When Microsoft Outlook displays “Disconnected” or “Trying to connect” in the lower right status bar, your emails cannot send or receive. For small business offices, this usually boils down to an expired Microsoft 365 authentication token or a corrupt local OST data file.
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Fix 1: Disconnect and Reconnect Work or School Account
- Close Outlook completely.
- Open Windows Settings > Accounts > Access work or school.
- Locate your company email account, click it, and select Disconnect.
- Restart your computer, reopen Outlook, and sign in again with Modern 2FA authentication.
Fix 2: Rebuild the Corrupt Outlook .OST Cache
- Press Windows Key + R, type
%localappdata%MicrosoftOutlook, and hit Enter. - Locate the file ending in
.ost. - Rename it to
.ost.old. - Reopen Outlook. It will automatically re-download clean email copies directly from the Microsoft 365 Exchange server.