Outlook no longer sends email after upgrading to Windows 10

We have had several clients contact us after upgrading to Windows 10 who could no longer send out email using Outlook despite the Outlook settings test being able to send with no issues.

They were all receiving the same cryptic message “Cannot connect to the network. Verify your network connection or modem”

It seems to be a common issue when upgrading to Windows 10 however the fix is really simple.

Windows Resource Checker – sfc /scannow
You need to run the Microsoft Windows Resource Checker tool, also know as “System File Checker” or “sfc”. This tool scans and verifies the integrity of all protected system files and replaces and fixes incorrect versions with correct versions.

1. Right click on the Start button of Windows and choose: Command Prompt (Admin). If you don’t see this, instead choose: Windows PowerShell (Admin)
2. Behind the prompt type: sfc /scannow (note the space in the command)
3. Wait until the process completes. This usually doesn’t take longer than 20 minutes with a regular hard disk although larger disks may take longer
4. Restart your computer.