Cannot remove Exchange account from Outlook

[Mr Pointy]

A colleague is having problems removing an Exchange account from Outlook 365 (it's a Windows 10 PC). It was set when he worked for an organisation & was the first account & since then a POP account has been added. His contract with the organisation ended & he now just uses the POP account (different email address of course).

We simply cannot get rid of the Exchange account, no matter what we try. We've created a new profile with just the POP account, deleted the .ost file, closed Outlook & used the Mail app in Control Panel, all the things web searches say should work, but they don't.

Anyone have any ideas other than deleting Outlook & re-installing?

[Harpoon]

Have you told Outlook to use the new profile? In Control Panel, go into Mail (Outlook) and it's the bottom of the next dialogue box ("Always use this profile")

[Mr Pointy]

Harpoon said:

Have you told Outlook to use the new profile? In Control Panel, go into Mail (Outlook) and it's the bottom of the next dialogue box ("Always use this profile")

Yep. Works fine, but still cannot delete the Exchange account.

[Harpoon]

I'm a little confused - do you mean the Exchange account shows up in Outlook despite not being in the new profile?

[V8mate]

Is Outlook on his PC courtesy of the employer's 365 account? If so, it's not his to use any longer?

[toohuge]

V8mate said:

Is Outlook on his PC courtesy of the employer's 365 account? If so, it's not his to use any longer?

Most likely this …

Which email address is the o365 licence registered to?

[worsy]

This is a thing with outlook. remove the Pop account then remove the Ex365 account, then re-add the Pop account.

[Mr Pointy]

toohuge said:

V8mate said:

Is Outlook on his PC courtesy of the employer's 365 account? If so, it's not his to use any longer?

Most likely this …

Which email address is the o365 licence registered to?

It's a personal copy registered to the POP account holder

[Mr Pointy]

worsy said:

This is a thing with outlook. remove the Pop account then remove the Ex365 account, then re-add the Pop account.

So basically delete both so there are no accounts?. That's going to be a bit of a pain unless we can make it pick up the existing .pst file when re-adding the POP account.

[Harpoon]

Mr Pointy said:

So basically delete both so there are no accounts?. That's going to be a bit of a pain unless we can make it pick up the existing .pst file when re-adding the POP account.

How has the Exchange account ended up in the new profile you've created (from scratch)?

[Mr Pointy]

Harpoon said:

Mr Pointy said:

So basically delete both so there are no accounts?. That's going to be a bit of a pain unless we can make it pick up the existing .pst file when re-adding the POP account.

How has the Exchange account ended up in the new profile you've created (from scratch)?

It isn't but even when logged in with the new profile it won't let you delete the Exchange account.

[worsy]

Mr Pointy said:

worsy said:

This is a thing with outlook. remove the Pop account then remove the Ex365 account, then re-add the Pop account.

So basically delete both so there are no accounts?. That's going to be a bit of a pain unless we can make it pick up the existing .pst file when re-adding the POP account.

Yup. You should be able to use the existing pst, however best to use IMAP rather than POP if possible then the message satys in the account. You could create new and then add the old pst as an additional account for archive purposes.

[Harpoon]

Mr Pointy said:

It isn't but even when logged in with the new profile it won't let you delete the Exchange account.

Just delete (remove) the old profile with the Exchange in then?

[Mr Pointy]

Harpoon said:

Mr Pointy said:

It isn't but even when logged in with the new profile it won't let you delete the Exchange account.

Just delete (remove) the old profile with the Exchange in then?

Tried that. It won't do it.

[Harpoon]

Mr Pointy said:

Tried that. It won't do it.

From Control Panel > Mail > Profiles (with Outlook closed)?

What happens? An error message? Nothing?

[Sheepshanks]

IIRC you can't delete the last account or the default account?

Windows can be a pain for remembering stuff - I recall needing to go into Credential Manager in Control Panel and delete all reference to Office 365, Outlook etc.

[Mr Pointy]

An error message along the lines of:

"You cannot delete this Outlook data file. Configuration information in the file is being copied to your new default data file. You can delete the file after this information is copied"

The web is full of useful advice like " create new profile" "you should be able to delete" but it doesn't work. Even clicking on the profile selection control open a logon dialogue box to the old Exchange account which he has to cancel every time.

[Robotron70]

I had this issue too a couple of years ago, I did find something on Google and it worked, but it’s too long ago for me to remember.

Keep Googling!

[Sheepshanks]

Robotron70 said:

I had this issue too a couple of years ago, I did find something on Google and it worked, but it’s too long ago for me to remember.

Keep Googling!

It was probably "reinstall Windows"!

[worsy]

Sheepshanks said:

Robotron70 said:

I had this issue too a couple of years ago, I did find something on Google and it worked, but it’s too long ago for me to remember.

Keep Googling!

It was probably "reinstall Windows"!

Or a regedit hack.