Quick answer
On the Send / Receive tab, check whether Work Offline is highlighted. If it is, click it once to go back online — this fixes it most of the time. If not, re-enter your password when prompted, then fully close and reopen Outlook.
WHY IT HAPPENS
Usually a setting, not an outage.
The status message at the bottom-right of Outlook tells you a lot. "Working Offline" means someone (or a stray keypress) toggled Outlook off the server. "Needs Password" means your saved sign-in has expired — common after a password change or an MFA reset. "Trying to connect / Disconnected" points to a network, credential or Office issue. Work down the list below.
THE FIX
Work through these in order.
- Turn off Work OfflineGo to the Send / Receive tab. If the Work Offline button is highlighted/pressed in, click it once. The status should change to "Connected" within a few seconds.
- Confirm your internet actually worksOpen a website in your browser. If nothing loads, the problem is your connection or Wi-Fi, not Outlook — sort that first.
- Re-enter your passwordIf Outlook shows "Needs Password", click it and sign in again. Tick "remember" so it doesn't keep prompting. If it loops without accepting the password, move to the next step.
- Fully restart Outlook (and the PC)Close Outlook completely, wait a few seconds, and reopen. If it's still stuck, restart the whole computer — this clears a half-connected session.
- Check Microsoft 365 service healthIf several people are affected at once, it may be a Microsoft-side outage. Check status.office.com or ask your IT provider before troubleshooting individual PCs.
- Clear saved Office credentialsOpen Windows Credential Manager → Windows Credentials, remove any entries beginning with MicrosoftOffice or MSOutlook, then reopen Outlook and sign in fresh.
- Run an Office quick repairIn Windows Settings → Installed apps, find Microsoft 365 / Office, choose Modify → Quick Repair. This resets Office components without removing your data.
If it keeps disconnecting — or it's happening to several staff at once — the cause is more likely at the account, licensing or network level than on any one PC. That's the point to loop in your IT provider rather than repeating fixes on each machine.
