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Scott Lundberg
Asked: 2009-10-22 12:09:59 +0800 CST

Outlook 2007 does not refresh inbox upon receipt of new email

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We have a user in our office who recently reported that Outlook 2007 is having trouble displaying newly arrived messages. If he changes to another folder and then comes back to the inbox, the messages show up immediately.
Environment

  • Windows XP SP3
  • Office 2007 build (12.0.4518.1014)
  • Pop3/SMTP account

His outlook.pst is large (~2.2GB), though we have many other users with .pst files bigger without this trouble.
Googleing suggests that an add-in like Google Desktop or MS Search could be causing the problem. He has never had any extra add-ins installed... Just in case, I have disabled all the build-in add-ins from the trust center, except for VBA, which is required for some auto-updating spreadsheets we use for contact management...
Any ideas would be appreciated.

email

5 Answers

  1. I've seen similar problems in the past arise from the use of the "Used Cached Exchange Mode" setting. You can find the checkbox for that on the Account Settings/Microsoft Exchange Settings page in the Outlook config.

    In the environment I was in, any user that had that setting turned on would have to manually check for new messages, via folder switching or "Send/Receive" whereas anyone without the setting saw mail the second it hit their inbox.

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  2. Best Answer

    1) Does the user have Google Desktop Search installed? If so, disable the outlook add-in and restart Outlook.

    2) Can you do an update to Office 2007 SP2?

    3) A farfetched answer I've heard is that the user must be a participant in the Customer Experience Improvement Program. Close Outlook, open Word, click the office button, click Word Options, click Trust Center, click Trust Center Options, click Privacy Options, and select the option for the Customer Experience Improvement Program (4th option). Then close Word and restart Outlook.

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  3. I had the same exact problem, My outlook inbox would not automatically update when someone would send me an email. I would have to manually update the folder via Send/Receive.

    I unchecked the "Use Exchange Mode", shut outlook down, restarted, rechecked to "Use Exchange Mode" and everything is flowing in flawless!

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  4. Copy the PST as a backup.

    Anytime things get flaky w/ Outlook it's a fast test to recreate the Outlook profile. Set up the new profile with an incorrect pswd until you have connected the existing PST, otherwise you can end up with dupe msgs.

    If this fixes it then rename the .NK2 file to the new profile name and you're done.

    If it's still happening:
    Confirm the drive hasn't been compressed or isn't running out of space.
    Confirm only 1 AV/anti-malware/anti-spyware app is running.
    Disable AV temporarily.
    Test - if OK now then resolve AV issue or:

    Close Outlook
    Run ScanPst, fix errors.
    Compress the PST.
    Test.
    Restart AV.
    Test.
    Clean up the backups, it's easy to end up with 8GB of PSTs laying around.

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  5. I was having this issue in outlook 2016. My account would download the new email it seemed but it wouldn't show that I had anything until I clicked on the accounts. I have about 10 IMAP accounts in outlook.

    "3) A farfetched answer I've heard is that the user must be a participant in the Customer Experience Improvement Program. Close Outlook, open Word, click the office button, click Word Options, click Trust Center, click Trust Center Options, click Privacy Options, and select the option for the Customer Experience Improvement Program (4th option). Then close Word and restart Outlook."

    I went into word and did this. I opened outlook to verify this was the fix. Then I went back into word and unchecked it. Everything is still working now. NOTE: in 2016 the line item is "Send personal information to Microsoft to make improvements."

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