message, click Inbox on the Outlook Bar to switch back to Outlook, and then type a question in the Assistant.

The Save Stationery command isn't available for a message I received with stationery.

The background you see in the message may not be stationery. It may be a Microsoft Word theme that doesn't have an equivalent stationery in Microsoft Outlook and therefore can't be saved.

Sending and receiving messages is slow. How can I speed it up?

• Before you use Microsoft Word to compose a message, close any Word dialog boxes that you are not using.
• If you use Microsoft Word as your e-mail editor, you should have at least 16 megabytes (MB) of memory available. To select which e-mail editor you use, click the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Mail Format tab. Then, select or clear the Use Microsoft Word to edit e-mail messages check box.
• Programs that work in the background, such as virus-scanning programs, might slow down Microsoft Word. Use System Monitorùan optional Microsoft Windows accessory programùto see whether you are running programs that slow down your computer's performance and to see which program uses the highest percentage of processor time.
• If you use Remote Mail, you can screen messages by reviewing the message headers before you download the complete messages.
• If you use offline folders and typically synchronize all folders, try to synchronize only the folders you need. Also, because the Deleted Items folder is automatically updated, empty it before you synchronize the folders. To empty the Deleted Items folder automatically when you quit Microsoft Outlook, click the Tools menu, click Options, click the Other tab, and then select the Empty the Deleted Items folder upon exiting check box.
• Notifications can slow down the speed at which you receive messages.

I can't send or receive e-mail messages.

• The way you send and receive e-mail messages depends on how Microsoft Outlook is set up. For more information, see "About send and receive groups" in Outlook Help.
• If you use a modem, make sure dial-up networking options are set correctly. You must have a modem, an e-mail account, and a phone line to send and receive e-mail messages. For information, see Microsoft Windows Help.
• The server you use may not be available. Wait and try again later, or see your administrator.
• The settings for your e-mail account might not match what your Internet service provider requires. For example, you may have mistyped the name of your server or e-mail address. Also, most Internet addresses and connection settings are case-sensitive. Make sure settings are capitalized correctly. For information about checking your server settings, see Microsoft Windows Help.
• If you receive an Internet e-mail message that was delayed, you can look at the list of transactions for the message over the Internet, such as the time the message arrived at each location on its route. Open the message you want to view the Internet headers for, click the View menu, and then click Options.
• If you used another e-mail program in the past, some of your settings may not have been imported properly, or you may have renamed your account.
• If your mail server is not responding, you may want to increase the amount of time Microsoft Outlook tries to connect.

I am unable to send pictures to recipients.

• Your picture may be too large for your mail server or for the recipient's mailbox. Attachments are converted into a special format for e-mail messages. When you send attachments over the Internet,  these attachments can be considerably larger than the original file size. Some mail servers will only send or receive messages under a certain size limit. Check with your system administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).

I can't open a shared folder to see messages.

• You may not have permission to open the folder. See the folder owner or your administrator.
• The server the shared folder is on may not be available. Wait and try again later, or see your administrator.
• If you are a delegate, you may not have permission. Ask the person who granted you delegate access to perform the following steps to verify the permissions granted to you: On the Tools menu, point to Options, and then click the Delegates tab. In the list, click the delegate's name, and then click Permissions.

I can't see all of my messages.

• You may have a filter on that hides some or all of the items in the folder. If there is a filter on the active folder, the words "Filter Applied" appear in the status bar. To remove a filter, click the View menu, point to Current View, click Customize Current View, click Filter, and then click Clear All.
• Grouped items might be collapsed. To expand groups to show details, click the expand button . To collapse groups to hide details, click the collapse button .
• The item might be in another folder. Check any appropriate folders in Folder List.
• You might have the folder set up to AutoArchive items after items reach a certain age. On the Tools menu, click Options, click the Other tab, and then click AutoArchive. If the AutoArchive every check box is selected, the item you want could have been archived. The archive file name appears in the Default archive file box. Once you know the name of your archive file, you can retrieve archived items.

• You may have accessed your mail from a computer other than your main one, and the other computer had AutoArchive enabled. In that case, Microsoft Outlook may have archived the mail to the .pst or .lis file on the other computer.

• If you changed where messages are sent from and received, you might be looking in the wrong Inbox. For information about how to check where messages are sent from and received, see "Find where e-mail messages are sent from and received" in Outlook Help.
• If you are working offline, the folder might not be set up for offline use or might not have been synchronized. For information about how to set up and use offline folders, see "Make folders available offline" in Outlook Help.
• If you have any rules set up, the message could have been automatically moved or deleted.

My messages remain in my Outbox and are not sent.

• If you use offline folders or Remote Mail, you must use different commands to send and receive messages. For information about how to send messages or check for new messages, see "Working Offline" in Outlook Help.
• If you open a message in the Outbox, or edit it and then save changes, the message is not sent. Open the message, and then click Send. Messages waiting to be sent are formatted in italic in the Outbox.
• You may have specified that messages not be sent until the next send/receive. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Mail Setup tab. Select the Send messages immediately when connected check box. A message is sent when you click Send in the message. If you connect using a LAN, messages are sent in the background. If you use a dial-up networking connection, Microsoft Outlook tries to connect to the server after you click Send in a message.

When I start Outlook, I am prompted for options I don't want.

• If you are prompted to specify a user profile each time to start Outlook, and want to use one profile routinely, you can specify that one profile is used each time you start Outlook. For information, see "Select a user profile to use when Outlook starts" in Outlook Help.
• If you are prompted to decide whether to connect to the server or to work offline and you always prefer one method over the other, you can set up one method for use all the time. On the Tools menu, click E-mail Accounts, select View or change existing e-mail accounts, click Next,  select the Microsoft Exchange Server, click Change, click More Settings, and then select Automatically detect connection state.

I have problems sending and receiving e-mail messages over the Internet.

• If you receive an Internet e-mail message that was delayed, you can look at the list of transactions for the message over the Internet, such as the time the message arrived at each location on its route. Open the message you want to view the Internet headers for, click the View menu, and then click Options.
• If recipients of your messages over the Internet receive an attachment called WinMail.dat, you sent messages to them that included Microsoft Exchange Rich Text formatting, such as bold or italic text, but the recipients do not use a program that can read this format. To select what message format you use, click the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Mail Format tab. Select an option in the Send in this message format box.

Outlook says that Mapi32.dll is the wrong version.

Installing other messaging software after installing Microsoft Outlook can cause problems. If you see a message that says that your Mapi32.dll file is corrupt or the wrong version, you can fix it by running a program in the Microsoft Windows System Directory.

• In C:\winnt\system32 or C:\windows\system32 double-click Fixmapi.exe to run the program.