Why do the Microsoft Outlook 'Test Account Settings' Fail?

In Outlook there is a 'Test Account Settings' button you can use - this generates and sends a test message to your email account. We have had reports that older versions of Outlook fail as they do not appear to be sending the SMTP authentication (username and password) when sending mail.

We would recommend that you try sending an email anyway - most people have reported that sending mail normally worked perfectly and only the test failed.

If that does not work:

  • Check the username and password have been entered correctly (both are case sensitive).
  • Ensure the email address you are sending 'from' has been authorized using the AuthSMTP Control Panel.

We have tested it ourselves using Microsoft Outlook 2003 through to the current version and it seems to work correctly so it may have been fixed in that version.

If you have any questions please contact us.