I can't get my gmail email through Outlook classic any more.

Question

I can't get my gmail email through Outlook classic any more.

Tricia Kritzberg 0

I am unable to get gmail email with Outlook Classic. Outlook keeps telling me there is a problem finding the accounts. I have had two gmail accounts linked to Outlook Classic for decades. Now they don't download email any more. I switched to the new Outlook and they started downloading there, but that version of Outlook wouldn't let me create calendar events from emails (which I consider a severe functionality shortcoming) so I switched back to classic and it isn't downloading my gmail. I tried deleting one of the accounts in Outlook with the intention of relinking it, but I can't relink it because it can't find the account. I've tried to repaid the account that is remaining and it says it can't find it. What happened and how can I fix it.

I can access the gmail accounts through the Gmail webpage and from my phone. There is nothing wrong wit the gmail accounts.

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2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Hi Tricia Kritzberg,

I can understand how frustrating this is, especially when the same Gmail accounts have worked in Classic Outlook for years and continue to work correctly in Gmail and the new Outlook.

Since the accounts are still accessible through Gmail and your phone, the issue may be related to how Classic Outlook is authenticating with the Gmail accounts rather than a problem with the Gmail accounts themselves.

A couple of additional things you may want to try:

1, Create a new Outlook profile and test the Gmail account there

Close Outlook.
Open Control Panel > Mail > Show Profiles.
Select Add and create a new profile.
Add the Gmail account to the new profile and test synchronization.

2, Check whether Outlook can reach mail servers without interference

Temporarily disable any third-party antivirus email scanning feature.
Start Outlook and see if the Gmail account can be discovered and synchronized.

If the Gmail account works in a newly created profile, that may indicate the original Outlook profile has become corrupted. If the issue persists even in a new profile, it would be helpful to know the exact error message shown when Outlook tries to find or add the account, as that can help narrow down the cause further.

I hope this helps point you in the right direction. Let me know if you need further assistance, feel free to ask me by clicking "Add Comment" or "Add Answer" if you cannot add comment so your response will be visible. Thanks for your effort.

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Answer 2

This matches a known Classic Outlook issue affecting Gmail accounts. In some cases Outlook stops syncing and does not prompt for Gmail sign-in again, or it fails when trying to add the Gmail account back.

What likely happened:

Classic Outlook had known Gmail sign-in and sync issues.
If Outlook is not prompting for sign-in, stale OAuth credentials can block sync.
If adding the account fails with the IMAP setup error, the Google permission grant may need to be reset and repeated.

Try this in order.

Remove the stored Gmail OAuth credentials in Windows

Close Outlook.
Open Credential Manager from the Windows Start menu.
Select Windows Credentials.
Under Generic credentials, find entries starting with MicrosoftOffice16_Data:OAUTH2.
Expand them and identify the ones that include tp_google_imap_Oauth2.
Remove each of those entries for the affected Gmail account.
Restart Outlook.
Sign in to the Gmail account again when prompted.
If mail does not start syncing immediately, restart Outlook one more time.

If Outlook still cannot add or reconnect the Gmail account, reset Google access and retry

Close Outlook.
Sign in to the Google account in a browser.
Open Manage your Google Account > Security.
Go to Your connections to third-party apps & services > Microsoft apps & services.
Open See Details.
Under Access you've given to Microsoft apps & services, select Remove all access and confirm.
In Outlook, add the Gmail account again with File > Add Account.
During the browser sign-in, make sure the Google permissions screen allows Microsoft apps & services to “Read, compose, send, and permanently delete all your email from Gmail.”
If Outlook shows Something went wrong, select Retry.

If the account is already in the profile but still will not sync

Open Outlook in the affected profile.
Use the Sign in via browser prompt if it appears.
Complete the browser sign-in again and make sure the Gmail permission box above is accepted.

If Outlook still does not prompt for sign-in This step is more advanced and involves the registry. Incorrect registry changes can affect Outlook sign-in behavior.

Close Outlook.
Open Registry Editor.
Go to: Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Identity\Identities
Find the identity subkey that matches the Gmail address that is not syncing.
Delete only that identity key.
Restart Outlook and sign in again.

If the problem is specifically when adding the Gmail account and Outlook says it cannot set up the Google account with IMAP, also verify IMAP is enabled in Gmail, because that same error can occur when IMAP is disabled.

References: