Occasionally sending and receiving emails can pose problems for end users. One of the more serious problems is when users are unable to receive their email messages.

A sample error message related to being unable to receive emails is the following:

“Outlook is unable to connect to your outgoing (SMTP) email server”

This error message can occur if Outlook is trying to retrieve email messages from a Post Office Protocol (POP3) email server. It can also be produced if Outlook is trying to retrieve email messages from a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) email servers.

It is also possible that you may receive the error code 0×80042109 along with the above error message. This can happen if an end user is attempting to send a message via an email server and they are then asked to provide their login credentials. However, if the OK button is clicked again it will only result in another login prompt being displayed. And, instead of selecting the OK button, if the user hits the Cancel button then the following error message is displayed:

Task ‘<SMTP server name> – Sending and Receiving’ reported error (0×80042109): ‘Outlook is unable to connect to your outgoing (SMTP) email server. If you continue to receive this message, contact your server administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).’

A workaround for this problem is to create a new profile for the user account. The current email server is not responding to the existing user’s profile. A new profile will correct this problem.

It is also possible for the client to use either port 587 or port 465 (with Secure Socket Layer – SSL). Some email servers are configured to work with those ports instead of using the standard email port (25). Some service providers will require authentication on port 587.

Follow the steps below to change your port from 25 to 587 for the Outgoing server:

1. From the Tools menu go to “email accounts”.
2. Select View or Change existing email accounts.
3. Double-click on (your email server)
4. Select “More settings”
5. Go to the Advanced tab
6. Change the Outgoing server (SMTP port) from 25 to 587
7. Click OK or hit enter
8. Select Next
9. Finish or Done.

Additionally, an administrator may also have to change the outgoing server name within Outlook to a different server as determined by their service provider. The POP3 incoming email server does not need to be changed.

On the Outgoing Server tab an administrator should ensure that the checkbox is checked for “My Outgoing Server (SMTP) requires authentication.” Then enter the appropriate email address and password combination. After the username and password has been entered the administrator should then click on “Remember Password” and select “Log on using Secure Password Authentication (SPA)”.  At this point either press the OK button or hit the enter key. Some administrators have reported that they have used this workaround and have not had to change the Port numbers. Their incoming port was port 110 and their outgoing port, 587, was left unchanged.

Some users have reported that in addition to the 0×80042109 error they also received the following message:

”Your server does not support the connection encryption type you have specified. Try changing the encryption method.”

If this happens then an administrator can make the following changes:

1. Open the account settings for the user account.
2. Select the Advanced tab.
3. Verify that the “This server requires SSL” checkbox is checked.
4. Verify that the “Use the following encryption type” has Secure Socket Layer (SSL) selected.

As you can see there are a variety of problems and solutions related to the 0×80042109 error code. Sometimes the solution can be as simple as creating a new password. This can be needed if a password has become corrupted. What happens is that Outlook will continue to ask the end user for their password and the user will re-type their password two or three times before realizing that there is a problem either with what they thought was their password or with the password itself. Changing the password on the server and then within Outlook can sometimes be the simple solution to what appears to be an otherwise complex problem.