Windows Live Mail, Microsoft Outlook’s forerunner, has numerous flaws. From January 10, 2017, Microsoft no longer provided support for this feature and advised customers to switch to Outlook. Naturally, you might have encountered certain issues yet were unable to contact Microsoft for help.
Do not worry; this post contains a number of potential solutions to the problem. In most cases, this problem can be fixed by running the programme in Windows 7 compatibility mode or by fixing Windows Essential Suite. If not, using alternative email clients will be necessary, which is still a decent option.
Why Is My Windows Live Email Not Working
There are numerous potential reasons why Windows Live Mail isn’t functioning properly on your system. Additionally, your system can be encountering many errors.
Here are a few primary causes of Windows Live Mail not functioning on your PC.
- Incompatibility issues
- Lack of support for Windows Live Mail
- Improper account settings
- Restrictions in Firewall settings
How to Fix Windows Live Email Not Working
Depending on the root of the problem, there are a few options for resolution. Here are some techniques that might be useful. Please use these techniques in the correct order.
End Process and Restart
Minor errors can sometimes be resolved by restarting the software. If you haven’t made any major modifications to your machine, restarting it might allow you to utilise Windows Live Mail.
To stop and start this process, take the following actions:
- To open the Task Manager, use Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
- Find wlmail.exe by going to the Details tab (or Processes for Windows 7, Vista, or XP) email-task-manager
- Use the right-click menu to choose End Task or End Process.
- Then, launch Windows Live Mail once more to see if the error still occurs.
Run as Admin in Compatibility Mode
Your Windows Live Mail may not be compatible with the newest Windows versions, which could be the cause of its malfunction. Running this programme in compatibility mode while running it as an administrator will resolve this problem.
The steps to apply this technique are listed below.
- Navigate to Windows Live Mail or Program Files (x86) in C:Program Files. Microsoft Live Mail
- Select Properties by doing a right-click on wlmail.exe.
- Click the Tab for Compatibility.
- Verify compatibility mode. Use the compatibility mode for this programme to:
- Windows 7 can be selected from the drop-down menu.
- Check Run this software through Settings as an administrator.
- To apply the changes, click Apply and Ok.
- Run-in-compatibility-mode
- Open Windows Live Mail and see if the problem is still present.
Reconfigure Windows Live Mail Account
The Windows Live Mail account’s wrong server settings may possibly be the cause of this problem. It’s possible that you altered or entered incorrect information while setting up your account. Some connections might also need SSL or authentication, but such settings might be disabled.
Please adjust your account’s settings to the proper ones by following the process below in order to resolve this problem.
- Contact your ISP to find out your account settings.
- Get Windows Live Mail open.
- The Properties option is found under the Accounts tab.
- Compare the settings to the ones your ISP provided.
Remove the Current Account and Create New One
This approach serves more as a workaround than a solution. You might try creating a new Live Mail account if your current one is having problems in order to get around them. Here’s how to log in with a different account:
- Get Windows Live Mail open.
- To exit Windows Live Mail, click the Account icon and then select Sign out.
- Next, sign in using a different email address to see whether the programme stops functioning.
Enable Firewall Access
One possible cause of your inability to send or receive emails is the Windows Firewall’s restrictions on network connections. To fix this problem, please add Windows Live Mail features to the Firewall exclusion list. The actions you must take are as follows:
- Enter control to launch the Run command (Windows + R). As a result, the Control Panel will open.
- Select Windows Defender Firewall by clicking System and Security in the category view.
- Select Allow an application or feature through Windows Defender Firewall from the menu.
To locate the following, scroll down and click Change settings.
- Windows Live Communications Platform
- Windows Live Messenger
- Windows Live Communications Platform (SSDP)
- Windows Live Communications Platform (UPnP)
For each of them, check the Private and Public boxes. Next, click Ok.
Repair Windows Essentials 2012
The Windows Essentials software package includes a function called Windows Live Mail. Windows Live Mail issues can be fixed in large part by fixing this software.
The procedures to fix Windows Essentials 2012 are shown below.
- Open the Run command window and type control.
- Select Programs from the category view, then click Uninstall a Program.
- control-panel-uninstall-a-program
- Lookup Windows Essentials 2012 there.
- Right-click it and choose Repair, Uninstall/Change > Repair, or another option.
- To fix this programme, adhere to the directions displayed on-screen.
- Restart your PC after the procedure is complete.
Reinstall Windows Essentials 2012
Reinstalling this programme might work if fixing it doesn’t resolve the problem. To uninstall and reinstall Windows Essentials 2012, adhere to the steps below.
- Open the Control Panel and use the category view to search for Programs.
- Under it, select Uninstall a Program.
- Lookup Windows Essentials 2012 there.
- To uninstall it, perform a right-click on it. Then affirm by saying “Yes.”
- To uninstall this programme, adhere to the directions displayed on-screen.
- Download and launch the Windows Essentials 2012 offline installation.
Tweak Registry
You can also be unable to send or receive emails due to some improper registry entries. Your Mails will most likely say “Message cannot be displayed” in this situation.
This problem can be resolved by updating those entries. Here’s how to go about it.
- To launch the Registry Editor, type Regedit into the Run command box.
- Get there by navigation:
- Microsoft Windows Live Mail is located in the registry key HKEY CURRENT USER.
- The following entries can be double-clicked to set their Value data to 1:
- RecreateFolderIndeex
- RecreateStreamIndex
- RecreateUIDLIndex
- In order to add new entries, click on Edit from the menu bar and choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
- They will have the aforementioned names and a value of 1.
Use Alternative Email Clients
Any previously functional software would have stopped operating since Windows no longer supports Live Mail. Windows Live Mail is still available for download and uses through various unauthorised sources. However, we advise making use of alternate email applications like Thunderbird, Outlook, etc. Microsoft won’t release any upgrades for Windows Live Mail and won’t offer support if users run into problems. Moving to another email software with regular updates and official support is preferable.