Delete button grayed out in Microsoft Outlook

Delete button grayed out in Microsoft Outlook

Well folks, this is for sure a tricky one to fix if you are out looking for an answer in Google. I’m an Outlook Expert and I rarely come across this issue. So when I did on Monday, May 25 2020 (for those reading years later)…It took me awhile to fix it and here is what I did. Do I recommend you follow my exact instructions? Only if you have properly backed up everything first!

Before the fix…Yes, I Googled this too and found the same blogs you have already found. They did not work for me as the client I helped had probably 1000 folders, so the fix was not a good one. It did work for 1 folder though.

Here is how I fixed it!

Backup your IMAP folder list first, (be sure to lift all filters applied first) to a local Outlook PST (do not save in OneDrive documents)

Create a new PST and open in the current Outlook profile.

Copy each folder using the “Copy to a new folder” option, copy to the new PST

Hope that you have all your folders in a sub folder under the inbox! If not, this is a tedious one by one job but another trick I do is move the folders in the current profile to one folder under the inbox, then you can do a big one copy sweep.

The delete button should be back and working.

TIP! If you are migrating email from IMAP to POP or an Exchange account, “move to folder” option is fine if you have backed up.

Confused? Call me. I can help? Schedule time on my calendar below or call 612-865-4475

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Category: Outlook Support