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Outlook.com Exchange account can't be set up on OS X.

PROBLEM: 
I'm not able to set up an Outlook.com account (with a hosted domain) on OS X for Mail, Calendar and Contacts.

DUPLICATION:
Register a domain name, and point its MX entries in DNS to outlook.com per documentation. Verify email can be received there. Next, open System Preferences -> Mail, Contacts & Calendars. Add a new account of type "Microsoft Exchange". Enter information into the various fields as requested and specify the settings as described under the "Apps that support Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync" portion of this article: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/outlook/send-receive-from-app

Upon clicking "continue" the second time, I'm getting the following error:

"The Exchange server 's.outlook.com' is not responding. Try checking the network connection, and that the server name is correct. Otherwise, the server might be temporarily unavailable."

Network connection is solid as I'm able to post this. Server address is exactly what's in the aforementioned support document. There isn't a "domain" field - it doesn't exist.

NOTES:
  • I'm able to access my mail through the web browser, but to use this seriously I need an actual mail client.
  • POP3 is unacceptable. I can live with IMAP, but I'm told Outlook.com doesn't support it at all.
  • This is with a hosted domain. I own the domain and manage its DNS. The DNS is properly set up and I can receive mail at the designated address.
  • This is with the "free" version of the hosted domain setup (not Office 365). If I can't trust the free version to work, I can't justify a purchase of the full Office 365 package.
  • I *am* specifying my full e-mail address as the username (e.g. "*** Email address is removed for privacy ***", minus the quotes of course).
  • I *am* certain the password used is correct. Even if it wasn't, I should be getting an authentication failure message, not a "server not responding" message.
  • OS X 10.8.3, standard Mail.app.
  • Have also tried with Microsoft Outlook for Mac. The account appears to be set up just fine, but never actually succeeds in communicating with the server and downloading messages, nor does it display any errors.
  • All other electronic messaging systems on this Mac are working fine, including Google mail through different mail clients.
Please let me know what I need to do in order to get this working. Thank you.

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Hello,

 

Welcome to the forum. I appreciate that you provided us with a detailed description of the issue. As I understand your concern you are trying to configure you Outlook.com account in Mac Mail via Exchange but was not able to do so. I tried to replicate the issue and was able to add my Outlook.com account in Mac Mail. Though it was not through Exchange. I scroll down from the list and clicked Add another account (listed in the bottom).

 

Using the server information found in this article: Send and receive Outlook.com email from an app I successfully synchronized my account in Mac Mail.

 

I would like you to try the same then post back with the results.

 

Thanks!

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Hi Merelyn,

Thanks for trying. Unfortunately this still doesn't work. Are you setting it up in your example as an EXCHANGE account, or POP3? Mail.app reports the exact same issue as going directly through System Preferences as I previously described. POP3 is simply not an acceptable solution for me, hence my insistence on Exchange. IMAP would work just fine, too, if that was an option.

Please let me know what else can be done here. Thanks.

PS - Here's a screenshot of what happens when I set the account up in System Preferences in OS X. The exact same thing happens when setting it up through Mail.app as you've described.

http://f.cl.ly/items/0M1v3W3w0T2y461g1c3b/Screen%20Shot%202013-05-19%20at%202.53.10%20AM.png

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Hello,

 

I am adding my account to Mac Mail by choosing the Add another account found in the bottom of the list. I am using POP3 since Outlook.com does not support IMAP. If you want, you can read on this article for additional information about setting up MS Exchange.

 

Thanks!

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Thanks for the clarification Merelyn. Unfortunately as I previously stated, POP3 is not acceptable. Ergo, I struggle to understand why you'd test using a protocol I previously stated was not an acceptable solution in place of diagnosing the issues around Exchange specifically.

I can verify that Apple's mail, calendar and contacts applications do work with properly configured Microsoft Exchange servers.

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Fallen,

I have the same issue and a little bit of research on the web will indicate that Microsoft made a conscious decision to NOT support any Mac OS X email/calendar/contacts with their free Outlook.com service. They work fine using ActiveSync on iOS devices and Outlook 2013 on Windows 7/8. They just don't let you use ActiveSync with Max OS X Mail. It's truly frustrating.

I have found numerous articles pointing to that s.outlook.com server but those seem to reference the paid subscription for Office 365 which is full blown Exchange.

All we can do is wait for Apple or Microsoft to make it happen. Sorry that I do not have better news for you.

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If this is accurate it kind of makes Outlook.com relatively useless for anyone who wants to use it on a Mac and a mobile device.

I would love an alternative to gmail,, but it's a non-starter if desktop access is limited to web-based or POP.

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I am using IMAP.  It works fine now, think they enabled it a month ago,

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I am using IMAP.  It works fine now, think they enabled it a month ago,
Exchange doesn't work even now.

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Hi,

 

Welcome to Microsoft Community and sorry for the delayed response.

 

Please be informed that now Outlook.com offers IMAP configuration.

 

Regarding your concern about Outlook.com still not working with Exchange in Mac, I would like to verify if you have seen the article provided by Merelyn_U. If not, please read the article and select "Apps that support Exchange Active Sync" for configuration.

 

Should you have any other questions or concerns, please let us know.

 

Thank you.

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Hi,

 

Welcome to Microsoft Community and sorry for the delayed response.

 

Please be informed that now Outlook.com offers IMAP configuration.

 

Regarding your concern about Outlook.com still not working with Exchange in Mac, I would like to verify if you have seen the article provided by Merelyn_U. If not, please read the article and select "Apps that support Exchange Active Sync" for configuration.

 

Should you have any other questions or concerns, please let us know.

 

Thank you.


Yes, I read that article. Still doesn't help.

EAS works with Outlook.com email address, but not with Outlook.com custom domains email address (hosted via domains.live.com, the Microsoft equivalent of Google Apps)

If you could provide the server settings, that would be great.

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Question Info

Last updated September 30, 2021 Views 22,602 Applies to: