How to Fix “The Microsoft Exchange information service in your profile is missing the required information” Error in Outlook? (2024)

Microsoft Outlook users have reported encountering an error message when setting up or modifying an existing Outlook profile connected to Exchange server. The complete error message reads as:

“Outlook cannot log on. Verify you are connected to the network and are using the proper server and mailbox name. The Microsoft Exchange information service in your profile is missing the required information. Modify your profile to ensure that you are using the correct Microsoft Exchange information service.”

This error can occur for various reasons, such as:

1. Internet or network issues, including VPN
2. Security and authentication issues
3. Corrupt profile or profile data
4. Issues with the Exchange Server, such as downtime or configuration changes
5. Misconfiguration in the account, such as Outdated or wrong server details
6. Outdated Outlook or Windows
7. Registry errors

In this article, we will mention the solutions to troubleshoot and resolve the “The Microsoft Exchange information service in your profile is missing the required information” error in Outlook.

Solutions to Troubleshoot and Resolve the “Microsoft Exchange information service in your profile is missing” Error in Outlook

Follow the below solutions in the given order to effectively troubleshoot and resolve the error “The Microsoft Exchange information service for your profile does not contain all of the information.”

1. Check Internet and Network Connection and Server Status

First, ensure that your system is connected to the internet. Check your internet and network connectivity. To troubleshoot network-related issues, you can:

1. Restart router
2. Reconnect Ethernet cable
3. Reset your network adapter on a Windows PC
4. Ensure and check DNS. Make sure they are pointing to public DNS, such as 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4

Then, open a web browser and visit any website. This helps verify the network connection.

Next, open the Outlook Web App portal on the web browser. This will help you ensure whether the mailbox server is online and available or not. If not, wait and then try after some time or contact the administrator.

2. Check for Updates

Ensure that both your Outlook and Windows are running on the latest updates. To check and update your Outlook, follow these steps:

• Open Outlook and go to File > Office Account > Update Options.
• From the available options, choose Update Now.

• If a new update is available, Outlook will start a wizard and download the latest updates.

To download and apply updates on the server, you’ll need administrative access to the Exchange Server. If you don’t have access, you can ask your administrator to check and install any available updates.

We also recommend checking and installing Windows Updates as they also bring security patches and bug fixes for MS Office apps, such as Outlook. To install Windows updates,

• Simply open Settings, go to Windows Update, and click Check for Updates.

• If available, install the updates and restart the system.

Then, start Outlook. The error, if caused by some bugs in MS Office (and Outlook) or Windows OS, should be fixed.

3. Disable Add-Ins

Incompatible or faulty add-ins are known to cause issues with Outlook functionality and lead to such errors. To fix the third-party add-ins interference with Outlook’s operation, follow these steps:

• Close the Outlook window and all processes using Task Manager.
• Then, press Windows + R, type Outlook.exe /safe, and press the Enter key or click OK to launch Outlook in safe mode.

• If you don’t see this error in Outlook safe mode, the error could be caused by the add-ins. So, disable the add-ins to fix the issue. For this, go to File > Options > Add–ins in Outlook Safe Mode and click the Go button.
• Uncheck all the add-ins and then click OK. This will also disable all the add-ins from normal Outlook as well.

• Now close Outlook safe mode and start Outlook normally.

To find and remove the faulty add-in, activate one add-in at a time and restart Outlook. Keep doing this until you encounter the error message, “The Microsoft Exchange information service for your profile does not contain all of the information.” Then, uninstall or remove the add-in you activated just before seeing this error message.

4. Run the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant

Microsoft provides a diagnostic tool to identify and resolve issues with Microsoft products, such as MS Office or Outlook. You can use the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant (MSARA) tool to troubleshoot and resolve the connectivity issues. The steps are as follows:

• Download and install the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant tool.
• After the installation, launch it.
• From the options, choose Outlook.

• Select Outlook keeps saying “Trying to Connect” or “Disconnected”.

• Click Next and then select Yes.

• Complete the suggested changes to resolve the Outlook disconnected from the Exchange Server issue.

In case you are using Microsoft Exchange Online or Microsoft 365 and use M365 apps on Desktop, then choose Office & Office Apps in the MSARA tool to troubleshoot and fix the issue.

5. Repair Your Outlook Profile

A damaged or corrupt profile can also prevent Outlook from communicating with the mailbox server, leading to this error message. You can repair the Outlook profile by following these steps:

• In Outlook 2013, 2016, 2019, or 2021, go to File > Account Settings > Account Settings.
• Under the Email tab, choose your email profile and click Repair.

• Follow the Outlook wizard to repair the profile.

• Click the Repair button again to proceed.
• This may take a while to complete. It may also require you to re-enter the credentials of your email account.

After the repair is complete, restart the Outlook. Then, check if the error is resolved.

6. Create a New Outlook Profile

Note: Before proceeding, back up your original Outlook data (OST) file. The default OST file is located at C:\Users\UserName\AppDataLocal\Microsoft\Outlook\. Simply copy and paste it somewhere safe.

If repairing the Outlook profile fails to fix the issue, you can create a new profile, which often resolves the underlying issues. Here are the steps:

• Open the Control Panel, go to User Accounts, and click Mail.

• In the Mail Setup dialog box, click the Show Profiles button.

• From the available profiles, select the problematic profile, and click Remove. Confirm the removal to delete it from Outlook.
• Then, click Add, type any name for this profile, and click OK to create a new profile.
• Follow the sign-in wizard and prompts to configure your email account in the new profile.

• Finally, set the new profile as the default one if there are more profiles. Just select “Always use this profile” and click Apply > OK.

7. Repair Outlook Data File

You may also encounter this error due to a corrupt or inconsistent Outlook data file (.ost). You can use SCANPST.EXE or Inbox Repair Tool to repair the OST file. The steps are as follows:

• Close Outlook and open the Inbox Repair Tool (ScanPST.exe). The tool is located in the Outlook installation directory. The default location is C:\Users\[YourUsername]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook. This path may vary based on the Outlook version installed on your system.

• Run the tool as administrator and click Browse to select the OST file from the default location or the backup OST file that is associated with your profile.
• Click Start to begin the scan process. If errors and inconsistencies are found, click Repair.
• This may take a while to complete based on the file size and severity of the errors and inconsistencies.
• Once the repair process is complete, make sure the OST file is located at the default location. If you’ve repaired backup OST, copy it to the default location and then start Outlook.

8. Rebuild Outlook Data File (.OST)

If repairing the OST file does not work or the SCANPST fails to repair the OST file due to large size or severe errors and inconsistencies, you can rebuild the OST file. To rebuild OST, you need to delete the default one from the default location. The detailed steps are as follows:

• Close Outlook (if running), press Windows + R, type %localappdata%/Microsoft/Outlook,and press the Enter key or click OK to openthe location where the OST file is stored.
• You will see the OST file location in a new File Explorer window. Select the OST file associated with your email account where you are experiencing the error and then rename it with the .bak suffix.
• For instance, if the file name is xyz@abc.com.ost, rename it to xyz@abc.com.ost.bak.

• After creating the backup of the original OST file, close all the windows and start Outlook.
• Outlook will not find the OST file at the default location and therefore, automatically create a new OST file at the same location and start synchronizing/downloading all mail items from the mail server to the new OST file.

Post this, make sure to check your mailbox. It’s possible that some of the changes or emails you had in the old OST may not be available in the new one. In such cases, download, install, and use Stellar Converter for OST. It’s an advanced OST to PST converter tool that allows you to extract mail items, such as emails, contacts, attachments, etc. from orphaned, inaccessible, or partially damaged OST files and save them to a new healthy Outlook importable PST file. You can import this PST file containing your mail items into the new OST via the Outlook Import Export wizard to restore mail items. You can also use the software to export all mail items from the OST file directly to Live Exchange Server or Office 365.

Conclusion

“The Microsoft Exchange information service in your profile does not contain all the information” error not only disrupts your workflow significantly but it can also lead to downtime leading to financial and reputational loss if left unresolved. By following the solutions discussed in this post, you can fix the issue even if you have little to no advanced technical expertise.