Stop outgoing messages and delete stuck items from Outlook for Mac’s Outbox

Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 removed access to Outlook’s Outbox and effectively removed a user’s ability to stop messages from sending at the last second and sometimes remove problem messages that were too large to send. Outgoing messages stuck in Outlook’s Outbox could then block further messages from sending.

How can problematic messages be removed from the Outbox? Try these three solutions.

Use the Progress window to stop a message

Displaying the Outbox while sending messages made stopping an outgoing message easy for someone with a last second change of heart. An Outlook user could click the Outbox and stop the message during the few seconds between clicking the Send button and the time the message was transferred to the mail server.

However, even with the Outbox missing he can still stop a message if he’s quick enough. Assume he’s just clicked Send and now wants to stop the message.

1. Hit the keyboard shortcut Command + 7 to open the Progress window. This is the same as selecting Window menu –> Progress but the keyboard shortcut is much faster.
2. Click the Cancel button (gray “X”) to the right of the outgoing message to stop the transfer. If the progress bar completes and the message disappears from the Progress window then stopping it was too late.
   
3. Quickly, select Outlook menu –> Work Offline. This stops any Send & Receive schedules from running.
4. The Outbox now appears at the bottom of the Navigation pane on the left just above the buttons for changing Outlook views.
   
5. Click the Outbox to display pending outgoing messages. Open it to make last minute edits, move it or delete it.
6. Select Outlook menu –> Work Offline again to re-enable Outlook’s schedules.

Set Outlook to Work Offline

If a message is stuck in the Outbox and preventing other messages from sending then setting Outlook to Work Offline may display the Outbox.

1. Select Outlook menu –> Work Offline. This stops any Send & Receive schedules from running.
2. The Outbox now appears at the bottom of the Navigation pane on the left just above the buttons for changing Outlook views.
3. Click the Outbox to display pending outgoing messages. Edit or delete the message causing the problem. More than likely the problem message contains an attachment that’s too large to send through the outgoing mail server.
4. Select Outlook menu –> Work Offline again to re-enable Outlook’s schedules.

Use AppleScript to delete Outbox items

Finally, if the Outbox won’t appear even when Outlook is set to Work Offline then AppleScript can still access the messages and delete them.

1. Open the AppleScript Editor application found in /Applications/Utilities.
2. Copy the following three-line script to the Clipboard:

   tell application "Microsoft Outlook"
   	 delete every message of outbox
   end tell

3. Click the Run button at the top of the AppleScript Editor window. This should instantly clear any stuck messages.
   

Why did Microsoft change the Outbox behavior? Only they know. Customers who’d like to see the Outbox restored should be sure to let Microsoft know  by using the Help –> Send Feedback mechanism in any Office application.