We see this problem pop up a lot because of multiple Office 365 accounts, old settings, or corrupted Outlook files. Figuring out why Outlook gets stuck offline really helps you fix it—and keeps it from coming back. This guide covers the usual suspects, troubleshooting steps, and a few advanced tricks to get your email flowing again. Outlook status says offline then it can happen when offline mode enabled, server connection is flush DNS and re-sync Outlook lost, or your internet isn’t stable. Corrupted Outlook profile, faulty add-ins or outdated version of Outlook can also be reasons to remain offline.

Check OST file

• In doing so, you would switch the mapped drive status to "online" and access to the entirety of drive's content would then be possible/granted.
• In this guide, we've discussed the reasons that can cause the 'Outlook stuck in offline mode' issue and methods to troubleshoot and resolve it.
• Old versions of Outlook or Microsoft Office often trigger synchronization issues.
• Confusion happens when a device hooks up to more than one Office 365 environment.
• To do this, hit Windows + R, type outlook.exe /safe, and hit Enter.
• However, when Outlook cannot connect to the Exchange server, it automatically switches to Offline mode.

By handling the setup yourself, you make sure Outlook always connects to the right server. If you’re on a company domain, make sure your DNS settings look right. Messed-up DNS can keep Outlook from finding the mail server. Flushing the DNS cache with ipconfig /flushdns sometimes clears up weird issues. Outlook might guide to Office 365 sign-in errors display an Offline working mode or ‘Disconnected’ if the issue arises with internet connectivity. Outlook could remain in disconnected mode until the connection is back online.

How To Fix Outlook Stuck in Offline Mode?

When you keep everything updated, you cut down on the chances of file corruption. A lot of offline mode headaches actually start with outdated builds and unreliable OST handling. If Outlook refuses to come back online, you’re probably looking at a profile issue, a bad OST file, or a mix-up with your Exchange account setup. Fixing these directly usually brings things back to normal. Confusion happens when a device hooks up to more than one Office 365 environment.

Verify Work Offline Button Status

Click the 'Work Offline' option to reset work offline mode and reconnect to the Exchange or mailbox server. To go online, open Outlook and navigate to Send/Receive and uncheck work offline. Ensure your connection is active and Outlook can access the mail server without connectivity. In such cases, you can recreate the OST file or use the Stellar Converter for OST software to convert the problematic OST file to Outlook importable PST format.

Method 1: Reset 'Work Offline' to Reconnect

It’s really important to know which Exchange or Office 365 environment Outlook should use. If you don’t get this right, Outlook will just sit in offline mode, unable to do much. Sometimes Exchange server permissions or policies get set up wrong.





We have explained all the essential methods to fix the Outlook stuck in offline mode error. If the issue is not resolved manually, we recommend using the suggested software to recover Outlook files and continue using Outlook without any interruptions. If these manual approaches do not work then it may happen due to damaged Outlook files.

Setup Exchange Server Account Manually

Given below are just a few examples of possible reasons. Select Work Offline from the Send/Receive tab in Outlook to reconnect. Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support.



Sometimes a VPN or firewall blocks Outlook, so try turning those off for a minute to see if it helps. Hybrid setups—where you’ve got both on-premises Exchange servers and Office 365—can run into DNS or Autodiscover problems. If your external DNS doesn’t match the internal setup, Outlook can lose track of where it’s supposed to connect. Outdated software often brings compatibility headaches that break your connection. Further, the drive status for any drive which has a file/folder set to be available offline is stuck on "Offline". Even after following the above process, rebuild Outlook data file quickly if the issue of offline still present, and OST corruption might be the actual cause.