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  • #2263337

    How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

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    by ebecca ·

    This seems to be a common and frustrating problem, and I haven’t been able to find an answer anywhere. My computer periodically tells me that Microsoft Office 2003 is synchronizing folders. While it’s doing that – and it takes awhile – not much else can happen. I use only one computer, and I have nothing to synchronize. Can anyone tell me how to turn off synchronization?
    Thanks so much!

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    • #2501702

      Clarifications

      by ebecca ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      Clarifications

    • #2501686

      uninstall it……

      by jamesatmaisonverre ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      or use an older version of office.If its freezing things (which it should not) check your compatability for the software,defrag your hdd and if all is clear with the problem remaining,perform an office repair.

      • #2501636

        thanks but I’ve tried most of that

        by ebecca ·

        In reply to uninstall it……

        I have new computer, so I don’t think software compatibility is the issue.

        My hard drive was recently defragged and does not appear to need further defragging.

        I’ve performed a repair.

        Do you have any idea what Office is even doing when it “synchronizes” my files? Since I use only one computer, what is it synchronizing? Is there a name for the synchronizing function – could I uninstall that function?

        Thanks again.

        • #2484275

          offline files

          by brooklyns finest ·

          In reply to thanks but I’ve tried most of that

          Try this open up my documents then go to “tools>folder options–then offline folders tab” once here you can disable offline folders. I believe you have a desktop because you stated you use only one computer. If you disable offline folders then you will not have the synchronization nightmare. You will have to reboot though after you disable this feature. Let me know if this helps

        • #2500749

          Disabling “Synchronise” feature

          by eddie, gh ·

          In reply to offline files

          Brooklyn is right, and is on the right track. However, if you are using Windows XP, there is a ‘Synchronise’ tab in the Tools menu instead of folder options where you deal with the problem.

          Meanwhile, take note of the folders or files listed as being synchronised when the PC is shutting down. Locate the windows containing those files and solve your problem there.

        • #2500567

          disable synchronize

          by brooklyns finest ·

          In reply to Disabling “Synchronise” feature

          When you disable offline folders this turns off synrhonization all together

        • #2490737

          I hate to disagree, but not for Outlook

          by charliespencer ·

          In reply to disable synchronize

          The process describe in the posts above works for conventional files but not for Outlook mailbox syncronization. At least not in an Exchange environment.

          In Outlook 2003, click Tools, E-mail Accounts, View or Change Existing E-mail Accounts. Select your Exchange profile and then click Change. Uncheck the “Used Cached Exchange Mode” checkbox. Close Outlook and restart it.

          Now search your system for a .OST file. This file is the local copy of your Outlook mailbox and is no longer needed. The date and time of the file should match the time you closed Outlook after turning the Cached Mode off. You can delete it.

        • #2493011

          Stand-alone PC

          by eddie, gh ·

          In reply to I hate to disagree, but not for Outlook

          Palmeto’s given good info – though in the stand-alone environment, ebecca might not find the info useful now.

        • #2503895

          “….not for Outlook” reply

          by ebecca ·

          In reply to I hate to disagree, but not for Outlook

          I don’t think I have an Exchange profile. At least, none of my email account information says say anything about “Use Chached Exchange Mode.”

          this is the weirdest problem! thanks for helping.

        • #2503896

          “….not for Outlook” reply

          by ebecca ·

          In reply to I hate to disagree, but not for Outlook

          I don’t think I have an Exchange profile. At least, none of my email account information says say anything about “Use Chached Exchange Mode.”

          this is the weirdest problem! thanks for helping.

        • #2503897

          “….not for Outlook” reply

          by ebecca ·

          In reply to I hate to disagree, but not for Outlook

          I don’t think I have an Exchange profile. At least, none of my email account information says say anything about “Use Chached Exchange Mode.”

          this is the weirdest problem! thanks for helping.

        • #2994951

          Synchronization of Folders

          by ewillmes ·

          In reply to disable synchronize

          My “Offline Folders” have been and are disabled; Outlook still synchronizes folders whenever I hit “Send and Receive”, and sometimes it takes so long that I cannot receive my emails. The folks at MS don’t have an answer (what else is new), and nobody in all the blogs has given the answer to this annoying issue yet.

        • #2503899

          Disabling “Synchronise” feature – reply

          by ebecca ·

          In reply to Disabling “Synchronise” feature

          thanks for your reply. My computer synchronizes when I start up, not when I shut down. In the tools menu for My Documents, under “synchronize” it says there are no offline files to synchronize. But something or other is being synchronized! go figure.

          Rebecca

        • #2795303

          Found a synchronize tab in windows folders

          by librehombre ·

          In reply to Disabling “Synchronise” feature

          But it doesn’t list any folders that it wants to synchronize.

          I am working on a stand alone version of Outlook, not connected to an IT server.

          How would you catch the folders or files listed as being synchronized? I never see any messages like this that I am aware of. I’ll try to pay more attention.

        • #2503900

          “offline files” reply

          by ebecca ·

          In reply to offline files

          I’ve been out of town. sorry for the delay in responding.

          My “tools>folder options” choices do not include an offline folders tab. Your solution sounds promising – any idea where I might find this menu?

          Thanks so much.

          Rebecca

        • #2571851

          Exchange Server .ost-file etc

          by gunnarh ·

          In reply to “offline files” reply

          If you use Outlokk in a stationary office environment you usually don?t have any offline .ost file to synchronize at all. All folder data are on the Exchange server. In a portable, laptop environment you have the offline file mirroring the server information and you might see the Outlook program synchronize. If you are not connected to a Exchange server at all you do not have any traces of any offline features and synchronizing in the Outlook menus and really you would not have any synchronizing going on either, but you might have… I will place another comment/reply in this thread on that where I find it appropriate.

        • #3019727

          Try this to stop synchronizing

          by global111 ·

          In reply to thanks but I’ve tried most of that

          Open Windows Explorer and click on Tools from Menu Bar than click on Synchronize and remove and check marks that start the Synchronizing – check different Tabs and remove different check marks to Turn Off Automatically Synchronizing.

        • #3019724

          Also Try This to Stop Synching

          by global111 ·

          In reply to Try this to stop synchronizing

          Open Window Explorer and click on Tools – Folder Options and click on Offline Files and remove the Synchronize options that are checked off. Also check under the different Tabs under Folder Options and remove any unnessary check marks for synching.

    • #2490835

      synchronizing folders

      by faloons ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      ebecca,

      Have you found a solution that works. My situation seems to be exactly the same as yours and, like you, have searched everywhere and tried every applicable solution suggested to no avail. Any ideas?

      • #2508749

        “Microsoft Office Outlook is Synchronizing Folders”

        by jpk_ ·

        In reply to synchronizing folders

        ebecca, faloons,

        If you google that phrase exactly, you’ll see lots of attempts to solve this problem, but I still haven’t found one that works.

        Pop3 email, outlook 2003. At least once a day it pops up saying “microsoft office outlook is synchronizing folders” and it locks up outlook. No offline files or exchange servers over here.

        Starting to think about thunderbird…

    • #2503785

      Let’s take this again from the top, please.

      by charliespencer ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      -Exactly- what is synchronizing, Outlook, other Office files, or something else entirely? When you get a sync’ing message, is it in a separate window, at the bottom of an application, or is it displayed in some other manner? Is there more than one message, and would you repost them again?

      • #2503661

        “Microsoft Office Outlook is Synchronizing Folders”

        by jpk_ ·

        In reply to Let’s take this again from the top, please.

        The user is in outlook, working away. Suddenly there is a double-envelope icon in my Tasktray (down by the clock). If you hover over it, it pops up a dialogue box that says “Microsoft Office Outlook is synchronizing Folders”. This causes outlook (and the PC in general) to become unusable for 5-10 minutes at a time. This is a Pop3 mail setup. The PC does not have any offline files enabled. This is the only error message.

        The only other time I’ve seen this message is working in an exchange environment. When there is mail on the server and you’re setting up a new outlook profile, it creates an .OST file on the client. While this OST is created it gives the “synchronizing folders” message as above.

        Looking around on the web, the only other clue I have is that this message may be due to a server timeout. I have my user writing down the time of incident, which I’ll give to my email host, but why only on this PC, which shares internet access with the whole office?

        I’m thinking that the “Microsoft Office Outlook is Synchronizing Folders” error is not an accurate description of what is really going wrong, but an error message created for Exchange that Outlook is somehow referencing in Pop3 mode. I’ve looked (google, newsgroups, experts-exchange, technet) but have found no answer yet.

        Many thanks to anyone who can lead to a solution. I’ll also buy you your favorite cup of coffee.

        JP

        • #2503626

          Try this

          by charliespencer ·

          In reply to “Microsoft Office Outlook is Synchronizing Folders”

          Tools
          E-mail Accounts
          View or Change Existing E-Mail Accounts
          Select your POP3 account
          Change
          More Settings
          Advanced
          Unmark “Leave a copy of messages on the server”.
          Okay
          Next
          Finish

          If that doesn’t do it, leave it set that way and add this

          Tools
          Send / Receive
          Send / Receive Settings
          Disable Scheduled Send / Receive

        • #2508268

          Thanks Palmetto, but…

          by ebecca ·

          In reply to Try this

          been there, done that.

          This is an amazingly frustrating problem. I’ve seen lots of people complain about it on the Net; I’ve never seen a solution.

          Rebecca

        • #2994947

          Sunchronization

          by ewillmes ·

          In reply to Try this

          Sorry, but that doesn’t cut it either

        • #2508270

          Thanks for describing it, JP

          by ebecca ·

          In reply to “Microsoft Office Outlook is Synchronizing Folders”

          Thanks for describing it so well, JP.

          I don’t think it’s a server timeout, if I understand correctly what a server timeout would mean. The other two people here who use computers don’t have this issue, and we all share the same Internet provider. I currently work from a laptop, but I had the problem on my desktop as well.

          Thanks for your thoughts.

        • #2498269

          I HAVE THE REAL SOLUTION

          by csteinke ·

          In reply to “Microsoft Office Outlook is Synchronizing Folders”

          You guys had pointed me in the right direction, but today I have definitively solved this screwy mess.

          If you right click on each of the email folders and select “properties” you will see a check box: Automatically generate Microsoft Exchange views”.

          UNcheck this box on each email folder.

          You will still get a very brief “synchronizing” message, but ONLY while it is actively linking to your POP account.

          Try it…

        • #2598671

          Correcto Mondo!

          by billjmail ·

          In reply to I HAVE THE REAL SOLUTION

          Just a special thanks I have been going crazy with this synco BS for years.
          OUTLOOK now works like a charm!
          gracia Bill

        • #2571849

          Just on Exchange server connected

          by gunnarh ·

          In reply to Correcto Mondo!

          This measure would just work for machines that are connected to Exchange servers as the Views are defined only there??? Your action sounds really weird to me..

        • #2570714

          No exchange server here and yet

          by pete ·

          In reply to Just on Exchange server connected

          this fix works very well

        • #2807316

          YOU ARE MY HERO!

          by sherryreisman ·

          In reply to I HAVE THE REAL SOLUTION

          Thank you thank you thank you for this!!! I’ve been searching the web for FOREVER. I have disabled it…I sure hope this works 🙂 It looks very promising.

        • #2956371

          It does not always work…

          by rdpflueger ·

          In reply to I HAVE THE REAL SOLUTION

          I unchecked every folder in my mailbox, but it did not resolve the problem. I am running Outlook 2007 SP2 and Vista Ultimate SP2. Not connected to any Exchange server… email account is POP3 from AT&T. Problem seems to get worse if I enable my Microsoft Live account in Outlook.

        • #2956366

          How about you start your own NEW question…….

          by thumbsup2 ·

          In reply to It does not always work…

          The original post is about 3 years old and asks questions about Office 2003 and XP, NOT 2007 and Vista.

          Start your own NEW question and describe your system specs there.

        • #3008704

          Ever hear of restore point?

          by gfrlaser ·

          In reply to I HAVE THE REAL SOLUTION

          Its simple and solves the problem. Simply restore to before it . Worked for me.

        • #2994937

          This is the solution

          by ewillmes ·

          In reply to I HAVE THE REAL SOLUTION

          Thanks a Million. This is the solution. Why can’t the guys from MS not come up with that????

        • #3010825

          this did not work, any other ideas

          by leaseit ·

          In reply to I HAVE THE REAL SOLUTION

          I went through and made sure the box was unchecked but it still synchozies for a long time and my email doesn’t send.

        • #2871679

          Help

          by jam_pot ·

          In reply to I HAVE THE REAL SOLUTION

          This does not work for me. I do not seem to have the check box that you refer to. Any other suggestions? I am using MS Office 2010.

          Cheers

        • #2510672

          Fixed in 10 seconds!!!

          by planmanjb ·

          In reply to “Microsoft Office Outlook is Synchronizing Folders”

          I tried all of the above to no avail. Then a coworker told me to turn off the AOL Firewall, and Outlook then behaved and stopped synchronizing.

        • #2640184

          Solution

          by gman2626 ·

          In reply to “Microsoft Office Outlook is Synchronizing Folders”

          Here is what someone wrote to solve this horrible problem, I just tried it, but not sure if its working till later.

          HERE’S A REAL SOLUTION (This is a post from another site)

          You guys had pointed me in the right direction, but today I have
          definitively solved this screwy mess.

          If you right click on each of the email folders and select “properties” you
          will see a check box: Automatically generate Microsoft Exchange views”.

          UNcheck this box on each email folder.

          You will still get a very brief “synchronizing” message, but ONLY while it
          is actively linking to your POP account.

          Try it…

          I DID and it does work. I’ll let you know if anything changes.

        • #2646509

          I wrote that — sad to say it did NOT hold up

          by csteinke ·

          In reply to Solution

          It seemed like it took care of it at first, but not in the long run. I STILL have the problem.

          What I HAVE done, now, is to DISABLE the automatic checking of email from my POP server. Then just click the “send/receive” manually when I want to check mail. It does a “sychronizing” step, but only during the acessing time. At least it stops interfering with other activity.

          BUT, how cool is it Microsoft, that we have to DISABLE computer automation functions?

        • #2647608

          Disabling automatic email checking does not solve it either

          by fmartelli ·

          In reply to I wrote that — sad to say it did NOT hold up

          In Tools/Options/Mail Setup, Send/Receive button, the “Schedule an automatic send/receive every xx minutes” box is unchecked. Yet, when I try to send a new message, it still gets stuck in the Outbox and I get the “Microsoft Office Outlook is synchronizing folders” message in the taskbar.
          Are you doing it differently?

        • #2553123

          Possible Answer

          by louis.hansell ·

          In reply to “Microsoft Office Outlook is Synchronizing Folders”

          I have been searching for a solution for this (browsing all the boards and forums, finding the same question but no answer), and I _think_ I found it.
          Are you running LookOut, the search tool for Outlook? If not, then this is not the solution…but if you are, click on Options at the right side of the tool, and unclick ‘Automatically synch when Outlook is idle’.
          I haven’t had the issue since I found that, which doesn’t prove its fixed. But it satisfies based on the suspicions that this was an add-on default issue and not Outlook alone.
          Let me know what you think and whether this is worth a cup of coffee!

        • #2565208

          Very good indeed

          by isabels ·

          In reply to Possible Answer

          Thanks for the tip. It worked for me and has solved a problem on which I have spent $400 with experts with no result..
          Come to Sydney and I’ll buy you a drink, Louis

        • #2570630

          Solution to Outlook is sychronizing folders issue

          by stevepimer ·

          In reply to “Microsoft Office Outlook is Synchronizing Folders”

          After trying all the suggestions posted I finally found the solution. I actually completely uninstalled then reinstalled Microsoft Office 2003, then upgraded the fresh install to Service Pack 3. But that did not solve the issue so I don’t believe you will want to waste your time on that step.

          Instead follow these instructions:

          1. Make sure you have all the email account settings logged (Outgoing email POP3 server, Incoming email SMTP server, user name, password, etc.)

          2. Go to the folder containing your Outlook.pst file, click up to it’s parent folder and right folder containing the Outlook.pst file and click copy. Then right click anywhere on the parent folder (except on an icon) and left click paste to make a copy of the folder in question.

          3. Delete the email account.

          4. Recreate a new email account using the logged settings from step 1. Let Outlook create a new Outlook.pst file.

          5. Now open the new created email account and import all the folders, email and contacts from the old email stored in the Copy of Outlook folder you created by the Copy and Paste function in the prior steps.

          6. Finally go back and delete the Copy of Outlook folder and your problem should be gone.

          It appears that the issue is caused by some abnormality in the actual email profile. Good luck.

        • #2924441

          Best Solution….but not necessary for me!

          by scott.youzva ·

          In reply to Solution to Outlook is sychronizing folders issue

          After trying a few suggestions above, nothing worked and this one seemed most reasonable, but in the middle of this process, I had to shut down my system because the Outlook.pst file was being used somewhere and would not copy. This is where I discovered that my ACT program was “not responding” and had to be shut down manually. Upon reboot, Outlook began to work OK. One thing that may have helped was the movement of most of my Sent Items files to archive. Good Luck!

        • #2794662

          Solution to endless synchronizing in Outlook 2007

          by craigp ·

          In reply to Solution to Outlook is sychronizing folders issue

          Thanks for the solution! It appears you were using Outlook 2003. I have 2007. I was able to solve the problem by removing the current .pst file (Tools/Options/Email setup/data files), creating a new empty .pst, and them importing the old one back in (Files/Import). Apparently that cleaned up some problem in the .pst. Finally have control of my computer again!

        • #2805329

          outlook file sync-there is no answer?

          by neil licht ·

          In reply to “Microsoft Office Outlook is Synchronizing Folders”

          Its on every computer that i use outlook with. Its unknown what is syncing but it shuts my system down for 5 minutes. Then outlook works. Somebody must know how to stop this. MS wont tell, thats for sure.

      • #2508274

        Take it from the top – reply

        by ebecca ·

        In reply to Let’s take this again from the top, please.

        Down at the bottom – in my system tray where all the other little icons are – an icon appears that looks like a white square with an envelope or folder inside it. The accompanying text reads “Microsoft Office Outlook is synchronizing folders.” No other information is available on what folders are being sync’ed.The icon disappears when the process is complete.

        • #2508168

          Right-click the icon?

          by charliespencer ·

          In reply to Take it from the top – reply

          What happens if you right-click the tray icon? Does it give you any options?

        • #2496089

          Right-click the icon – reply

          by ebecca ·

          In reply to Right-click the icon?

          Right clicking gets me only the usual:

          Show network warnings (checked)
          Show network connectivity Changes (checked)

          Show new mail desktop alert (unchecked)
          Hide when minimized (unchecked)
          Open Outlook (unchecked)
          —–
          It’s a mystery!

          Rebecca

        • #2503907

          Having the exact same problem

          by thepcman ·

          In reply to Right-click the icon – reply

          I am having the exact same problem. Tried all of the above steps – still does not work.

          POP3. Can send but not receive. Outlook 2000 on XP works great.

          This is a new clean Vista and Office 2007 install.

          Dick

        • #2494092

          Early adoption

          by tig2 ·

          In reply to Having the exact same problem

          Your ISP may not know how to deal with Vista and Office 2007 yet. My ISP sent out a notice to us several months ago that they would not support Vista till further notice.

          Can you dial back or do you have an older machine that you can use exclusively for email? If so, I think that may be your best work around for now.

          Good luck

        • #2494016

          not related to Vista

          by ebecca ·

          In reply to Early adoption

          The problem is not related to Vista – or at least, it’s not confined to Vista. I have the problem, and I’m using XP. I had the problem on my old desktop as well as my new laptop. I’ve googled this problem repeatedly, and lots of other XP users are having it. No one seems to have found a solution. The odd thing is that my husband and son use XP, yet they don’t have the problem. Both have Office installed on their computers. My son uses Outlook for his email. My husband doesnt’t.

        • #2494015

          not related to Vista

          by ebecca ·

          In reply to Early adoption

          The problem is not related to Vista – or at least, it’s not confined to Vista. I have the problem, and I’m using XP. I had the problem on my old desktop as well as my new laptop. I’ve googled this problem repeatedly, and lots of other XP users are having it. No one seems to have found a solution. The odd thing is that my husband and son use XP, yet they don’t have the problem. Both have Office installed on their computers. My son uses Outlook for his email. My husband doesnt’t.

    • #2494992

      This worked for me

      by thepcman ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      Mine was Vista related. My ISP posted these instructions and Bingo – no problem receiving emails. Note: this will probably have to be re-done after any Vista updates or changes.

      Hold down the Windows Key and Press R (WinKey+R)

      Type “CMD”

      Type “exit”

      Click on the Start

      Right click on Command Prompt and choose Run as Administrator

      Confirm that you want to run Command prompt in enhanced mode.

      Type “netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled”

      Type “exit”

      • #2511329

        We’re running XP

        by jpk_ ·

        In reply to This worked for me

        But I’ll try this on Tuesday and let you know.

      • #2582093

        It worked for me too!

        by Anonymous ·

        In reply to This worked for me

        I’m still not sure what “netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled” did to my system, which is a little scary, but, for the first time in days, Outlook 2007 fetched my mail (all POP3) without hanging. The “synchronizing folders” icon did appear in the notification area of the Task bar, but only for a few seconds. I’m running under Vista.

        Thanks thepcman!

      • #2577377

        Is this fix for Vista only?

        by corporatelackie ·

        In reply to This worked for me

        Microsoft “implies” that this is fix will work only for Vista — has anybody tried it on XP?

        See: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/935400

        Thanks,
        Jim

    • #2498637

      Synchronization of FoldersTurned Off

      by cambria777 ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      I’ve read all previous posts and have been experimenting with Outlook 2003 at my work, where we use Exchange. I do understand that your problem involves using a POP3 account, so I don’t know if you’ll have the very same menu items available on your Outlook menus, but hopefully you’ll have the ones I used to turn OFF synchronization.

      Here is how I turned OFF the automatic Synchronization of Outlook Folders in Outlook 2003:

      From the main menu bar, choose TOOLS, then SEND/RECEIVE, then SEND/RECEIVE SETTINGS, then DISABLE SCHEDULED SEND/RECEIVE.

      Before making this simple change, I had confirmed that the WHITE SQUARE was most definitely appearing on my SYSTEM TRAY with the words “Microsoft Office Outlook is synchronizing folders,” — and it was happening every 1 minute. (I used my CLOCK in the system tray to confirm the exact time between synchronizations.) One minute is the frequency I had manually set in the window where you DEFINE SEND/RECEIVE GROUPS. I have a box checked to SCHEDULE AN AUTOMATIC SEND/RECEIVE every 1 minute. But even though I DISABLED that feature using the steps above, that box is STILL CHECKED. The DISABLE feature is simply OVERRIDING it. You can turn that DISABLE feature on and off at will, so automatic synchronization will only occur when you want it to.

      Another way you can stop a synchronization, if one is already in progress, is to right click on the WHITE SQUARE and choose CANCEL SERVER REQUEST. I’m pretty sure that will stop a single synchronization, although it won’t DISABLE that feature.

      You can watch the progress of synchronizations by turning ON the “SHOW PROGRESS….” window found on the very same sub-menu as the DISABLE SEND/RECEIVE feature. If you display the “SHOW PROGRESS” window, you can UNCHECK the box that hides that window, plus you can PUSH THE THUMBTACK in the lower right corner of that window so you can keep the window visible. I used that window to watch the automatic synchronizations taking place before disabling the synchronizations. As soon as I disabled it, nothing further happened in the SHOW PROGRESS window unless and until I pressed F9 to force a manual synchronization, — which is nothing more than simply triggering a SEND/RECEIVE procedure.

      Please let me know if this works on a POP3 setup. I have not yet upgraded Outlook on my home PC, where I’m still using Outlook 2000, and would very much like to know if this solves the problem for YOU before upgrading at home.

      Again, I don’t know if you’ll have the exact same menus available with a POP3 account that we have with an Exchange account, but I suspect that the synchronization feature is the same regardless of the type of account.

      I’ll be anxious to know if this works and will subscribe to this thread hoping for replies from anyone who tries this who uses a POP3 account.

      • #2511330

        Will do

        by jpk_ ·

        In reply to Synchronization of FoldersTurned Off

        I’m not at this office until Tuesday, but i will try then and let you know. Outlook on POP3 has a Send/Receive options page that I know is pretty lengthy.

        The strange thing is that it only happens on this one machine, and I know LOTS of people running outlook in POP3, so the chances of you getting this might be small. That said, I don’t know of too many differences between Outlook 2000 and 2003. One is… yellower?

        Or if you’re popping from home, maybe Thunderbird instead?

        • #2511320

          Is Microsoft Office synchronizing with Instant Search folders?

          by steven.shafer ·

          In reply to Will do

          I have this problem as well. I’ve been using Office 2007 for several weeks, and the problem just started recently. At the same time, I’ve started getting a notice that my outlook files aren’t indexed as they used to be. My guess is that the problem is caused by the indexing required by Instant Search function. I don’t care to disable Instant Search, because it works well. However, that may be the explanation.

          Steve Shafer

        • #2490083

          Disabling Instant Search

          by ebecca ·

          In reply to Is Microsoft Office synchronizing with Instant Search folders?

          This is not a function I’m familiar with. Can you tell me how to access it?

          Thanks,

          Rebecca

        • #2493715

          Disabling Instant Search

          by steven.shafer ·

          In reply to Disabling Instant Search

          Microsoft has a new product, Instant Search, intended to compete with Google Desktop Search. Outlook has deleted the old search function, and virtually requires you to install this. It indexes all of your e-mail, so you can find anything quickly.

          It works quite well, but I thought perhaps that was the problem. I uninstalled it, but it didn’t fix the problem, so that wasn’t it. See my post further down to what’s happened.

          Steve

      • #2490084

        No luck – disabling scheduled send/receive

        by ebecca ·

        In reply to Synchronization of FoldersTurned Off

        Thanks so much for suggesting this. Unfortunately, I’ve tried it and it didn’t work. I am still merrily synchronizing away.

        And – My “Show Progress” window never says anything about synchronization, just my send/receive progress.

        Sigh.

        There ought to be a prize for solving this problem. It certainly is widespread and frustrating.

        Rebecca

        • #2490033

          Do you use an IMAP server

          by 110plmnj ·

          In reply to No luck – disabling scheduled send/receive

          Our IMAP mail is held in a non-Microsoft Exchange Server and when it is downloaded to a mirror folder on the local machine “microsoft outlook is synchronizing folders” icon appears in the system tray. Exactly when the outlook status line shows that all email has been downloaded the “microsoft outlook is synchronizing folders” icon disappears. If it hangs I close Outlook and reopen Outlook and generally that clears the problem. Sometimes I have to repair the .pst file by using scanpst.exe (It is on every XP machine), just use your file search to find it.

        • #2489956

          IMAP server?

          by ebecca ·

          In reply to Do you use an IMAP server

          To be honest, I don’t know what an IMAP server is, so I don’t know if I use it or not.

          We have 2 other computers on our network. One user uses Outlook on a laptop, as I do, and does not have this problem. I recently switched from a desktop to a laptop, and I’ve had the problem on both my machines.

          I think that sometimes I have aborted the synchronization process by closing and then re-opening Outlook, but then I have to wait for the .pst file to be repaired, as you state, and that hangs up my computer, too. And at other times, when I re-open Outlook, the synchronization just starts up again.

          Thanks for trying!

          Rebecca

    • #2493745

      In my situation… this is what I think it is

      by techrepublic ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      Pop3, no Exchange.

      My current email provider has moved the Merak service I use onto a really old crappy box. This causes issues when I send emails described below (from Merak)…

      Sometimes these high-load servers can take too long to complete their AS and AV processing and the sending server will give up and disconnect. The mail gets delivered normally but the sending server will try again at a later time, causing multiple copies of the same message to be delivered.

      The point is, while Outlook is trying to send the email the system tray icon with the hover message discussed is displayed.

      My gut feeling is this is outlook trying to tell me it is ‘synchronizing’ with the mail server. i.e it has sent an email and is waiting for the reply from the server to say it is sent.

      I am no expert but this is what’s going on for me… I think. Hope that provides another perspective.

      • #2493710

        Fixed The Problem!

        by steven.shafer ·

        In reply to In my situation… this is what I think it is

        I don’t think the problem involves any issues with synchronizing to your POP3 server, as several posts have suggested. My pop3 server is Stanford University, which is a very high capicity server. I’m connecting to it via a T3 line. My computer is a dual processor machine with 2GB ram, 120GB hard drive, etc.

        However, I made some changes in Outlook, and the problem has gone away. Here is what I did:

        1) My pst files were getting quite big (about 2GB). So I broke them into smaller PST files. For example, I now have a file called 2006_sent_email.pst, another called 2005_sent_email.pst, etc. All of the files are now less than 1 GB. I’ve also made sure that all of my files are the new PST format (Outlook 2003/2007).

        2) I previously suggested that the problem might be caused by Instant Search – the search program from Microsoft intended to compete with Google Desktop Search. I uninstalled that. The problem remained. So this is NOT a problem with Instant Search.

        3) I created a new PST file, and made it the default folder. The actually proves to be a little tricky. After you create the folder, you need to close down outlook, go into the control panel, and open up Mail. Then go do the data files tab, select the new folder, and click on “Set as Default” in the top line. This changes the default folder.

        4) You also need to set the new folder as the default for e-mail delivery, RSS feeds, etc.

        5) When I reopened outlook, after transferring everything from the old default folder to the new one, I went to close the old default folder. I then received this message (approximately) “Closing this folder will prevent further synchronization with the server”. WTF??? WHAT SERVER? I don’t use exchange, and to the best of my knowledge I’m not hooked to any server that requires synchronization. I can think of two possibilities: A) the RSS server that Microsoft set up by default, and B) Google calendar (I installed a little program to sync with Google calendar). To the best of my knowledge, those are the only two places that Outlook could be synching with that I set up. Of course, this may be a bug in Outlook, and it’s trying to sync with a non-existant Exchange Server.

        Anyway, the problem has gone away. The goofy little message that by closing the old default pst file I was preventing future synchronization indicates that the KEY INTERVENTION is to set up a new default folder for your e-mail files. It’s a pain, but that definitely fixed the problem. As to creating smaller PST files by splitting them up, that has made Outlook run much faster (as many posts on many web sites suggests).

        Steve

        • #2527517

          Would like to try but . . .

          by mike ·

          In reply to Fixed The Problem!

          I don’t have a clue on much of what you recommended. I did a search for pst files and couldn’t find anything that looked likely. Nothing at all with that extension.

          Any chance you might post more detailed instructions?

          Thanks!

          Mike

      • #2493703

        Easy Solution, have not seen it posted yet

        by w2ktechman ·

        In reply to In my situation… this is what I think it is

        Here is my thoughts and a suggestion. If the send/receive settings are turned off, it will not automatically run unless you press send/receive OR if you are sending a mail.
        With this in mind, try this, go to FILE — Work Offline
        then when you send a mail, it should place it in the DRAFTS folder instead of connecting to the server to send the mail.

        When you want to, then press send/receive

        • #2493701

          Note:

          by w2ktechman ·

          In reply to Easy Solution, have not seen it posted yet

          I am using Outlook 03 at home on 3 POP servers without issue and Outlook 03 on exchange at work with no issues.

          Actually, sometimes the scheduled send/receive takes a while, but usually des not lock up my system for a long time.

        • #2493645

          Easy solution…

          by ebecca ·

          In reply to Easy Solution, have not seen it posted yet

          Doesn’t work, sorry. I always use Outlook in manual send/receive mode.

          I wish I understood what in the heck is being “synchronized” in the first place. Anyone understand what might be happening? I use only one computer – don’t need to synchronize, for example, between a laptop and a desktop.

          Rebecca

        • #2493599

          This also worked for me

          by sue t ·

          In reply to Easy solution…

          the post titled Fixed the Problem also worked for me and I had to setup a new default data file a couple of months ago and have not had the sync problem since. Only takes a few minutes of your time so why not try it.

    • #2516802

      Stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      by soho concierge ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      Hi Everyone,
      I have spent my whole day trying to deal with this problam. i am running Office 2007. After reading everyone I kinda did solve it for my self and i hope it will work for you all aswell. You Can stop this by going to TOLLS > OPTIONS > MAIL SETUP > SEND/RECIVE. Just simply UN CHECK any box for
      WHEN OUTLOOK IS OFFLINE. restart your outlook and it should not give you the trouble again. i hope this helps.

      • #2516524

        At last – thank you

        by neildockar ·

        In reply to Stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

        Worked perfectly for me (in 2007) and finally fixed a major irritation which has bugged me for the last 2 months.

        Thanks again.

        • #2520839

          Spoke to Soon !

          by neildockar ·

          In reply to At last – thank you

          It worked for a week or so, but now the problem is back with a vengeance. So much so that I’ve now disabled automatic send and receive so I can choose when to have the PC “hanging”.

        • #2520838

          Spoke to Soon !

          by neildockar ·

          In reply to At last – thank you

          It worked for a week or so, but now the problem is back with a vengeance. So much so that I’ve now disabled automatic send and receive so I can choose when to have the PC “hanging”.

      • #2527486

        didn’t work on my machine :o(

        by mike ·

        In reply to Stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

        Using Outlook 2003
        Win XP Pro
        Zone Alarm Firewall

        Mike

        • #2520085

          Mine neither

          by c.e.johnson ·

          In reply to didn’t work on my machine :o(

          I have tried all of the appropriate solutions in this thread, and nothing has worked for me. I have the same set-up as you do.

        • #2520065

          behaves erratically

          by faloons ·

          In reply to didn’t work on my machine :o(

          I to have tried all of the suggestions and several times thought that the problem was cured. It wasn’t – so I am still following this thread in the hopes that someone will come up with a permanent cure.

        • #2628837

          Turn it off …

          by bankersgroup ·

          In reply to didn’t work on my machine :o(

          If using another firewall program, simply turn off the windows installed firewall. It can be as simple as that.

          This problem can repeat itself when your PC detects you’re in a new zone. You can also adjust the degreee of stealth in your virus program (like Zone Alarm) and the problem will be eliminated.

      • #2636580

        Adjust your firewall program

        by bankersgroup ·

        In reply to Stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

        If using another firewall program, simply turn off the windows installed firewall. It can be as simple as that.

        This problem can repeat itself when your PC detects you’re in a new zone. You can also adjust the degreee of stealth in your virus program (like Zone Alarm) and the problem will be eliminated.

        • #2649710

          I agree – I said this 10 months ago

          by planmanjb ·

          In reply to Adjust your firewall program

          See my post – Fixed in 10 seconds

        • #2643802

          How to adjust the ‘degree of stealth’?

          by fmartelli ·

          In reply to Adjust your firewall program

          My Windows Firewall is turned off, and I still have the problem.

          Let’s see… I use Kaspersky Internet Security (which includes a firewall as well as anti-virus). I have paused this protection temporarily, and the problem persists. If this does not work, I do not think that ‘adjusting the degree of stealth’ will work either.

          Let’s keep trying, I cannot believe that there is no solution to this. Thanks!

        • #2643636

          Windows Firewall IS OFF

          by csteinke ·

          In reply to How to adjust the ‘degree of stealth’?

          I am in agreement. Turning off the windows firewall does NOT solve this annoying problem.

      • #2561205

        Viola! Thanks, that was it!

        by techie ·

        In reply to Stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

        Looks like I’ll be buying you a cup of YOUR favorite coffee!

        Cheers!

    • #2519531

      Possible Success?

      by c.e.johnson ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      Last night, on a whim, I stopped Zone Alarm and Spybot, then brought up Outlook (which had not worked at all since 3/22). This time, however, it worked fine. Tonight I’ll try to determine which of the 2 programs is the “culprit”.

      • #2518000

        Looking Good

        by c.e.johnson ·

        In reply to Possible Success?

        Starting Outlook with Spybot running and Zone Alarm disabled, I got a “synchronizing folders” message for maybe 15 seconds, and my e-mail started downloading.

        Starting Outlook with Zone Alarm Pro (the new version) running and Spybot disabled, I got a “synchronizing folders” message and it went nowhere. IE7 also slowed dramatically.

        So, at least in my case, it appears to be an issue with Zone Alarm.

    • #2517922

      What About Going to the Source?

      by cambria777 ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      Does anyone know a good way to contact Microsoft directly about this issue? Since it’s baffling so many people on many different websites and since it’s been going on for a long time now, seems like maybe the folks that wrote the code should explain what is actually “synchronizing” and how to properly turn it off. They ought to address this issue in Outlook’s HELP, but they don’t. Haven’t found anything yet in Microsoft’s Knowledge Base, but surely SOMEONE at Microsoft can solve this problem. Or maybe not…??

      • #2519818

        I tried

        by mike ·

        In reply to What About Going to the Source?

        and after a few email exchanges I received the message below. If several people contact Microsoft maybe they’ll come up with a better response. The “case number” [or whatever they call it] was 1032115169 OL2003: How to disable synchronizing feature.

        Here’s the last response:
        Hi Mike,

        Thanks for your reply and updates.

        Mike, based on my experience, Outlook performs a synchronization at the same time when doing Send/Receive action. I’m afraid we are unable to disable synchronization action separately while S/R feature enabled.

        I understand you’d like to know what Outlook is synchronizing for. Based on my knowledge, Outlook usually synchronizes the data from time to time in order to keep your folder structures and messages are up to date with your mailbox on the Server.

        Actually, I personally think what you would like to implement is very reasonable and understand how frustrating it is when you find that the product does not meet your needs. I’m indeed sorry for the inconvenience that this by-design feature of our products has caused you. I will forward your suggestion to our development team so that they may improve this by an update patch to be released in the future.

        As a workaround, you could keep Outlook work offline to finish your job. When you need to Send/Receive messages, please get Outlook work online and switch to Offline when S/R is finished.

        Hope this helps. If you have any further concerns or questions, please feel free to let me know. Keep me posted. Have a nice day!

        Best regards,

        [I erased the name]

        Online Support Professional

        Microsoft Office Online Support

        Microsoft Global Technical Support Center

    • #2524982

      Try this & let me know?

      by corporatelackie ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      I have a buddy with the same problem, and in trying to research the issue found several possible fixes — If anybody has any success with these let me know?

      1) Temporarily disable your firewall and any/all spyware monitors, and any integrated anti-virus, AND Disable all your Outlook add-ins.

      2) As last resort, Recreate your mail profile.
      There is a nice explaination of this here:

      Adding/Recreating a Mail Profile

      Jim

    • #2530517

      Does anyone have a good answer

      by fdepino ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      I’ve tried almost every recommendation on this board to date but Outlook still is synchronizing and I haven’t been able to download an email for 3 days. This is driving me crazy!!! I am running XP/Outlook 2003/ and have 3 POP 3 accounts setup. Any ideas?

      Thanks in advance

      • #2531082

        Did you try the suggestions in my post? (#59)?

        by corporatelackie ·

        In reply to Does anyone have a good answer

        Fd:
        I am trying to locate a fix as well…
        Did you happen to see my suggestions in the post above – #59?

        Thanks,
        Jim

      • #2543243

        Same Problem with Outlook 2007

        by victord66 ·

        In reply to Does anyone have a good answer

        I’m having the same issue with this “sychronizing folders” with Outlook 2007. Anyone have a definate answer as to stopping it? Thanks.

        • #2523384

          Same Problem with Outlook 2003

          by kimkeely ·

          In reply to Same Problem with Outlook 2007

          I too am having this problem and have tried all solutions without resolve. This is a pain. I have used Outlook 2003 for years and have had no problem until recently. I have added no software or hardware with the exception of a spybot program. I disabled that and still no resolve. This is causing havoc in sending emails with attachments. Help.

        • #2523215

          Microsoft Outlook is Synchronizing folders

          by rubenrleon ·

          In reply to Same Problem with Outlook 2003

          I’m using Outlook 2003 SP1, I have multiple pop3 accounts and I’ve had this message now for about 6 months. I’m still able to get the job done but it definitely slows things down. I’ve been searching everywhere on the net for a solution and I’ve watched this post for some time. None of the fixes appear to be anything but temporary.

          Microsoft’s attitude is basically “Tough luch suckers, maybe we will create a patch or a fix in a future release”.

          I feel like I’m being held hostage with crappy software. I’d pay a couple hundred bucks easy to have this stupid thing fixed. I’ll be watching to see if anyone out there comes up with something.

    • #2577456

      Not a Fix, and is a Pain, but it works

      by djautin ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      I am using Outlook 2003 and using Microsoft One Care for adware and virus prevention. Nothing that I have tried fixes this problem. Instead of staying at a stand still, I simply open Outlook Express and download the email, and the open Outlook and import the new messages from Express. This has worked each time for me without any trouble, but it can be a pain. I also found that Outlook will hang when it encounters a larger than normal email, which then sends Outlook into the Sync Folders problem. On a few occasions, I have successfully closed Outlook, and then logged into my webmail and elimated the large email, and then re-opened Outlook and it grabs all of the email without incident. Just my two cents. Thanks.

      • #2634763

        Sorry.

        by mark ·

        In reply to Not a Fix, and is a Pain, but it works

        This did not work for me. I have 6 different people getting this message now. But, I have recently added a SonicWall. The problem seemed to multiply when I added it.

    • #2621869

      At last a solution

      by philbright ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      It has taken hours but I think I have got there!
      System: Vista Business + Outlook 2007 with pop stand alone account.
      LIke everyone else in this thread out of the blue Outlook stopped sending emails (recieving was ok) with the ‘Outlook synchronizing folders’ icon.
      It actuall started intetmittently and tracking back it started after I used the new Microsoft Mobile Synch software for my PDA.
      After much reseach, new profiles, new .psts, repairing, reinstalling…(we have all been there!) I have tracked down that there seems to be a bug in the synch software that sets a Vista reg entry that causes this problem!
      Part of the solution is already posted to the thread…
      From Run you have to enter
      ‘netsh interface tcp set global rss=disabled’ and then form a new Run
      ‘netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled’
      Miraculously email can now be sent.
      I have not tried reinstalling the synch software but at least I now have email back!!

      Phil

      • #2634761

        Sorry.

        by mark ·

        In reply to At last a solution

        This did not work either.

        • #2634881

          Try repairing your .pst files

          by faloons ·

          In reply to Sorry.

          First locate where your pst files are stored. Next do a search for “scanpst” (it’s installed with Outlook). Open the scanpst.exe file, browse to the pst files you previously located and run the program. Twenty errors were found and repaired when I did this last week and, so far, my sync problems have been resolved. I am cautiously optomistic as other solutions posted “fixed” the problem but only for a short time.

        • #2628088

          No luck.

          by mark ·

          In reply to Try repairing your .pst files

          This did find errors … and fixed them. But, in the last 8 minutes I have received 633 bytes of a 2.5MB email because of this synchronizing issue.

          This solution did not work for me.

        • #2615368

          No Scanpst on Office 2007

          by dallasynot ·

          In reply to Try repairing your .pst files

          I looked for Scanpst.exe on my Vista computer with Office 2007 but I don’t see it. Is there this program?

      • #2469049

        WMDC & Outlook sync

        by willem ·

        In reply to At last a solution

        Just to confirm, your scenario jolted my own memory. I have Vista Business x64 with Outlook 2007 (POP3) and HTC Touch PDA. Used WMDC (what limited functionality this offers!!)to sync with PDA. All worked fine until I decided I no longer wanted to sync my e-mail to my PDA, and dared to clear the tick on WMDC next to e-mail!! Then the Outlook sync issue started.

        And just to clarify for the sake of other readers, the sync icon flickers so rapidly and the CPU usage shoots to 100%, so that it is not even possible to navigate in Outlook, to some of the menu options suggested in other posts. It’s frozen!!

        Unfortunately the CMD prompt commands that you suggest had no effect. But perhaps somebody knows something about WMDC and what it does to Outlook?

        • #2468988

          My recollection

          by mike ·

          In reply to WMDC & Outlook sync

          I don’t recall ever wanting to sync with anything except this account was connected with the email server at work and now is not. It was probably syncing with that server then.

          I don’t see the icon flicker (XP Pro and Outlook 2003). It appears to be steady in the try but just about all work stops while it is on. It does eventually go away.

          Happy spring-time to you in SA :o)

          Thanks!

          Mike

    • #2627785

      Happy With This Solution

      by stevent ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      I apologize if this has been resolved but I went through the first 40 or so posts and it hadn’t been sufficiently resolved. I did everything suggested within reason there and it still did not work. But I have a solution that works for me.

      The question has been, what is it synchronizing? Well, again, I don’t know if that has been answered in the final posts, but at my end I am of the conclusion that it is synchronizing my Outlook Inbox with Inboxes for my POP3 Accounts. I have three accounts it checks when it ‘synchronizes.’

      What I finally did was create a folder in each account called 2Bsorted and then moved the hundreds of emails in each of my account’s Inbox folders into the 2Bsorted folder for me to get to later.

      Now it seems when Outlook syhchronizes its own Inbox with the Inbox for each of my POP3 accounts, they only have newly received emails in them, and it doesn’t have to deal with anything extraneous, just those received emails. Of course this means that if emails stay in my Inboxes after download it will again make the synchronization sluggish so I have to ensure that the Inboxes stay as close to empty as possible all the time. Not sure what that does with filtered/sorted messages to the POP3 account’s other folders. Perhaps it would help to also ensure that messages are Marked as Read so that they can be ignored if the synch process checks all available folders in the POP3 account for new mail?

      Anyway, for now it is zipping along just fine. This would also explain why it never actually shuts off or can be shut off in the system tray. The statement that it is synchronizing folders appears to be a simple way for it saying that it is getting/sending the most recent emails.

      Clean out your POP3 email account Inbox(es) and your Outlook Inbox. Solved it good enough for me.

      Peace, out. Steve

      • #2615369

        Microsoft was NO HELP

        by dallasynot ·

        In reply to Happy With This Solution

        I am having the same problem but it’s intermittant. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I tried all the solutions on here and it didn’t work. My computer is new. What’s frustrating is it’s a $5,000 new Sony Vaio. It has Vista on it and Office 2007. It seems to work fine at home but for some reason at work it does the SAME thing that all of you are describing.

        Yesterday i broke down and called Microsoft and they agreed to help but ONLY after I agreed to pay u$s 49. They charged my credit card ASAP and gave me a case #. The Outlook desk was no help. They had me try all these things including unstalling my Norton anti-virus. I explained others were having this problem and told them to read this page but they didn’t.

        It’s amazing as they have some E-Assist software and the agent can see your computer real-time. They couldn’t figure it out. If Microsoft can’t even figure out what’s wrong….i think I have no hope……

        • #2614306

          Well… can you at least get your $49 back? ;-/

          by corporatelackie ·

          In reply to Microsoft was NO HELP

          Yeah… amazing…. sigh…….

          If they did not offer to refund your $49 when they finally gave up on fixing your problem I would consider reversing the charges….

          Jim

        • #2614832

          moving inbox works

          by jon.pastor ·

          In reply to Well… can you at least get your $49 back? ;-/

          I moved all my emails out of inbox into new folder. Synchonizing stop.

        • #2477316

          This did not work for us

          by mark ·

          In reply to moving inbox works

          What a pain ….

    • #2478243

      Finally got something to stop synchronizing folders and address book!

      by mike.dowling ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      I am on an Exchange Server at work, and have been plagued with this “Outlook is synchronizing folders” or “Outlook is updating address book” issue for months, which lasts for hours, gradually degrading Outlook performance, and most times eventually causing Outlook to end with a fatal error.
      I tried some of the tips in this long thread but still no joy.

      Then I came across this tip to turn off cached exchange mode (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HP010223431033.aspx).

      THAT STOPPED IT! ENJOY!

    • #2651140

      What Worked For Me Is…

      by baynechem ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      I down-graded from office 2007 to 2003 since 2k3 seems to handle 2gb+ .pst files better (although I guess the new 2k7 service pack addresses this.) When 2k3 would open, the synchronizing would happen and cpu load would skyrocket. I took Steve’s idea of making a new .pst file a step further. After making a new one and setting it as default, I removed the old one and went as far as to cut it from the localsettings/appdata/microsoft/outlook folder to my desktop. restarted outlook. then imported (File > Import and Export…) my old one into the new one. I didn’t get the “Closing this folder will prevent further synchronization with the server” message or anything like it that Steve got, but everything now runs smoothly and the cpu load doesn’t max out.

    • #2636577

      Adjust your firewall

      by bankersgroup ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      If using another firewall program, simply turn off the windows installed firewall. It can be as simple as that.

      This problem can repeat itself when your PC detects you’re in a new zone. You can also adjust the degreee of stealth in your virus program (like Zone Alarm) and the problem will be eliminated.

    • #2643771

      Has anyone tried disabling cached Exchange mode?

      by freddenison ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      I know this seems simple, but uder the Email accounts area in an Exchange environent just uncheck the Cached Exchange Mode box under your user name and it no longer keeps a local copy of all files and disables the synchronization.

      • #2663444

        How do I disable cached Exchange mode

        by fmartelli ·

        In reply to Has anyone tried disabling cached Exchange mode?

        I have Outlook 2007. I think I looked everywhere under Account Settings and did not find any reference to Cache Exchange Mode. Can you tell us where to look? Thanks.

    • #2654554

      Is there NO Solution to this problem ?

      by andy.ball ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      I’ve read the thread and it doesn’t seem that ebacca ever got a final solution.

      I have the same problem. I’ve run SCANPST and unticked “automatically Generate Excchange Views”, but still have the same FRUSTRATING problem as ebacca had.

      STAND ALONE PC (please don’t throw servers and Exchange into the mix !)

      OFFICE 2007 / WINDOWS XP

      Please, Please, Please can anyone suggest a proper solution.

      • #2666078

        See my reply above

        by bankersgroup ·

        In reply to Is there NO Solution to this problem ?

        I had this problem months apart and each time it was after Zone Alarm was reinstalled or updated.

        It is a simple solution that may work for you and requires less than 1 minute to try.

        • #2665967

          Tried that before and didn’t work

          by fmartelli ·

          In reply to See my reply above

          Hi bankersgroup,
          Your suggestion involves tweaking the antivirus / firewall. As I posted before, I tried disabling both (I use Kaspersky Internet Security) and that did not stop the problem.
          Thanks for the suggestion though.

      • #2649237

        flushdns

        by bcpgm ·

        In reply to Is there NO Solution to this problem ?

        This thread has gotton so long, I am not sure if this had been posted.

        Try “ipconfig /flushdns” from Command Prompt.

      • #2661356

        Fixed – But Not Sure Why

        by lt1gb ·

        In reply to Is there NO Solution to this problem ?

        Andy,

        I’m similar — no Exchange, but using POP3. Office 2007 on Vista. I tried everything in this thread to no avail. But I was suspicious about a small email stuck in my Outbox. I’m not sure if it was a symptom or cause, but when I was finally able to delete it (Outlook wouldn’t let me for days), the problem suddenly went away.

        Duh?

      • #2661283

        ipconfig /flushdns Did Not Work but YES, Mail is “stuck” in the outbox

        by andy.ball ·

        In reply to Is there NO Solution to this problem ?

        ipconfig /flushdns did not work.

        But like the previous poster I’ve got 8 emails that keep tring to be sent from the Outbox, but in fact my outbox is empty.

        PLEEEEEEEEEEZ wil some genius find the solution.

        Andy

        • #2557703

          Win XP Pro – Outlook 2003 SP3 – POP3

          by gyoung ·

          In reply to ipconfig /flushdns Did Not Work but YES, Mail is “stuck” in the outbox

          The problem went away on my system after going into every Outlook folder, properties and unclicking “Automatically generate Exchange Server views. Also ran SCANPST against the OUTLOOK.PST database file. There were more then 30 errors.

          In the system tray the Outlook icon changes to the Synchronizing files when downloading email. I think this is a normal function, that it stays in the sync state is the problem. Its not a problem getting this icon, its when for some reason (busy server, stuck outgoing email, corrupted outlook.pst file) that Outlook stays in this state. When Outlook is having trouble exchanging email the whole system slows. I’ve notice this problem with Outlook for years. The whole computer is affected.

          If this hypothesis is true, then there are probably a zillion different reasons why email exchange is slowed down.
          Virus Checker
          Firewall
          Corrupt Outlook database
          Stuck outgoing email
          More then one user is logged on to a computer and their Outlook is active to.
          Using wireless – seems to adversely effect sending and receiving email
          Vista being incompatiable with POP3 servers

          I think the icon and caption “syncng files” is just Microsoft’s catch all for ‘any’ exchange of email.

        • #2558305

          I think you’re onto something

          by csteinke ·

          In reply to Win XP Pro – Outlook 2003 SP3 – POP3

          I had made the setting changes to Automatically generate Exchange Server views, and I had thought I had solved this.

          But, it came back. You mention running SCANPST. How do we do that?

          Thanks

        • #2558969

          SCANPST

          by gyoung ·

          In reply to I think you’re onto something

          First find you your OUTLOOK.PST file, do a search for it and note what directory it is in.

          Then search for SCANPST.* – on my computer it was in C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033 – double click it and when it launches browse to your OUTLOOK.PST file and run the program.

          Takes about a minute.

          —–
          On the computer that was having the most problem with ‘sync folders’ there was a problem with throughput on the WiFi that we were using. We bypass the WiFi and plugged a cable directly into the router, this may of also helped. The response time of the computer on the Internet certainly inproved. Also logging off other accounts that were active on the computer help speed things up.

          g

    • #2554070

      I have your answer

      by techforlife ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      Not sure if anyone has supplied the fix or not but I do believe I have the fix. Win XP SP2 Office 2003 SP3 is what I’m running.

      Tools–> Email accounts–>View or change existing email accounts–>change–>more settings –>Advanced tab–>Off line folder settings–>Click disable offline use

      Verified as we just had the same issue here.

      • #2795942

        I thought you had the answer – however !

        by nickct ·

        In reply to I have your answer

        I relished the detail you supplied 🙂

        I have XP SP3 and Office 2003 SP3
        On the Tools menu I get to click Advanced Tab – and there is no ‘Off-line folder settings’option – so no fix 🙁

        My problem (recently started after 4 years of running Outlook without problem) when Send/Receive-ing Outlook now Synchronises Folders and takes aeons to download my in-mails ( on average 10-15 minutes instead of 2-3 previously). I have changed no settings in Outlook, or even on McAfee or Broadband!

        Will appreciate any further advice – Nick

    • #2561279

      A totally different approach

      by howard1 ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      Mine has/had this same problem. It always happened when I had something in the outbox. I have to end outlook, by whatever means, (taskmanager) check your processes too and clear it out of there. restart outlook and catch it before or just as it starts sending/recieving, and hit stop, open the outbox delete all out going messages, noting the names from your contacts that the message is going to. Then go to your contact list and erase contact related to the “bad message” (I jot the info down on a piece of paper) when it is deleted I go ahead and select “new contact” and put the information back in. Go back to resending the email and it works everytime. Occasionally it acts up again, even with contacts that worked fine 20 min. ago, I redo the contact and all fixed. My contact list was imported from outlook 2000, it seems that my older contacts are ore prone to this problem.

      • #2552863

        Didn’t work for me

        by mike ·

        In reply to A totally different approach

        Hi!

        Tried it, Howard. Mine synchronizes even when I start Outlook with nothing in my out box. :o(

        Mike

      • #2461405

        THIS WORKED FOR ME!!!

        by fmartelli ·

        In reply to A totally different approach

        Yes!!! This solved the problem!!!

        For me at least, apparently the problem was the contact list imported from an earlier version of Outlook. I deleted the old contact list, manually entered it again and everything now works fine. Outlook sends messages without the synchronization problem.

        I can’t believe I had to be 6 months without Outlook because of this. THANKS Howard for posting this solution!

        I hope that this works for others too, and that this issue is finally wiped off the face of the planet.

        Thanks again Howard!

    • #2461706

      This will fix it in Outlook 2007

      by marci01 ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      Find your RSS feeds. You can go to tools, accounts, & RSS feeds. Locate those files and delete them. This is nothing but Microsoft sending you information that they believe you want, however you probably don’t and its just slowing your computer down. This is how I solved my problem with Outlook synchronizing files.

      • #2461574

        No RSS Feeds listed

        by fmartelli ·

        In reply to This will fix it in Outlook 2007

        I’m glad this worked with you. In my case, I have no RSS Feeds listed in the place you indicate. So I’ll continue to wait for a fix (if one indeed exists…)

    • #2464517

      Rename outlook.ost File

      by colini ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      The ONLY thing worked for me was to rename my OST file (C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\outlook.ost) and restart Outlook. Worked beautifully!

      • #2571550

        .OST files?

        by rubenrleon ·

        In reply to Rename outlook.ost File

        Yikes….. rename your .OST files to what a different
        extension?

        Not to be confused with the .PST files. correct??!!!

        Do you know what the .OST files are for?

        • #2906708

          outlook 2007 help causes this too

          by dmacleo ·

          In reply to .OST files?

          outlook 2007 (pop and exchange setups) will do this when syncing the help menu with online content. open outlook click help then privacy options. then uncheck the items there that apply, usually its the update featured links one that causes this, but sometimes the search office online does too.

        • #2907875

          Possible Solution

          by michaelgates ·

          In reply to outlook 2007 help causes this too

          Setup
          Micrsoft Outlook 2007. Stand alone computer that contacts no other computer or handheld device. No Microsoft Exchanged used.

          Problem
          Outlook 2007 would lock up and slow down my whole computer for long periods of time. Two icons would appear in the tray at the bottom of the screen. It seemed as if the program was trying to do two things at once. I would often have to reboot the program.

          Solution
          1. I went through Outlook and unclicked every place it said Exchange View. Highlight an area, right click, go to Properties to find a way to change every folder, sub-folder, calendar, journal, etc. I unchecked dozens of places all over Outlook.

          2. I went under TOOLS> SEND/RECEIVES SETTINGS> DEFINE SEND/RECEIVE GROUPS> and unchecked evey box except the second box down (Schedule and automatic send/receive every…). I had no special groups defined here. You could also go with no boxes at all checked there.

          After this my two icons in the tray became a single icon that only changed appeared while receiving emails. Speed increased during all aspects of use and the computer stopped hanging up.

          It seems my problem, at least was due to having “Include this group in send/receive (F9)” checked (first box at top) and so many folders set to Automatically Generate Exchange Views.

          I would also suggest checking Add-ins to make sure that are no un-needed things that refer to mobile devices.

          Finish up with running SCANPST.exe and HELP> OFFICE DIAGNOSTICS> to make sure all is well.

          This worked for me.

    • #2924018

      Stop Office Outlook 2003 from synchronizing.

      by Anonymous ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      WARNING!!!!. Be careful when you do any changes in the registry, you can make your computer unstable or unusable.
      PLEASE make sure you have a FULL backup before you do this. And try it out on a old or second computer (if at all possible).

      This might work, might not.

      Go to: Start > run
      Type in ?regedit? (without the quotes).
      Click on ?edit > find?.
      Type in ?Outlook sync?, then press enter.

      You should get (in the right hand section) something like:
      ? Outlook Synchronization Manager?,
      1) Right click on ? Outlook Synchronization Manager?, and select and click
      ?New > string value?.
      A new box will be made with ?New value #1? in the box.
      Now right click on this box and give it a value of zero ?0?, then enter. Now go to ?find? type in ?Outlook sync?, if it is NOT still in the box, and then ?enter? for the registry to search for the next ?Outlook Synchronization Manager?, then do the same as above in section ?1? (one). If the above does not work then change the value of zero ?0? to 1 (one).
      If it still does not work then change it from 1 to 2 (two) or 3 (three).

      When finished re-boot your computer.

      Please post back if you have any more problems or questions.

      • #2927100

        have question on your solution

        by sandra ·

        In reply to Stop Office Outlook 2003 from synchronizing.

        I got all the way through putting in a value of “0” for “New Value #1” ….. I can’t figure out what means. Please help….

        I did a “find next” for “outlook synch” and there seems to be only one “outlook synchronization manager” on my computer.

        Thanks.

        • #2927073

          This “find” is seen in the “registry”..

          by Anonymous ·

          In reply to have question on your solution

          Start > run, type in “regedit”, and press “enter”.
          It is under “edit”, at the bottom.
          Just read or print off the listing. It might work it might not. But you will have to follow it slowly. But PLEASE DO A BACK UP FIRST or you could have a unstable or unusable system. Each time you do a change, go back to “find” (read above) and do another search for Outlook and see if there are anymore Outlook sync managers and do the same as the post i have listed the instructions in.

          Please post back if you have anymore problems or questions.

      • #2947434

        No solution_anywhere?

        by frankthomas ·

        In reply to Stop Office Outlook 2003 from synchronizing.

        I’ve tried this and that and have scoured the internet for a solution. Despite all the various weird and wonderful ones here – from adjusting, cleaning, renaming or re-saving folders to tweaking the register – it seems that there is NO REAL solutuion to this problem. It is incredible that Msoft and Outlook don’t get a grip on this given the number of people who clearly have encountered this problem. It’s also a pity and an exasperating waste of time that a simple ‘switch this damn thing off’ cannot be found anywhere…unless of course someone TRULY has the answer! What a muddle…

    • #2925856

      Very Easy FIX.

      by bbpellet ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      Uninstall Microsoft Office, and install OpenOffice….MUCH better application!

    • #2924422

      This might fix your issues ebecca….

      by Anonymous ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      Stop sync problem with Outlook 2007

      1). Remove a synchronization filter

      This feature requires you to be using a Microsoft Exchange Server e-mail account.

      1.In the Navigation Pane, right-click the folder you want to filter, and then click Properties.

      2.Click the Synchronization tab, and then under Filtered synchronization, click Filter.

      3.Click Clear All.
      Note??If a filter is turned on, Synchronization Filter Applied will appear in the status bar. Multiple Filters Applied indicates that both a synchronization filter and a view filter have been applied.
      …………………………….
      2). Stop sync problem with Outlook 2007.

      The key point is installation of Office 2007. While in the beginning of installation you have to choose customize menu in order to set installation options by yourself. In the installation options you have to disable Add-In section under the Outlook tab. If you don’t install Outlook Add-In section at the installation of Office 2007, you system will sync. Also you don’t need to mess up things like mail exchanger folder creation or renaming. The real problem is Microsoft Outlook Connector Software Error. The file is ?omsmain.dll?. The Add-In section sets up this Connector Software. If you had already installed Office 2007 I recommend uninstall and install fresh one with ?customised options?.
      Deleting or Disabling Connector Add-In feature (omsmain.dll) AFTER the installation will not work.?

      Please post back if you have anymore problems or questions.

    • #2930028

      Possible Solution Outlook 2003 (Non-Exchange)

      by vince795 ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      Hi … I’m running Microsoft Outlook 2003 on a stand-alone PC using a POP3 account. I discovered an invalid email in the Outbox that was causing my particular problem. Apparently, the email was resident from an invalid shutdown process. Once the email was deleted successfully the problem was resolved.

      • #2797563

        HELP! Outlook 2003 Folder SAynch is driving me crazy

        by iduhpres ·

        In reply to Possible Solution Outlook 2003 (Non-Exchange)

        I have tried the suggestions here and nada. Anyone have another way to kill the outlook 2003 folder synch? It is killing my mailing. Looked at Thunderbird but it is missing some features I have grown accustomed to with Outlook.

    • #2918432

      Here’s How I Fixed It

      by mlibrescu ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      Using Outlook 2007 with Vista Home Premium. Here’s what happened to me:

      I created an e-mail with multiple recipients in the bcc field. Every time I tried to send it, it went into the Outbox, and then the sync thing started happening. The message would stay in the Outbox and never get sent.

      I tried recreating the message with the same result. I tried the suggestion that someone gave here about unchecking Automatically generate Microsoft Exchange Views in the folder preferences and that didn’t fix it.

      I went back to the message stuck in the Outbox folder and one by one, deleted a recipient and tried sending the message. By process of elimination, I found that it would send if I didn’t include one of the recipients. (I should mention that the addresses were coming from my address book, not by typing the e-mail addresses in to the bcc field.)

      To test this, I took created a test message and only sent it to the suspect e-mail address. It wound up stuck in the Outbox. Another test with the remainging e-mail addresses went out with no problem.

      So my solution was to delete the entry from my Contact list and create a new entry for that person. When I tested it after that, it worked fine.

      I suspect that the cause of this problem was when I got rid of my XP desktop machine and synced my Pocket PC to my laptop. Doing this caused some duplicate Contacts to appear in my Contacts list. I deleted the duplicates. I probably deleted the original entry and was using one of the duplicates, which somehow caused the problem.

      This doesn’t really make sense to me, but maybe someone smarter than me will read this and understand how it could have happened.

    • #2971563

      This should work for everyone with IMAP/SMTP email accounts – I hope

      by wkoziej ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      It worked for me. My email account is the IMAP/SMTP account. I suspect all this long synchronizing problem started when you switched to Outlook from another default email client or if Outlook was upgraded from a previous version. That was the case with me at least. I upgraded from 2003 to 2007.

      Outlook always synchronizes the folders in your email account with the folders on your email server. Normally it happens so quick that we don’t even realize it takes place but if you switch to Outlook from a different email client OR upgrade your Outlook from a previous version, all your messages from the email server (all folders, including Sent Messages folder) have to be synchronized with Outlook. The problem is that there might be thousands of emails (esp. in the Sent messages folder) on your email server and it will take forever to synchronize it all. What needs to be done first is this:
      1 – go to each of the folders in your Outlook (all email accounts, if there is more than one), i.e. Inbox, Deleted Items, Junk Email, Sent Items etc, I mean ALL OF THEM one by one.
      2 – select ALL messages in each folder (to make it quick, select one message and then press CTRL+A)
      3 – right-click and select the option “Mark to Download Messages”
      4 – hit F9 to SEND/RECEIVE ALL.

      What will happen is that Outlook will download all messages from your server. IT may take a while if there are a lot of emails. Without doing this, all you have on your machine are the message headers, not the actual messages. Once all the messages are downloaded from your server, then next time Outlook will do the synchronization, it will have to synchronize a few (or several) new messages that you sent or received since the download, which will take only couple seconds and you will not even realize it happened.

      Having said all that – the problem I had was that I had 15,000 messages in my Sent Items folder and downloading all of them at once was too much for Outlook to handle and it would keep crashing during the download. In this situation I had to “Mark Messages for Download” in smaller batches – time consuming but it worked.

      In the meantime I happened to find another solution, which is not perfect, but it will eliminate the issue as well.
      If you go to Tools – IMAP Folders – “QUERY” button, this will show you all your IMAP folders but also, in the “Subscribed” tab, you will see which folders are “subscribed”. Only the subscribed folders get synchronized, so if you identify, which of your folders has thousands of messages (most likely it will be the Sent Items folder, since hardly anyone deletes anything from that folder), you can simply unsubscribe it and this way Outlook will not try to synchronize that folder with your Sent Items folder on your server. This will eliminate the long synchronization issue, but then you will also not have the copies of your sent messages that you sent directly from your server, on your local machine. IF you never access your emails directly from the server, this may not be an issue for you. I do and this is why I decided to download all my sent messages into my Outlook.

      I hope this will end the frustration to all of you, or at least most.

      • #3010821

        synchonization

        by leaseit ·

        In reply to This should work for everyone with IMAP/SMTP email accounts – I hope

        i don’t have a mail server. so these do not apply; any other ideas?
        office 2003 on xp pro

      • #2819470

        This may help provide a fix

        by q2u ·

        In reply to This should work for everyone with IMAP/SMTP email accounts – I hope

        I’ve been using Outlook for a decade (most recently Outlook 2003) and I’m no stranger to Outlook problems. My latest Outlook issue (which brought me here) was extremely sluggish performance, typing lags which — for minutes at a time — made my machine un-freakin-usable. Mind you that I run XP Professional on a Dell Precision 670 Workstation with 7200rpm drives, two (2) dual core Xeon 3.2ghz processors, and 4mb of ram…so my machine has the horsepower to perform…but Outlook 2003 managed to bring my beast to it’s knees. This latest performance issue raised it’s ugly head out of the blue several weeks ago. I tried many of the fixes that have been suggested in this topic thread and — the best of my knowledge — none appeared to fix my issue. Then the thought dawned on me that there may be a bad sector on the drive which was causing the issue so I ran checkdisk to analyze and repair bad sectors on the drive?. But no joy. Then I figured maybe I would defrag the drive (Local Disk C > Properties > Tools > Defrag). After defrag was completed it reported: “Files that cannot be defragmented: 1,655 fragments, 2.65 GB \Documents and Settings\MyAccountName\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\Outlook.pst.”

        “Self” (I said) “1,655 fragments?…This may be a problem.” Sooooooo…

        1) I closed Outlook, copied my existing Outlook.pst file
        2) I renamed the resulting new file from “Copy of Outlook.pst” file to “NewOutlook.pst” (figuring that the process of writing the copy of the file would write the new file in one contiguous block)
        3) I removed my old Outlook.pst data file (Control Panels > Mail > Show Profiles)
        4) I renamed my old Outlook.pst to OldOutlook.pst
        5) I added my NewOutlook.pst data file (Control Panels > Mail > Data Files)
        6) I removed my old Outlook Profile (Control Panels > Mail > Data Files)
        7) I created a new Outlook Profile (Control Panels > Mail > Data Files)
        8) I started Outlook and removed all of my old email addresses (Tools > Email Accounts > Next)
        9) I recreated all of my email accounts (Tools > Email Accounts)
        10) I exited Outlook and then I Defraged again (although I don’t think I really needed to do this step but WTF, eh?) – Note that Defrag now reports that my NewOutlook.pst file contains only “7 fragments”.
        11) I restarted my machine and now Outlook seems to be running very well without any issues…Outlook 2003 is still “Synchronizing Folders” but the performance of my machine does not appear to be suffering now.
        The older I get the more I think that MS really…really…blows.

        I REALLY HOPE THAT POSTING THIS MESSAGE DOESN’T JINX ME but the pain this issue caused me was so great that I have to try and help some others who may be suffering.

        HTH

    • #2954641

      Stop Outlook from synchronizing

      by robeliot ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      I stumbled upon what appears to be the solution to this problem. Starting in Outlook 2003 Microsoft added a new feature to Outlook called Search Folders, with three subfolders…For Follow Up, Large Mail, Unread Mail. (Search Folders is listed in the Navigation Pane under Mail Folders.) Outlook is synchronizing all of your other email folders with these three folders. For example, Outlook searches through all of your email folders to find “large mail” (not sure what the criteria are) and then adds a copy of that to the large mail search folder. When I installed Outlook 2003 I deleted the three folders because I knew I didn’t need them and never had the problem with Outlook constantly synchronizing. When I upgraded to Outlook 2007 it added the search folder and three search subfolders back and I then started having a problem with Outlook constantly synchronzing. I deleted the subfolders and Outlook stopped synchronizing as there were no longer any search folders to synchronize to.

      • #2960883

        After reading all 140 postings ? ? ?

        by markymar ·

        In reply to Stop Outlook from synchronizing

        I still don’t understand what is causing this anomaly. It’s incredible that so many of us are having the same problem with Outlook and no one from MS cares to address this situation and come with an understanding of the problem and the solution.
        Marc Martin
        Palm Beach, Florida USA

        • #2758715

          Possible solution

          by arlastudio ·

          In reply to After reading all 140 postings ? ? ?

          I went into my start menu and deleted the synchronize folder. Hopefully that will fix the problem because it will no longer synchronize upon startup. Also, I’m running a stand alone computer.

      • #3018409

        summary of possible solutions- try these first!

        by mixima ·

        In reply to Stop Outlook from synchronizing

        This problem is doing my head in. I have read hundreds of posts on this topic, and spent about 3 hours on the phone to 3 different support guys from MS.

        The last of these seems to have found an answer. Go to start|accessories|run and type in outlook.exe/resetnavpane

        That’s it! Apparently this cleans up any corrupted xml files in your Outlook data folder. Not sure this is 100% of the answer, but when the fault recurred, typing this seemed to take it away again.

        Does this tip help anyone to understand what causes the fault? Nobody in MS seems to be aware that all of us have had such a problem.

        In case this doesn’t help others, here’s a summary of my (unwilling) education in this problem so far. It seems clear that the “MS Outlook is synchronizing folders” issue is a common response to a range of different problems.

        Here’s a list of things that seemed to work for others, though not for me. Roughly in order of easiest to most difficult:

        – right click on “inbox” in outlook, select “properties” and untick the box that says “automatically generate Microsoft Exchange views”.

        – do the same procedure for every part in Outlook- calendar, tasks, the lot

        – run some diagnostic checks: does Windows mail encounter the same problem with your mail account that Outlook does? Do you get the same problem in Outlook with all your accounts?

        – create a new mail profile and try that

        – use scanpst.exe (search for this on your pc) to remove any glitches in your data files

        – disable anything that might be interfering with Outlook (firewall, antivirus, PDA) and try again. MS support told me google desktop may cause a problem.

        – uninstall all of Office, edit the registry to remove all traces of the programmes and then reinstall Office again (I attach the registry editing instructions sent to me by MS support below)

        Please follow the steps given below:-
        1) Go to control panel => programs & features and remove office 2007
        2) Restart your system.
        3) Click start => start search => type regedit and then press ENTER.
        WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
        Take backup of your registry before removing the registry keys. (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756 )
        4) Backup and delete if listed: Click the following subkey:
        5) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office
        6) On the File menu, click Export, type DeletedKey01, and then click Save.
        7) On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes to confirm the deletion.
        8) Follow the steps 5,6 & 7 for the below given registry keys. You have to keep changing the file name DeletedKey02, 03, 04 & so on
        9) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\Microsoft\Office
        10) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*0FF1CE*
        11) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UpgradeCodes\*F01FEC
        12) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Products\*F01FEC
        13) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ose
        14) HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Features\*F01FEC
        15) HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products\*F01FEC
        16) HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\UpgradeCodes\*F01FEC
        17) HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Win32Assemblies\*Office12*
        18) Click Start, start search, type %CommonProgramFiles%\Microsoft Shared and then press ENTER.
        19) If the following folders are present, delete them: Office11, Office12 & Source Engine
        20) Click Start, start search, type %ProgramFiles% and then press ENTER. Delete / Rename Microsoft Office folder.
        21) Click Start, start search, type %temp% and then press ENTER. Delete all contents from this folder.
        22) Restart your system.
        23) Install office and then check outlook.

        • #3020377

          still not working!

          by mixima ·

          In reply to summary of possible solutions- try these first!

          Back to my weekly call to Microsoft, since the resetnavpane command has not worked.

          Today the support person noticed that emails trapped in the outbox don’t have “to” address when they are deleted. She thought this indicated a corrupted address book… even though the addresses are spelled perfectly and look entirely normal, Outlook is failing to recognise or use them.

          She suggests I have to manually retype every email address that has not been working.

          I will post an update if this new solution seems to work.

        • #2823441

          Solution confirmed!

          by mixima ·

          In reply to still not working!

          This definitely works. Somehow my address book became corrupted. I hope others find a solution too.

      • #2889456

        Reponse To Answer

        by greyhound fan ·

        In reply to Stop Outlook from synchronizing

        Wonderful – I right clicked “Search Folders”, clicked Process Marked Headers, and my syncronising delay is now a couple of seconds when before it was long enough to time out the download of emails. Thanks for pointing me in this direction Robeliot

    • #3022746

      One Approach to Outlook Synchronizing Problem

      by exnavy ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      This problem “poped” up recently as it has a few times in the past. I am working out of a home office using Vista with Office 2007 and getting e-mail from my ISP through POP. I have a large number of active folders that are yet archived. Having read yards of responses on this site, I concluded that there can be many reasons for this symptom and it is best to check out some of the simpler options first. It was also a reminder to do some periodic e-mail houskeeping.

      I have an e-subscription to a local newspaper which comes into my webmail inbox every day. Outlook picks it up, and bacause of rules I have set, moves it into a designated Newspaper Folder and marks it as read. Truth is, I really don’t need numerous copies since every one of them leads back to the newspaper’s website where I can use my password to get into back issues. In any case, through neglect, this folder was chock full of emails all bearing the same sender and subject, one for almost every day of the year.

      Somehow, when Outlook downloaded a bunch of e-mails, including some spam which went into Junk Mail, it took in a copy of the newspaper e-mail but did not remove it from my webmail inbox. Later on when I was troubleshooting and checked both locations sepatately, I could see the 2 Jan 2010 e-newspaper in the Outlook Newspaper Folder, in with the many older ones, and the same 2 Jan 2010 e-newspaper in my webmail inbox. In this situation, each time Outlook checked for e-mail, either on schedule or by clicking send/receive it would bring in all e-mails that were in my webmail inbox except this 2 Jan 2010 e-newspaper and then get hung up until it timed-out. During this, the little white square would appear and by moving the cursor it would give me the dreaded “synchronozing folders”, as if I didn’t know.

      OK, and with hints from threads above, I did three things: 1. I deleted over a hundred back issues of the e-newsletter and kept only a couple of current ones. 2. I went through some of my other folders where my rules had stored other similar routine e-mails, some marked as read, some not; I marked them all as read and deleted a large nummber of redundant ones. 3. I deleted the offending e-mail directly in my webmail inbox and made sure it was clean.

      Outlook is now doing fine. While I think the 3rd action was the immediate fix, I also think that the 1st and 2nd housekeeping actions are pert of keeping the affliction from returning. Cheers,

    • #2830440

      Another possible issue

      by jgmclaughlin ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      I noticed that Outlook has three search folders in the Personal folders- Follow Up, Large Mail and Unread Mail. The Large Mail and Unread Mail folders were chock full of emails that perhaps Outlook syncs up with Deleted mail???

      I tried to delete the folders, but they keep coming back upon reboot. I right clicked on each, and there are customizations available.
      My Large Mail folder was set for 100 KB and it was checking all Personal Folders. I reset the criteria to only look in the Drafts folder and reset the file size to 10,000 KB. Unread Mail now only checks the Drafts folder.

      This seems to help. Any thoughts on this?

      • #2860474

        THERE IS NO SOLUTION TO THIS GLITCH

        by markymar ·

        In reply to Another possible issue

        While reading through the responses to folks trying to gain some control over MS Office’s OUTLOOK after it begins “synchronizing folders” that take all control away from the user with no explanation and no way to stop the process, I finally got up to the year 2005 and was shocked to find a posting from myself requesting help for this problem. Well it’s now 2010 and there still is no solution, not even from Microsoft as evidenced by those who actually paid %50 to contact them and ask for a solution. At this time, there is still no solution although some folks give detailed instructions in the hope that it will do for you what they presume it did for them, i.e. solved this problem.
        After all this time, I feel that finding a solution to this problem is hopeless and the worst flaw in the office software bundle.
        After wading through all these postings and coming up empty handed, I will at least acknowledge that changing my Outlook to “working offline” seemed to at least postpone the dreaded process of “synchronizing folders”. Please let me know if MS ever comes up with a solution, or maybe it will get fixed in the next version of Office 2010? But that’s anyone’s guess and I wouldn?t count on it since they seem to have ignored it up to now.
        Create a great day for yourselves,
        Marc

        • #2858319

          Another angle on this problem…

          by bruce10000 ·

          In reply to THERE IS NO SOLUTION TO THIS GLITCH

          Most of us use an email server of course, to get out email, our “provider” (not MS exchange). I use COMCAST, and my laptop was trying to synchronize my Outlook files with my comcast server’s files! I had checked “keep a copy on my server” and yup, it did. So I cleaned out all of the thousands of comcast server files, and turned off the auto receive/send in Outlook, and life is good… so far…

        • #2861151

          Tried almost all; finally found something

          by lobby13.com ·

          In reply to Another angle on this problem…

          Am running Vista (ugh – I know) and Outlook 2007. Seems like I have this problem periodically, try three or four of the items in this thread (been coming back here a lot since 2008), the problem goes away, and then it comes back.

          I’ve tried nearly all of these suggestions at one time or another, but was loath to recreate my Outlook profile or delete and recreate email accounts because I manage 30-something accounts – all processing through Outlook – for myself and my clients (lots of webmaster@ … accounts), even though this seems most logical to me as the solution.

          I also have more than 500 folders, and while it was a PIA, I *did* change them all to NOT automatically generate Exchange views. Didn’t help.

          It seems that about the same time this starts, Outlook suddenly starts asking me to re-enter the password for certain accounts, even though all of the appropriate boxes were checked (i.e. save password).

          I decided to try deleting and recreating the email set-ups Outlook didn’t seem to like password-wise, and came to realize that these set-ups were different in that under “more settings,” “Other User Information” was included, such as the company name and the “reply email” address. When I recreated them, in an effort to save time, I didn’t input this information.

          I truly DON’T believe this is relative to the real problem, but seems to have resolved my problem, so I’m sharing it.

          Put it in the “for what it’s worth” column. Maybe it’ll help someone else.

          FYI: The majority of my accounts are Yahoo which I’m popping, but there are also Bellsouth.net accounts and a couple of randoms, like one Host Monster and another Welcome Website. One account is required to leave the messages on the server, b/c the client and I both retrieve those emails. To be honest, it seems that it probably started around the time I set up that account, but deleting it or trying to not include it in send/receive didn’t seem to help at all.

          In my case, it doesn’t seem to be relative to my anti-virus software (Avast) or the router’s MTUs (Belkin) or even the ISPs I use (Bellsouth/ATT and/or Comcast and/or Verizon, depending on my location) or the contacts in my address book (old or new) or anything in my registry.

    • #2881352

      Stop Synchronizing

      by tauan ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      As someone already said in posts above it will work when you turn off

      CHACHE EXCHANGE MODE

      Good luck!

    • #2845758

      Syncronizing Folders Frustration

      by jay ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      Quite frustrated with this annoyance as well, apparently some double negative logic is required. Firstly, check “Work Off-Line” under the File menu. Secondly, switch to manually sending and receiving mail. Considering that Outlook is designed for large corporate environments and assumes Exchange Server, configuring Outlook this way apparently sets “Syncronize Folders=Not” or something simular. One nows sees the Off-Line icon in the Task Tray which looks like an error or problem but is not. For me, the manual mode (as if one were mobile) is what I prefer regardless which apparently tells the system not to even try to syncronize what could be a massive message store.

    • #2883555

      Stop Outlook Synchronizing Folders

      by john.teng59 ·

      In reply to How to stop Office/Outlook 2003 from synchronizing

      After many moons of fruitless searching and trying all different permutations of suggested fixes, none of which actually worked for me (mine is exchange server account), i can finally now confirm that turning off the cache exchange mode as suggested previously by someone on this forum worked for me. After apply the change, I have not seen the annoying double folders icon for the pass 1 hour. And more importantly, it does not hang up and slow down my ancient laptop! So, I’m cautiously optimistic that this is the one…true fix, at least for me case! Thanks very much for the long sought after fix.

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