While creating an Outlook Profile, or connecting to MS Office 365 Mailbox, sometimes users come across an error Outlook continually prompting for username and password. Many times, there emerges an error showing that the trying to connect. If a user cancels credentials prompt, then the error message received is:
The connection to MS Exchange is unavailable. MS Outlook should be online or connected to perform the action.
Reason behind the Error
This error is encountered if there is an issue with the Login Network Security Settings on Security tab of MS Exchange Online. The dialog box is set to a specific value rather than Anonymous Authentication.
We encounter this error a number of times. The error has a root cause behind it. Few of them are mentioned below:
MS Outlook and updated versions of Outlook are not affected by the credentials prompting issues. These editions have been recently upgraded to overcome this issue. The recent Outlook editions have disabled or removed the login Network Security setting from settings of MS Exchange email account. If a person is using an Exchange Online Mailbox and has updated the Outlook, we recommend the users of using Office 365 Support and Recovery Assistant to troubleshoot the MS Outlook connectivity. If a user is connecting to MS Exchange On-Premises mailbox, read the topics mentioned below:
For resolving the issue, go through the following scenario:
Scenario: MS Outlook connecting to Primary Mailbox in on-premises MS Exchange Server using RPC, and connects to other mailbox located in Exchange Online.
Solution: In such cases, the Outlook continually prompting for Username and Password and does not make use of Modern Authentication to connect to Exchange Online. Follow the steps mentioned below to resolve the error.
For Windows 10/ 8.1/ 8: Press Windows Key+ R and open the dialog box. Type regedit.exe in the Search box and opt for Enter. In the Registry Editor, find and click on registry subkey:
Once the domain user account has been changed, then in those cases, the MS Outlook 2013 prompts for a password. If the password has been changed, enter a new password and enable remember the credentials.
Reason: Before the password was changed, and credentials were saved, then, in that case, the stored credentials are not overwritten. In case the MS Outlook triggers for authentication prompt, then enable Remember my credentials option. For resolving the issue, install the latest update of MS Outlook.
Solution: If a user is not able to do it in a like way then, follow the steps mentioned below:
Alternate Method: Sometimes, the main problem is that the users have old versions of their systems. In such cases, the users need to fix the Outlook continually prompting for Username and Password issue and change settings of Login Network Security to Anonymous Authentication. For performing the same, follow the steps mentioned below:
From the above lines, users are clear regarding the topic Outlook Continually prompting for Username and password. The above content tells users regarding the same and guides than with different methods to perform the same. So, users must remain connected with the write-up to get the error resolved easily.