Outlook in Offline Mode

Do you use the Outlook desktop application? If so, you can also work with your email program offline. We’ll explain the basics as well as how you can activate and deactivate Outlook’s offline mode.

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How to Work with Outlook’s Offline Mode

Outlook’s offline mode enables you to conveniently use your email program even without access to the internet. If your internet connection drops –when working on your laptop on an airplane, for example – Outlook will show you an error message in standard mode. You can stop these kinds of messages by switching Outlook to offline mode.

Starting Outlook in Offline Mode

Take the following steps to activate Outlook’s offline mode:

Step 1: Start Outlook.

Step 2: Go to the “Send / Receive” tab.

Step 3: Click on the “Work Offline” button in the “Preferences” section.

The menu bar in Microsoft Outlook 2016: the “Send / Receive” tab
The menu bar in Microsoft Outlook 2016.

When working offline in Outlook, the “Work Offline” button will turn blue.

The menu bar in Microsoft Outlook 2016: the “Send / Receive” tab
The blue button indicates that you’re currently working offline in Outlook.

Moreover, Outlook’s offline mode is also indicated in the footer of your email program.

The Outlook status bar: “Offline” status
The Outlook status bar: You should see the status “Connected” in the standard mode. If the email program is in offline mode, you will not be able to send or receive messages and appointments.

Switching off Offline Mode in Outlook

To end Outlook’s offline mode, simply click on the “Work Offline” button again in the “Send / Receive” tab.

If Outlook is unable to connect to the email server even though you’ve ended the offline mode, Outlook will display the “Disconnected” status in the footer.

Outlook “Disconnected” Status: How to Find the Cause

If Outlook displays the status “Disconnected”, your email program is unable to connect to the online email server.

Take the steps below to identify the cause of the error:

  1. First, check whether your computer is connected to the internet – for example, by attempting to access a web page in your browser.
  2. If you’ve determined that your internet connection is working properly, you should then check whether you can send and receive emails in Outlook.
  3. If Outlook displays the status “Disconnected” even though you’re able to send and receive emails without any issues, your computer might need an update. Update your operating system in this case.
  4. However, if your software is already up to date, there is probably an issue with your account settings.

If you’ve identified the Outlook account settings as the cause of the problem, you can try to resolve it by removing the Outlook account and then adding the Outlook account again.

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