If you are looking for how to refresh Outlook and cannot find a refresh icon, that is normal. Outlook does not label anything “Refresh”. The command is called Send/Receive in classic Outlook and Sync in new Outlook and Outlook on the web.
To refresh Outlook, press F9. In classic Outlook for Windows this runs Send/Receive for all your accounts. In new Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web, F9 runs Sync, the same as View > Sync. To update only one folder in classic Outlook, select it and click Update Folder on the Send / Receive tab.
In this guide, I’ll show where each one is, how to make Outlook check for mail on a schedule, and what to try when the inbox stays stale.
Most Exchange and Microsoft 365 mailboxes get new mail in the background, so you rarely need to do this by hand. You need it when a message is late, an item is stuck in the Outbox, or an IMAP account like Gmail is slow to update.
Which Outlook Do You Have?
Classic Outlook has a Send / Receive tab in the ribbon. New Outlook for Windows does not have that tab. It has a View tab with a Sync button. Outlook on the web uses the same View > Sync. The steps below follow that split.
1) How to Refresh Outlook Manually in Classic Outlook
Step 1: Open Outlook and select the Send / Receive tab.
Step 2: Click Send/Receive All Folders in the Send & Receive group. The shortcut is F9.
That checks all accounts and sends anything waiting in the Outbox. Two other buttons in the same group are worth knowing:
- Update Folder refreshes only the folder you have selected.
- Send All sends the Outbox without checking for new mail.
To refresh one account only, use Send/Receive Groups, point to the account and select its folder.
Where Is the Refresh Button in Outlook?
Classic Outlook has no refresh button in the mail view like a browser does. The closest thing is Send/Receive All Folders on the Send / Receive tab. The small green arrows at the top left of the window, above the ribbon, run the same command. If they are not there on your Outlook, right-click Send/Receive All Folders and choose Add to Quick Access Toolbar.
2) How to Refresh New Outlook and Outlook on the Web
- Select Mail in the left bar.
- On the View tab, select Sync, or press F9.
While it syncs, you see a status message at the bottom of the message list. In Outlook on the web you can also reload the browser tab, which shows new mail too.
3) How to Refresh Outlook Automatically
To refresh the Outlook inbox automatically, you do not need to do anything for most accounts, because classic Outlook already checks for new mail on a schedule. It is set in Send/Receive Groups, and it matters most for IMAP and POP accounts. Exchange and Microsoft 365 accounts in Cached Exchange Mode normally sync in the background and do not wait for this timer, so changing it there usually changes nothing.
If you want to set it or change it, open the dialog this way:
Step 1: Click File in the top left corner of the Outlook window.
Step 2: Click Options at the bottom left.
Step 3: Select the Advanced tab, scroll down to Send and receive and click the Send/Receive button.
Step 4: In the Send/Receive Groups dialog, select All Accounts. Tick Include this group in send/receive (F9), then tick Schedule an automatic send/receive every and enter the minutes. The screenshot below shows 30.
Step 5: Click Close, then OK.
The faster way to the same dialog is Send / Receive > Send/Receive Groups > Define Send/Receive Groups. The lower section, When Outlook is Offline, has its own interval, and it accepts 1 to 1440 minutes.
A very short interval keeps Outlook connecting to the server all day, so a few minutes is plenty for an IMAP account. If you clear the schedule option, Outlook sends and receives only when you press F9.
Why Does My Outlook Email Not Refresh?
I use new Outlook myself, and this hardly ever happens there. It is mostly a classic Outlook problem, and we have seen it with employees at work more than once. If Outlook is not refreshing automatically, or F9 and Sync do nothing and the inbox stays stale, go through these in order. Stop when mail starts arriving.
1) Toggle Work Offline. In classic Outlook, open the Send / Receive tab and click Work Offline. It is the last button on the right in the first screenshot above. Click it again to go back online, and check that the status bar reads Connected. When classic Outlook stopped refreshing for our employees, bringing it offline and back online like this brought the refresh back. If Work Offline was already switched on, Outlook was not talking to the server at all, and switching it off is the fix.
2) Move to new Outlook. The other thing that has solved it for our users is converting to new Outlook and starting it there. Classic Outlook has a Try the new Outlook toggle, unless your admin has hidden it. Check your add-ins first, because new Outlook uses web add-ins instead of COM add-ins.
3) Check the send/receive group. In the dialog from step 4, make sure the account is in the group and Include this group in send/receive (F9) is ticked. If it is not, F9 skips that account.
4) Look in the other folders. A rule can move new mail out of the Inbox, so the message may be there and not where you expect. This post on finding the folder path in Outlook helps when the folder list is long.
5) Check for add-ins. Go to File > Options > Add-ins, set Manage to COM Add-ins, click Go and untick the ones you do not need. Restart Outlook after.
6) Try Cached Exchange Mode off. For an Exchange account, open File > Account Settings > Account Settings, select the account, click Change and clear Use Cached Exchange Mode. Restart Outlook and test. Turn it back on afterwards if it made no difference. On a managed PC this can be controlled by policy, so ask your admin before you change it. A corrupt OST file can also hold back mail, and a slow Outlook is a different job, covered in 10 tips to speed up Outlook.
7) New Outlook shows the notification but not the mail. Clear any filter on the folder, set the sort to newest first, switch folders and come back, then restart the app. If it still happens, update new Outlook from the Microsoft Store, or sign out and sign in again. These are fixes people report on Microsoft’s own forums, not an official Microsoft fix.
8) Outlook 2016 or 2013 on a metered connection. Microsoft documents a case where new mail does not arrive and a Metered Connection Warning shows under File. For Microsoft 365 apps, updating Office to version 2008 (build 13127.20508) or later fixes it. Details are in Microsoft’s note on the Metered Connection Warning, and our post on the metered network warning in Outlook covers the Windows side.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How Do I Force Outlook to Sync?
In classic Outlook, press F9 or click Send/Receive All Folders. In new Outlook and Outlook on the web, press F9 or select View > Sync. Microsoft documents both on its page for manually checking for new mail.
What Is the Shortcut Key to Refresh Outlook?
It is F9, and it works in all three versions. I have not found Microsoft documenting a separate shortcut for a single folder, so use Update Folder on the ribbon for that.
How Often Does Outlook Refresh by Itself?
For IMAP and POP accounts in classic Outlook, it follows the schedule in Send/Receive Groups, which you set in minutes. Exchange and Microsoft 365 accounts normally sync in the background. Microsoft’s page on changing send/receive group settings shows where to change it.
Why Is There No Refresh Button in Outlook?
Outlook does not label any button Refresh. In classic Outlook the same job is done by Send/Receive, and in new Outlook by Sync. You can pin Send/Receive All Folders to the Quick Access Toolbar if you want it always in view.
