The Outlook app is one of the more reliable options if you’re using an email provider – but it’s not perfect. There are times where the Microsoft Outlook Mobile app may stop working on your device. If this is the case for you, then here’s what you should do.
Outlook App Not Working – Try this first
If your Microsoft Outlook app isn’t working, there’s a good chance this is down to your network connection. If you’re connected to Wi-Fi or mobile data, you may want to reset the device you’re using. This could also be due to your internet service provider too, so it’s worth checking that there’s nothing wrong with your broadband too.
There’s a few things you absolutely must try before you start pulling out cables and calling the boss on your phone. The first thing you should do is check that Airplane mode is disabled on your device.
It’s easily done when taking your phone out of your pocket or picking it up off the table, and it will definitely prevent your internet-based apps from working. Check that the plane icon isn’t toggled on.

If it isn’t, and you are still having issues, try restarting your phone. It seems simple, but sometimes that’s just the thing that works, and it’s worth trying. If that doesn’t work, then there’s a few more things you can try too.
Check your connection
I would recommend checking if any other internet-based sites or apps work before you do anything else. If you find out google and other apps are working as they should with the outlook app not working, you can skip the next sections until you get to “updating your app.” Otherwise, continue reading to solve your connectivity issues.
If you’re seeing a spinning circle on your screen, or when you open up the app, it’s just white, you are most likely suffering from a bad Wi-Fi connection. Most issues with our gadgets these days are unfortunately linked to our internet connection, as I’m sure you’ve experienced the fun of a buffering video before. The same can be true for apps.

The easiest thing to try is getting nice and close to your router. The further away from it you are, the higher the chance you can lose the signal, or have something interfering with it.
Reset that router
When dancing around your router doesn’t work, it might be time to take the fight to it. Unplug both the power and phoneline and stare it down for a good 30 seconds. In that time, it will reset its DNS, IP and any weird bits of connectivity weirdness it’s picked up since you last turned it off. Most of the time, this will fix any connectivity issues you have, as sometimes routers need to update too, and resetting them gives them the prompt they need.
Now, if that doesn’t work, there’s a few options left, but the next thing you have to do is find out if the problem is really your connection, or Microsoft’s.
Check the Microsoft servers
While Microsoft (the owner of Outlook) is one of the largest companies in the world, they aren’t perfect and occasionally accidents happen. Interns trip over cables, builders dig through buried lines and sometimes an update breaks some code which takes all the servers down. These are rare but sometimes do happen. Or it could be planned maintenance, but either way you will just have to wait unfortunately. To find out if the Outlook servers are down, you can check here. If there is an outage, this page will tell you.

Update Outlook
If you have an internet connection, but the app still isn’t working problem, it may be missing a crucial update. You can update by following the image guide below and clicking the update button after tapping on “app details in store.”
Alternatively, Outlook has a common problem where it fails to sync if it isn’t shut down properly. The way to fix the outlook app not working is to force-stop the app, and then restarting it. To force stop, you can follow the same image guide below, but instead of going to the update section, tap “force stop” circled in blue.



Reinstall the app
If all else fails, this is your final option. It’s not ideal, as you will have to note your login details and reset your app preferences, but it will give you a brand-new version of the app, and hopefully one that works. You can uninstall the app by longholding on the icon and then tapping “uninstall.” Make sure to write down your login information first though!
Conclusion
Keeping your Outlook app updated, and your Wi-Fi secure and stable, are both essential to minimizing potential app downtime. The ways that you can fix Outlook are usually similar to that of when Gmail stops working – making sure you’re connected with an updated app is key for all email providers.
Outlook is very prone to breaking without updates, as security changes are made constantly to the app, and without these changes, emails do not get sent or received.