Fix The Connection to Microsoft Exchange is Unavailable Outlook Error

Windows errors are always annoying especially when it is mysterious and it hard to tell what is the cause of the problem. One of these errors is the Outlook error “The Connection to Microsoft Exchange is Unavailable…”. It is such a mysterious error message that it doesn’t really tell you why there is no connection.

Complete Error Message:

Let’s delve into it and try one of the following options to fix this cryptic Outlook error.

How to Fix The Connection to Microsoft Exchange is Unavailable Error in Outlook?

Fix 1 – Update or Create your Outlook Profile w/ RPC Encryption

To manually update an existing Outlook profile to use RPC encryption, follow this method:

1. Open Mail in the Control Panel.
2. Select Show Profiles.
3. Select your profile, then click Properties.
4. Select Email accounts.
5. Select Microsoft Exchange (send from this account by default) account > Change.
6. In the dialog box containing your mail server and user name, select Other settings.
7. In the Microsoft Exchange dialog box, select the Security tab.
8. Select Data Encryption between Microsoft Office Outlook and Microsoft Exchange > OK.
9. Select Next > Done.
10. Select Close > OK.

Fix 2 – Flush DNS from your PC

A kind of hitch from your computer’s DNS can also cause this problem. Fortunately, the DNS of your Windows computer can be easily flushed.

Emptying DNS from your computer is very easy:

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Look for “Command”.
3. Right-click on the search results for a command or command line and click Run as administrator to run an elevated Command Prompt with administrator rights.
4. Enter the following, and then press Enter : ipconfig /flushdns.
5. Close the Elevated CMD.

Fix 3 – Check your Antivirus

Although most antivirus offers good protection for your system, it can sometimes affect the operation of Outlook. Malwarebytes for instance, is known to limit Outlook and its connections. If nothing else works, disable your antivirus and see if you can connect Outlook to a Microsoft Exchange server. Even think about temporarily removing your antivirus to see if it solves your problem.

Fix 4 – Use the Registry Editor

A Microsoft Exchange connection error usually occur due to Registry Editor issues. Your registry contains the necessary information that Outlook uses to access Microsoft Exchange, and if this information is not available in the registry, you will receive a Connection to Microsoft Exchange is not available error message.

To solve this error, you need to manually add the necessary data to the registry. Changing the registry can be a bit dangerous and can cause some problems if you do not do it properly, so be careful and keep the registry just in case.

To do this, proceed as follows:

• On your PC, press Windows + R and enter regedit. Press OK or Enter.
• After opening the Registry Editor, go to the folder key in the left pane

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ExplorerUser Shell\

• Right-click on the User Shell Folders button and select Export from the menu.
• Select the export location for this key, enter a name such as Export.reg, and click Save.
• Find the Export.reg file and copy it to the problem PC.
• Then just run the Export.reg file on the problem PC and it will be added to the registry.

Fix 5 – Create a New Outlook Profile

Each time you add a new e-mail account in Outlook, it is saved as a profile. Sometimes, due to certain internal problems, your profile may be damaged. In this case, you may receive the same error message – and the solution is to recreate the profile again.

1. To restore your Outlook profile, open the Control Panel and change the display to a large or small icon.
2. Then click on the e-mail message (Microsoft Outlook). You will see a window where you should click on Show Profiles. Then select an existing profile and click the Delete button to delete it.
3. Now click the Add button and review the screen options to add a new account or create a new profile.
4. After deleting and adding an Outlook profile, restart Outlook.

Fix 6 – Restart Microsoft Exchange System Attendant Service

1. Click the Windows +R button to open the Run window. Type msc and click OK.
2. In the Services window, locate the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant Service in the Details pane.
3. Right-click on the service and click Start. If it is already running, stop it and restart it.

Conclusion

“The connection to Microsoft exchange is unavailable. Outlook must be online or connected to complete this action” error is a well-known error for Outlook and Office 365 users. Hopefully, you found a working solution from the list of methods above. Let us know in the comments section below.