Outlook not Updating Automatically - How to Fix It?

There are times when emails don’t get downloaded automatically in Outlook. It does not automatically perform send/ receive operation to download emails from the server. When Outlook doesn’t update automatically, it really becomes difficult. So how to fix Outlook not updating automatically issue?

Many users have faced this issue with Outlook 2016. It does not update automatically when send / receive operation is performed to download emails from the server. This behavior of Outlook 2016 (or other Outlook versions too) occurs because of a damaged Send / Receive group within Outlook. To resolve this problem, you need to create a new send / receive group in MS Outlook.

Why does Outlook not Update Automatically?

Outlook might not be updating due to the issues mentioned below:

• Corruption of PST file.
• If the auto-update feature is diabled.
• If the Outlook account is not set or bugs in Outlook program.

How do I Get Outlook to Auto Refresh?

Method 1: Set Auto-update Feature

Users sometimes forget to set their Outlook inbox to auto-update. That might be one of the reasons for the error Outlook not updating automatically. Follow the steps below to set auto refresh:

• Open Outlook and click on the File > Options > click Advanced option.
• Click the Send/Receive tab.
• Now, select Send/Receive Groups.
• Click on define Send/Receive Groups
• For each account, select the Schedule an Automatic Send/Receive
• Tweak the frequency of the refresh rate.
• Click on the Close button.

Method 2: Increase the Inbox Refresh Rate

• In MS Outlook, go to File -> Options -> Advanced -> Send/Receive.
• Create a new send / receive group in Outlook or click All Accounts group, then click Copy.
• Type the new group name under Send/Receive Group Name, then click OK.
• Click on All Accounts.
• Include this group in send/receive (F9).
• Schedule an automatic send/receive every X minutes (where X is the time in minutes).
• Click on Close -> Quit then restart your Outlook.

Method 3: Try Cleaning Offline Items

'Cached Exchange Mode' is enabled by default in the vast majority of Microsoft Outlook accounts. This allows you to work with MS Outlook on the go, even if you are not connected to the internet.

• Go to the inbox folder in Outlook and right-click on the specified folder from which you want to clear all offline items.
• Now from the drop-down, select the Properties option.
• Choose the Clear Offline Items option.
• In the confirmation prompt, select OK.
• Then a warning dialog box comes out. Please click on the OK button.

Method 4: Try Deleting OST files

Try deleting the OST files to fix the 'Outlook not refreshing automatically' problem. To delete OST files, follow these steps:

• First close your Outlook account and exit from it completely.
• Now go to the search bar and type Run which will open a dialog box.
• Then type %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Outlook\ in the run box and press Enter
• Now you will see the display window of the Outlook folder. Browse and open the .ost file from the folder.
• Right click on the .ost file and select delete to complete the process.

Microsoft Outlook will now update automatically and you will be able to send / receive emails without any problems. Suppose the above fix hasn’t worked, then it means that the problem could be more serious. May be PST file is corrupted. In case the file is corrupted, then you can try to fix it by running inbox repair tool scanPST.exe. In case, the Inbox repair tool fails to fix the issue, then you need an Outlook Repair tool like Remo Repair Outlook PST to fix the PST file and subsequently the not updating issue.

Repair Outlook not Updating Automatically Issue with Remo Outlook Repair Tool

Remo Outlook Repair software will securely repair corrupt PST file and fix Outlook not updating automatically issue. It is a read-only tool which doesn’t damage the original corrupt PST file throughout the repair process. Rather, it creates a new healthy file; thus the original file is left intact. The application also helps to repair Outlook not responding issue, Outlook work offline problem, Outlook freezing problem, and so on with ease.

Guide to Repair Outlook not Updating Automatically issue:

Download Remo Repair Outlook tool and install it to your computer / laptop running Windows OS. Follow below explained step-by-step instructions to fix PST file when Outlook is not updating automatically in 2016, 2013, 2010 Outlook versions.

Step 1: Launch Remo Repair Outlook and browse your Outlook PST file using Open PST File or Find PST File or Select Outlook Profile option.

Step 2: Choose the storage path where you want to save the fixed PST file using Browse option, then click on Repair button.

Step 3: Once the repair process is completed, you can Preview the fixed PST file along with its items.