Suppose you’re using Outlook 2007, 2010, or older versions of Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2016. In that case, you’ll soon receive an alert that says your admin has blocked your Outlook version. The message reads as follows: “Your Microsoft Exchange administrator has blocked the version of Outlook that you are using. Contact your administrator for assistance“. Let’s discuss why this alert pops up in the first place and what you can do about it.
Old Office Versions Can’t Connect to Microsoft 365 Services
Starting with November 1st, 2021, the minimum version requirements for connecting Outlook to Office 365 and Microsoft 365 services changed. Microsoft no longer supports the following versions:
- Outlook 2007
- Outlook 2010
- Office 2013 versions earlier than 15.0.4971.1000
- Office 2016 versions earlier than 16.0.4600.1000.
Microsoft started rolling out the block for Outlook 2007 on November 1st. The block will affect Outlook 2010 users in the coming weeks. The safest solution is to upgrade to the latest Office version, which brings enhanced security and stability options and many new features.
However, if you’re running Office 2007 or 2010, and your device can’t run the latest Office version, consider switching to Office 2019. If you’re running Office 2013, switch to version 15.0.4971.1000 (Service Pack 1 with the October 2017 Update). If you’re using Office 2016, install version 16.0.4600.1000 (the one that includes the November 2017 Update, KB4051890).
For more information, contact your IT admin, and check Outlook’s end of support roadmap.
Outlook 2007 and 2010 Are Incompatible With Newer Features
As Microsoft explains, older Outlook versions are not compatible with the latest security features and modern authentication protocols. The company is also working on adding support for HTTP/2 in Microsoft 365, an enhanced security protocol.
As a quick reminder, Microsoft supports only the following Office versions for connecting to Microsoft 365 and Office 365 services:
- Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise (previously Office 365 ProPlus)
- Microsoft 365 Apps for Business (formerly Office 365 Business)
- Office LTSC 2021, and Office LTSC Professional Plus 2021
- Office 2019, and Office Professional Plus 2019
- Microsoft Office 2016, and Office Standard 2016
Conclusion
Starting with November 1st, 2021, Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010, and old Office 2013 and Office 2016 versions can no longer connect to Office 365 and Microsoft 365 services. That’s why you’re getting an alert that says your admin has blocked your Outlook version.
Are you planning to upgrade to a newer Office version any time soon? Let us know in the comments.
Mark Gilham says
I have used Microsoft since DOSS (yeah I am 69) and every version since. Every version was put out before it was ready and WE had to troubleshoot it for Microsoft. Heck, made Bill Gates the richest man in the world, killed any competitor because they weren’t willing to do the same. After Microsoft FORCED everyone to switch to outlook 365 a couple years ago and deleted 15 plus years of MY business emails that were on MY computer hard drive, saved by MY purchased copy of Outlook 2010 Pro, I swore to remove my outlook email address from every website I ever used it. After removing it from EVERYWERE except my Microsoft account I updated my computer to Windows 10 and reinstalled Office 2010 and had been using Outlook 2010 for my non outlook.com business and other email addresses I decided to add my outlook email for the few emails I allow from Microsoft and now Outlook 2010 won’t even start, just gives me the BS that my administrator had blocked it. If it was my administrator, I would have FIRED HIM!
Jaye Omage says
What’s worse is that I deleted the outlook.com mail account, and STILL CAN’T USE MY OLD EMAIL!!!!!!!!!
Jaye Omage says
I paid good money for this software. Microsoft didn’t indicate a time period of use when I bought it. Totally unacceptable. What’s worse is that I deleted the outlook.com mail account, and STILL CAN’T USE MY OLD EMAIL!!!!!!!!!
Jaye Omage says
I paid good money for this software. Microsoft didn’t indicate a time period of use when I bought it. Totally unacceptable.
TB says
To get around this
“Your Microsoft Exchange administrator has blocked the version of Outlook that you are using. Contact your administrator for assistance“
Using a Microsoft Outlook.com account. Do this:
Set up a new account, choose: MANUALLY configure server settings, Next
Choose: Internet E-mail, Next
enter:
your name
your email address
choose IMAP or POP (IMAP is best)
incoming mail server: imap.outlook.com
outgoing mail server: smtp.outlook.com
user name: your email address
password: your password
make sure the tick is in Remember Password
Click ‘More Settings’
on the Outgoing Server tab tick My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication
on the Advanced tab, change the Incoming server to SSL and port 993
change the Outgoinging server to TLS and port 587
OK and finish
This worked for me Sept 2022 Hope it help you
SEL says
This is nothing but a scam to force users to buy software from MS. And to be honest, who knows why. We just found out that Facebook was selling messages to the government. You just don’t know what, other than greed, MS is getting out of this move.
David Hatton says
FAO Clyde
Clyde I understand your frustration. For me Office 2010 did everything I wanted. Let’s face it normal users only use about 10% of what Office can do anyway. My PC dual-boots (Windows 7 & Windows 10) and it’s too old to run WIndows 11. With Windows 10 I use Office 2021. I won;t touch Microsoft 365. (Though if you have multiple family members wanting Office then it is good value over the RRP of individual Office licenses. I’m of the generation where you had physical media and paid once for your product.
Unfortunately, security is essential to Emails. Emails in general are not secure so they need to be encrypted and Office 2010 cannot/does not support the latest security rules/protocols. You must remember that this issue with Outlook only affects Hotmail (.com & .co.uk), Live.com and outlook.com accounts. If your email provider is something else (ie Gmail.com, Aol.com & any other) then it’s up to them if they still support Outlook 2010.
With regards to the cost of upgrading you Word and Outlook, tht depends on the version of WIndows you are running. Assuming you are on Windows 10 (let’s face it MS practically forced all Windows 7 users to upgrade to 10) then you can choose either Office 2019 or 2021. It’s not as expensive as you might think. I mean all you need is a product key (and instructions on how to down load Office from Microsoft). I’ve always used ElectronicFirst.com (make sure you change the currency to UK£). As of today (3rd Sept) it would cost you £19.04 (plus a tiny bit extra for transaction handling) for Office Professional Plus 2021. You would need an create an account (very simple) so you can access the purchased product key. Their instructions are very simple and you’ll be up and running with a new version of Office in no time. I have never had a problem using them and it’s all perfectly legal.
If you are using a hotmail/outlook.com account then if the worst comes to the worst you can always just sign-on to Outlook.,com.
Don’t despair there are ways around this.
Clyde says
I am 75 years old, and I use only Outlook and Word. I use e-mail to receive notices of bills and notices I get only by e-mail and rarely send an e-mail. I have many saved Word documents and only use it in its simplest form.. I don’t need a program that I have to pay monthly for. This is a smack in the face of elderly and lower income people. I will have to find a replacement. For all those who say things change which is true but if something is working well why replace it or at least just have an updated alternative.
Blocked by MSFT says
I switched to Mozilla Thunderbird. It’s not the same but so far it’s working. And it’s free.
Jaidria says
I purchased, (at some expense), MS Office Professional some years ago when I did a lot of training and work in it. Now retired I only use it occasionally for basic letters and accounts work, and of course Outlook.
I will not be forced into a subscription type service! For people who only require simple use like myself there are free office type options out there.
Will be avoiding and advising others to avoid MS in future.
Patriot says
Seems when we all bought our software there was no EXPIRATION DATE. Can’t wait to join the classaction lawsuit against greedy globalist pedo gates.
Jennifer Dowd says
Microsoft are trying to charge me for a service I don’t use anymore, I’ll just tell my service providers so send it to a different email all I got was bogus ads and numerous ones for blocking ads get fucked Microsoft $10 a week what a joke didn’t you make enough money just to block my deceased husband’s email address is proving you’re greedy
Not to thrilled says
It gave me the answer I was looking for but I am another small business that uses 2010 all the time for emails, tasks and calendar. I will not be upgrading this and I will be searching for another program that will suit my and my small business needs. Just another money grab shame on you Microsoft!
Shaun O'Kane says
Seems to me this is simply a move to force us to buy later versions of MS software. Is that even legal? Do they care? I don’t want to move to a 365 “rental” model, great for their revenue but I’m happy with the way things are.
I guess my search for an alternative has started.
Jenny Dowd says
Same here I couldn’t access Outlook 2010 they deleted my August emails and I can’t get anything anymore, I get my power bills and updates from Service N S W etc it’s totally wrong no warning I’ll now have to pay someone and probably them to fix it maybe not I’ll just download everything and say bye bye Microsoft.
Looking for alternative.... says
All was working fine for me until recently.
I spend a couple of hours trying to understand what the hell was going on on, thinking my computer was hacked.
Indeed it was. By the worst hacker ever : Microsoft.
I really don’t understand how this can be legal that these guys are coming to my computer changing whatever they want without my consent. How this can be possible ?
Blind Panic says
I am totally blind and use Outlook 2010 for e-mails and now all is blocked. I am rather cross as I cannot afford upgrades and find it an inconvenience to have to learn new ways of working when everything was absolutely fine.
Jen says
Outlook was working fine until Monday. I didn’t receive any alert before this. This is unacceptable. The alert didn’t offer any solution except to contact the administrator. I don’t want to upgrade that will cost me a monthly subscription. Hopefully MS will provide a better solution than just telling us to buy new software.
Lianne Franklin says
Outlook 2010 blocked with no notice and for no good reason!! Microsoft has the worst customer service in the world. It’s a money grab.
Major inconvenience as usual at a time when I am super busy and needing to post a group email for my sports organization!! I don’t have time for these hassles.
Walter says
This is a disgusting money grab from Microsoft. There was never a warning when I bought Outlook 2010 that someday it would just be unusable. I believe there is a legal action that could be taken in the fact that no agreement to switch to “newer versions” was ever mentioned in the User Agreement. I can only hope that some legal office with a bunch of hungry lawyers start a class action lawsuit immediately to free us from this large company that obviously has no care or concern for the users of their products.
sue says
Yes reading all the comments has been helpful – not alone in this Unkind message. I figured out exactly when this occurred from what the other folks are saying and it’s only because of a previous incident. Let me explain: 1) first infiltration onto my home computer: My last executive assistant contract was with an intl company and it was Jan – Mar 2020.with some days working for home while things were being sorted out. I was using Office 365 in the actual company office setting and had to sign on at home via internet to their company on my home computer. After everything shut down from Covid-19, every time I turned on my Outlook a message came (it block everything loading) saying (briefly) ” Microsoft Office Activation Wizard Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 This copy of Microsoft Office is not activated. Microsoft Office logo” I would have to X it out before my emails would load. Just yesterday 2) second infiltration occurred before realized it. A person using Office 365 from a company sent a meeting invite and quickly ACCEPTED it not thinking too much. Except, this was my last email from the Outlook server and instead below on the task bar had Yellow Triangle with ! explanation saying Disconnected. Signed out, shut down, restarted, and then got the message that everyone here is talking about. And even though it totally sucks, I believe because on both occasion my computer’s 2010 outlook and the other 2 company’s 365 systems interexchange and mine came up lacking sufficient security blar blar blar however Microsoft ‘sells’ it I too now I face this very annoying reality and at the worst time as usual…. So maybe this reads as interesting or not useful but it’s hard to lean against motors revving up at full speed. All the best everyone and thank you so much for these comments from a community in similar stages as mine. sueb
Stu says
Hi,
No warning and my Outlook has been blocked too.
I have a primary hotmail account and now I’m forced to view webpage hotmail.
Can I make my outlook version work through something else that allows the functionality?
If anyone can help. I’m not a technophobe but get lost in the jargon sometimes – so if somebody can help – I’d really appreciate that!
Stu :)
Jerry says
Never understand the critical thoughts on Microsoft. Apple has been doing this for years, Android does it, and even the mighty Tesla. It’s just a fact that old software at some point won’t support more modern features. My old Photoshop works great on an older Windows 7 PC but I can’t connect to Adobe cloud with it.
Andrew says
I agrre with Ron Kaplan.
some comment here that it s security isses and that you can’t expectt run old producst – I disagree.
I have a car without central locking – it’s old but it works, I’m hapyy with it, should I be foreed to central locking, or worst still to a key less car. I’ve made a choice, bought a producst ( Office and Outlook 2007 ) in good faith, I dont expect it to be updated, or pmore patched, I do expect it to work, indefintily.
there must be a way of puting a proxy email server in to brige to a server with newwer protocol.s
I dont buy the argument.
I wont buy Microsoft ever again – a bit like Russian gas – I’m tryingto wien myself of it, off MS.
Pissed off says
Totally mad with MS,
As many comment – we have bought Outlook in good faith and it works perfectly well.
MS out to legally obliged to keep the old servers and protocols for those who want them.
Not sure what I will do now.
Madhav Pai says
Since this is related to O365 they should mention in the service health to upgrade the patches or users migth not be able to connect.
Shon says
I have read the complaints here and they are legit! The old adage applies, “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. I am glad to hear that I am not the only one who realizes that sometimes, the old is better than the new.
Gopal says
Use Open Office which is free.
Dont waste money if you still want to spen, give it to poor people who is really need it for their end meets!
Barbara K says
Out of the blue, I’m not blocked!? Emails are emails, Someone here said trying to use Outlook 10 like using a vhs in a blueray. Rather dismissive. I only last year updated to Outlook 2010, because I’m very happy with the desktop features I’m used to. 365 is far inferior and limited in my experience. I also have several emails going to same inbox. Aaargh
stijn stevens says
Dear,
Outlook is still working fine but can anybody tell me how I can get rid off this annoying pop-up. I will not upgrade to the 365.
Joel says
OMG, Barb, Annoyed, Ron and Richard, like Millsy said, it’s not mandatory to upgrade BUT if you want to use Exchange Online, you have to. It’s not exclusively to make money, it’s because those old software cannot use new security standards.
It’s like if you wanted to keep your house unlocked all the time and blame the police if you get robbed!
Anyway, the normal life span of Office is 5 years….time to update.
Millsy says
You are not being forced to update outlook, you are being forced to update outlook if you want to continue using it with 365. run your own mail server or 3rd party email and you can keep your outlook 2010.
This is like complaining that you can’t use your old VHS tapes in your new BluRay player, if you want it all to work you cant mix the old with the new, it’s either all old or all new!
MC says
Why are you complaining here? Call Microsoft support
Mark says
I hope Microsoft burns to the ground. Nothing like forced upgrades.
Richard Garrison says
I still have the receipt from purchasing office 2010 it was almost $400, and now it just doesn’t work, pretty bad business.
Ron Kaplan says
Microsoft’s forcing the update of an older program in unacceptable. The reason we have not updated to newer versions is because the program is significantly changed and requires relearning where everything is located.
I was forced to upgrade from an older version of Word with Office 2010 and lost all of the customizations and macros I created. Even after several years of using Word 2010, I still can’t find features that were used daily in the old version.
I don’t have the time to relearn a program that has been working perfectly over time, not to mention the cost of upgrading to a program that requires a user to continue paying every month to use the program.
Microsoft could have patched the older programs, but decided not to, so they could force users to purchase expensive updates. I can only hope that someone commences a class action against Giant Microsoft to stop such unfair and deceptive practices where the security implementations could have been performed where the underlying kernel of the program remains basically unchanged.
Annoyed User says
It did answer my question, but it did not help. The reason Microsoft actually blocked the older versions is so they can take more money out of my pocket. They’re not collecting any money from me while I’m using Outlook 2010. I actually could accept that, IF they hadn’t removed the one feature that I absolutely require in an email program which is, namely, that it be possible to put everything in one mailbox. I have 8 different email accounts and I have ZERO interest in checking each and every one of them multiple times per day. With Outlook 2010, it is possible to have all mail addressed to any of these addressed to a single mailbox so I never miss anything. The newer versions do not include this feature. Since I can’t change Outlook, I guess I’ll have to change my Office 365 mail accounts to something else that actually works.
Barb Skogg says
As a user of Microsoft Outlook, this is the first time I have received a notice of any kind stating that we are now incompatible. As a bookkeeper, with major deadlines and year ends due Jan 31st, to just cut us off is unacceptable.