Windows Live Mail Not Working? Reasons and Ways to Solve the Issues

While Windows 10 has its own built-in mail app, if you're using the Live Mail app and facing connectivity-related issues, then do the following:

Select the Windows Start menu, then click Settings > Network & Internet > Status.

Ensure that it says You're connected to the Internet. If not, check the LED light status on your router or modem.

Try restarting your router if you don't have internet access despite being connected to Wi-Fi.

For Windows Store app troubleshooting, select Start menu > Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot on Windows 10, and then click on Internet Connections.

To configure your server settings, launch the Windows Mail app and do the following:

Click the Accounts tab on the menu bar and select Properties.

Select the Servers tab and check the following. According to Microsoft's official server configuration guidelines:

• Your incoming mail server is an IMAP or POP.
• Your Incoming mail or IMAP starts with mail. then your domain name. For example: mail.example.com
• Your Outgoing mail or SMTP begins with smtp. then your domain name. For example: smtp.example.com
• Your Email username should show your full email address.
• Your Password is correct.
• You selected Log on using clear text authentication.You ticked My server requires authentication.

Click and open Settings next to Outgoing Mail Server.

Make sure you have selected Use same settings as my incoming mail server to prevent any chance of a situation when Windows Live Mail outgoing mail is not working.

If your Windows mail is not working due to the mail app server connectivity issues, try to reset the server or your Windows Live Mail account.

Click on Accounts on the top menu bar and right click the account server you want to reset from the left sidebar.

Select Properties and click on the Servers tab to reset the server settings.

Select the Accounts tab and click on Email to get started on checking your account settings.

Enter all your account details and password. Make sure to tick Manually configure server settings before clicking Next.

Ensure you have the following:

IMAP as your Server type.

Server address starts with imap. followed by your domain and Port 993.

Requires a secure connection is ticked.

Make sure the Windows Live Mail app is not being blocked by your Windows Firewall or Antivirus. Security researchers at CISA recommend temporarily disabling security software to test connectivity issues.

Select the Windows Start button > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security, then select Firewall & network protection.

Click on any active network and turn off the Defender Firewall toggle.

Confirm the changes and test your Live Mail app before turning your Windows Firewall back on. Do the same for your Antivirus.

For Windows 7, start by going to the Control Panel > Programsand select Windows Live Essentials to uninstall/change.

But before that, make sure to back up your emails and contacts by clicking on the File menu on the Live Mail app. Go toExport email > Email messages.

It will ask you to choose a format, backup location, and the folders you wish to backup.

Select Microsoft Windows Live Mail as the format. Browse and choose a safe location to store your backup, select All Folders or the ones necessary to you, and click Next to Export.

To save your address book, select Contacts on the bottom left pane.

Then go to the top menu bar and click Export > Comma Separated Values (.CSV) and save the file to a safe location.

Now that you have backed up the files, you can select Remove one or more Windows Live programs and click Mail to uninstall.

Download and open the setup file from the Windows Store apps and follow the instructions as before to reinstall the Live Mail app. Import all your backup files, and you're done.

Sometimes, clearing the Microsoft store cache also helps and removes any potential corrupt system files, which you do by typing a command prompt on the Windows search bar and clicking Run as administrative.

Then select Troubleshoot > Additional troubleshooters, then select Windows Store Apps to clean the Microsoft store cache.

You can try email filtering for missing files, such as new emails not showing up in the inbox. First, go to the Folders tab on top and select Message rules.

Now click on the Email Rules tab and select the New button on the right to generate a New Mail Rule dialogue.

Select the conditions you wish to apply to your incoming emails and tick the actions you want to apply on the messages passing or matching the conditions you selected before.

Click on the links generated in the third section of the pop-up and define all the required specifications before saving the rule.

Now you can select the rules for filtering emails and click Apply now. Exit the setup and check if your missing emails are back in their respective folders. Follow these steps properly to avoid the situation where Windows Live Mail rules are not working.

If the missing emails are not in any folders in the desktop app, you can inspect the Storage Folders.
Go to your Local Drive (:C) > Users > Admin (user) . Now click on the View button and tick Hidden items on the right upper tab.

Open AppData > Local > Microsoft > Windows Live Mail.

Alternatively, you can also copy and paste the address AppDataLocalMicrosoftWindows Live Mailafter going to Local drive > Users > Admin (users) to find the folder.

You will find all your sent, deleted, and draft emails inside the Storage Folders.

Launch the Live Mail app and go to Accounts on the top menu then Properties.

Check the General, Servers, and Advanced tabs to see if your settings are accurate. If not, go to Accounts > Email to manually configure them as before.

To generate a system file diagnostic report, make sure you are logged in as an Administrator.

Press Windows Key + R to launch the Run dialogue box. Now type inperfmon /reportand OK to start.

Generating the report from Command Prompt (Admin) with running the same command works too.

A pop-up titled Resource and Performance Monitor will show up. It will take a while for the test to complete.

Once it's done, you will get your PC's hardware and software configurations, Network, CPU, Memory data, and health summary to note any need for troubleshooting or maintenance.

Reinstalling the app helps to clear issues most of the time. Start by going to the Control Panel and then click on Programs and Features.

After clicking on Uninstall/Change on Windows Essentials 2012, select Remove one or more Windows Live programsand tick Mail to successfully uninstall Windows Live Mail.

Open the Windows Essentials 2012 setup file, and select Mail to reinstall the Live Mail app.

If you are running the Windows Mail app on Windows 8 or Windows 10, then check if there are any system updates available or necessary that might be interfering with the performance of the mail app.