As it turns out, there are several different causes that might end up causing this Outlook IMAP problem:
Method 1: Disabling Send & Receive Groups Feature
As it turns out, in the majority of documented cases experiencing this issue, the issue turned out to be caused by the Send / Receive feature. Keep in mind that this feature isn’t meant to work with IMAP connections – IMAP has the ability to sync on itself without the help of Outlook. So if you receive the 0x800CCCDD error with an IMAP server, the error you receive isn’t actually something that will inhibit the sending or receiving of emails on your email box. All you need to do in this case is to turn off the Send / Receive feature manually from Outlook’s settings in order to allow your IMAP server to take full control of the operations. Going this route will not resolve the issue since you will still get the error at every Outlook startup. But on the upside, you will be able to send or receive emails with no issues. Note: If you are looking for a permanent fix that will fix the underlying cause of the issue, move directly to Method 2. Here’s a quick step by step guide on turning off the Send / Receive feature from your Outlook settings in order to fix the issue: In case the same problem is still occurring or you’re looking for a permanent fix, move down to the next potential fix below.
Method 2: Re-adding Email account
As it turns out, this issue can also occur due to corrupted temporary data belonging to the email account that is currently connected with Outlook. After an AV scan or after an unexpected machine interruption, some temp files might become corrupted so Outlook will be unable to sync data properly. In this case, you can fix the issue swiftly by recreating the email account once again (from scratch) using the Mail menu in Control Panel. This method was confirmed to be successful by a lot of affected users. Here’s a quick step by step guide on re-adding the problematic email account using the Mail Windows program: In case you’re still encountering the 0x800CCCDD error, move down to the next potential fix below.
Method 3: Running the ScanPST.exe utility
If the first to methods above weren’t effective in your case, you might be able to fix the issue using the built-in email repair tool – Inbox Repair Tool (ScanPST.exe). This tool is present in every recent Outlook version and is capable of performing general troubleshooting on .PST files. In case the problem originates from the personal folder profile, scanning the Outlook data with the ScanPST.exe utility should allow you to fix the issue swiftly. Here’s a step by step guide on repairing the Outlook data file with the ScanPST.exe utility: In case you’re still encountering the same 0x800CCCDD error, move to the next potential fix below. In case the problem is still not resolved, move down to the next potential fix below.
Method 4: Creating a new Outlook Profile
If the first two fixes didn’t work and you’re still encountering the 0x800CCCDD error consistently while your IMAP account is connected to Outlook, you might want to remove the current local Outlook profile completely before re-syncing your account once again. This operation has been confirmed to be successful for a lot of users that we’re consistently encountering the Your IMAP server closed the connection‘ error. Here’s a quick step by step guide that will show you how to remove the current Outlook profile and create a new one from scratch: In case the same problem is still occurring, move down to the next potential fix below.
Method 5: Extending server Timeouts
In case you are only encountering the 0x800CCCDD error when you use a Gmail account with Outlook, it’s likely that you’re dealing with a server timeout issue. Outlook is built to work with a certain timeframe in which it needs to complete sending and receiving procedures. By default, that time is set to 1 Minute, but depending on the Internet connection and the load on your network, that might not be enough. If this scenario is applicable, you should be able to fix the issue by making some amendments to the default Send/Receive Groups settings, boosting the Server Timeout to 10 minutes in order to avoid the Your IMAP server closed the connection error. Here’s a quick step by step guide on ensuring that you give your email client enough time to complete the exchange of data by boosting the Server Timeout value: In case the same 0x800CCCDD error, move down to the next potential fix below.
Method 6: Using POP Instead of IMAP
In case you are encountering this issue with a Gmail account and none of the potential fixes above have worked for you, you can simply switch to a POP manual connection instead of IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) and eliminate the 0x800CCCDD error. This is more a workaround rather than a fix, but a lot of affected users have confirmed that this was the only thing that allowed them to get rid of the Your IMAP server closed the connection‘ error for good. Keep in mind that with Gmail, you will need to enable POP (Post Office Control) from your Gmail account settings before you can connect it with Outlook. Here’s a complete guide on enabling POP in your Gmail Settings and then connect it with your Outlook account: In case the same issue is still occurring, move down to the next potential fix below.
Method 7: Adjusting the Date & Time
One other cause that might end up causing the 0x800CCCDD error is a big difference between your local time when compared with the time on the server. This can be facilitated by a bad CMOS battery. If this scenario is applicable, you should be able to fix the issue by bringing the date, time and timezone values to the correct values from the Date & time settings menu. Several affected users have confirmed that this operation finally allowed them to get the issue resolved. Follow the instructions below to set the correct date & time: Note: The instructions below are universal and will work regardless of your Windows version.
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