Windows Mail App Not Working? Try These 6 Fixes

If you are a Windows user, there’s a good chance that you use its built-in app Windows Mail to manage your email messages. Along with sending or receiving messages, the app even lets you add several other email services like Gmail, Outlook, Office 365, etc.

While the app is supposed to work flawlessly, it can suffer from occasional hiccups. Sometimes it fails to open/load, and other times it crashes immediately after launching. On the other hand, your app works just fine, but you might be experiencing sync issues.

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How to Fix the Windows Mail App Not Working?

A simple solution is also often an effective solution. So, restart your Mail app, and if you are lucky, the app might work perfectly.

Apart from that, you can apply the following fixes until your problem is resolved.

Update the App

An outdated app contains several bugs and issues. Over time, it becomes incompatible with your system. Hence, if you haven’t installed the latest updates for the app, it can cause issues like crashing.

To update the app,

Press Windows + S to search for and open Microsoft Store.
Then, select Library in the bottom left corner.
Under Updates & downloads section, click the Update button next to the Mail and Calendar app.
Wait for the update to finish.
Relaunch the Mail and Calendar app. Check if it’s working as expected.

Use the Windows Store Apps Troubleshooter

Fortunately, Windows provides a troubleshooter that scans and automatically detects possible issues within the apps. As the Mail and Calendar app is also a part of it, running the troubleshooting can work in your case too.

Open the Settings app. (Windows + I)
Click Update & Security.
Select Troubleshoot from the left sidebar.
Now, click Additional troubleshooter in the right pane.
Scroll to the bottom and select Windows Store Apps. Then, click the Run the troubleshooter button on it.
Once the troubleshooter finishes detecting issues, follow the on-screen prompts and apply its recommended fixes.

Allow the App in the Windows Defender Firewall

For the Mail and Calendar app to work flawlessly, it needs to run certain background processes in the Windows system. However, a firewall can sometimes interpret them as malicious or potentially harmful programs and block the app. So, you have to allow the app through the firewall.

Here’s how to do it.

Press Windows + R, type firewall.cpl, and click OK to launch the Windows Firewall.
Then, click Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall from the sidebar.
Next, click Change settings.
Scroll through the list of apps and click to enable the Private and Public checkboxes for the Mail and calendar app.
Click OK to apply new changes.

Note: If you cannot access the above setting, you likely have a third-party antivirus installed on your system. So, configure its settings to allow the Mail app through its firewall.

Reset the Mail and Calendar App

After using the Mail and Calendar app for a certain time, its data might have gone corrupt. So to solve it, Windows provides the reset option for the Microsoft Store apps. Also, it’s pretty similar to reinstalling, except it skips the need to uninstall and install the app again.

On Windows 10

Press Windows + X and select Apps and Features from the list in the bottom left corner.
Scroll through the list and select Mail and Calendar.
Click Advanced options below its name.
Scroll to the bottom and click the Reset button.
Click Reset again to confirm.

On Windows 11

Open the Settings app. (Windows + I)
Select Apps from the sidebar and click Apps & features on the right pane.
Scroll to the Mail and Calendar option. Then, click the three dots icon next to Mail and Calendar and select Advanced options.
Click Repair and see if the app works normally after it. Otherwise, click the Reset option below it.

Reset the Microsoft Store Cache

The Mail and calendar app is, after all, a part of the Microsoft Store. So, if the Microsoft Store cache is corrupted and causing the issue, you can clear the cache. However, doing so can sign out of the app. So, remember your login details before performing the steps below.

Press Windows + R, type wsreset and press Enter.
Wait for a black command prompt to appear and reset the cache.
See if the Mail app is responding.

Re-register the App

Some of the Microsoft Store apps are pre-installed on the system and don’t have the Uninstall option, or it’s greyed out. And although you can uninstall the Mail app from the Settings app, a better alternative is to use Powershell. It allows you to execute various tasks with a few commands and is more advanced than the command prompt.

With Windows PowerShell, you can re-register the app, which is similar to reinstalling the app, but with just a single powerful command.

Press Windows + R, type powershell and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to run it as administrator.
Copy and paste the following code into the terminal.
Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps | Remove-AppxPackage
Now, press Enter to run the code.
Exit powershell and restart your computer.
Download and install the Mail app from the Microsoft Store. Check if it works now.

How to Fix the Windows Mail App Not Syncing With Email?

In case you unable to send/receive emails through the Mail app or having some kind of sync issues, you can apply the following fixes.

But before moving on, make sure you are connected to a stable internet connection. And use the respective web version of the email services (Gmail, Outlook, or any other) you have added to it for the time being.

Provide the Necessary Permissions

While the app could be responsible for the sync issues, you must have provided the necessary permissions for the app to send/receive your emails. On Windows, you can configure it through the Settings app.

Open the Settings app (Windows + I).
Click Privacy.
Select Email on the left sidebar.
In the right pane, scroll to the Email section and make sure the button under Allows app to access your email is set to On.
Also, toggle on the button next to the Mail and Calendar app under the Choose which apps can access your email section.
Additionally, select Calendar in the sidebar and toggle on the buttons similar to the above steps.

Sign Out and Sign in Again

Sometimes it’s just a glitch that’s causing the sync issues in the Mail app. In that case, signing out of the connected account and signing in back again resolves the problem.

Here’s how to do it.

Press Windows + S, search for and open the Mail app.
Click the little gear icon in the bottom left corner to open its settings.
Then, click the Manage account option.
Select the email you are having issues with.
On the Account settings prompt, select Delete account from this device.
Next, click Delete to remove the account from the Mail app.
Relaunch the Mail app. Then, click Add account and follow the on-screen instructions to re-add your account.
Check if your emails are syncing now.