The connect error 10060 on Outlook application can occur when the timing of the destination server is off. Usually, this error can come up when you connect to the internet via a proxy server.
The full message of this error when it comes up is: “Outlook Express Socket Error 10060 – The connection to the server failed Account”.
Because of this glitch, there is a possibility for you to just receive emails, however, you are unable to send any messages from Outlook. There can be several reasons for the occurrence of this problem.
If SMTP is blocked, then there is a possibility for you to encounter this problem. When the ‘Windows Defender Firewall’ blocks the Outlook server, even then you can face this problem.
Further, if the ‘Email Client Settings’ are not set correctly, then you can encounter this error. Moreover, if the registry has any keys that are malfunctioning, then you might face this problem.
Methods to Rectify the Outlook Connect Error 10060
This is the section of this article, where we will discuss several methods that will help you to easily rectify the “connect error 10060”.
Method 1: Check the Web Proxy Connection
If the web proxy connection is not correctly set, then there is a possibility for you to face this problem. Now, the only solution to resolve this problem inspect the web proxy connection. For this to happen, follow the steps below.
- First, start the computer and then press both the keys ‘Windows + R’ simultaneously. This will open a new dialog box with the name ‘Run’.
- Now, within that dialog box, beside the label ‘Open:’ type in the ‘inetcpl.cpl’ command on the empty area. Then click on the ‘OK’ button.
- As soon as you do that, the ‘Internet Properties’ window will come up. Inside that window, tap on the ‘Connections’ tab. Under that tab, go to the section ‘Local Area Network (LAN) settings.
- After that, click on the ‘LAN settings’ button. Now, a new ‘Local Area Network (LAN) Settings’ dialog box will pop open. Go to the ‘Proxy server’ section and after that, untick the ‘Use a proxy server for your LAN (These settings will not apply to dial-up or VPN connections).
- At last, tap on the ‘OK’ button and then restart the computer.
Method 2: Disable the Windows Defender Firewall Feature
Sometimes, due to the blocking of the Outlook application by the firewall of the Windows Operating System, you might meet with this error. But, to eradicate this issue from ever occurring, the easiest way is to deactivate the Windows Defender Firewall.
Follow the steps underneath to learn how you can do it.
- First, go to the right side of the taskbar and then beside the ‘Sound’ icon, locate the ‘Network’ icon and right-click on it.
- After that, from the popup menu that appears, choose the ‘Open Network & Internet settings’ option. Now, a new Status page will come up, within the ‘Settings’ window.
- Inside that page, navigate to the subheading ‘Change your network settings’, scroll down a little and select the ‘Network and Sharing Center’ link.
- As soon as do that, a new page with the title ‘Networking and Sharing Center’ will come up within the ‘Control Panel’ window. Inside this page, navigate to the left panel and then from the bottom, select the ‘Windows Defender Firewall’ link.
- Now, another new page comes up with the title ‘Windows Defender Firewall’. In it, go to the left panel and then choose the ‘Turn Windows Defender Firewall on or off’ link. This action will launch the ‘Customize Settings’ page.
- In that page, go to the sections ‘Private network settings’ and ‘Public network settings’ and then, select the ‘Turn off Windows Defender Firewall (not recommended) respectively.
- Lastly, to confirm this alteration select the ‘OK’ button
Method 3: Unblock the SMTP or Outgoing Mail Server
If there is a block in the SMTP server, then you can get the connect error 10060 on Outlook. The best answer to remove this issue is to unblock the outgoing mail server i.e SMTP. Here are the steps that you need to follow, to successfully do that.
- First, locate and tap on the ‘Cortana’ logo to open the default search section of Windows. Then, write the text ‘command prompt’ in the empty box. After that, from the output of this search, locate the ‘Command Prompt’ option and right-click on it.
- Now, from the popup menu that comes up, choose the ‘Run as administrator’ option. This time a User Account Control’ dialog box appears, in it, choose the ‘Yes’ button.
- Now, a new window with the title ‘Command Prompt’ with a black background and white text will show up.
- Next, within that window, type the following text – “telnet smtp.gct21.net 25” and then press the ‘Enter’ key for execution. This command takes some time to execute.
- Now, once the execution is over, there will be the following message – “220 mail4.gct21.net ESTP”. If this message does not come up, then the SMTP server has been blocked by the ISP.
- So, the only option to unblock SMTP is to contact the ISP.
- Finally, when the SMTP server opens up, then attempt to send mail from the Outlook application and see if this error is present or not.
Method 4: Verify Email Client Settings
If you encounter this problem when attempting to access any email from the Outlook application i.e. an email client software, then the one and only way to remove this problem is to verify the settings of the email client, which is ‘Microsoft Outlook’.
To do that, follow the steps underneath.
- First, start up the computer and then, on the desktop locate the Microsoft Outlook application. After that, double-click on the software icon to open the program.
- When the Microsoft Outlook application opens up, go to the menu bar and choose the ‘Tools’ menu. As soon as you click on that menu, a drop menu will come up.
- From that menu, locate and then select the ‘Accounts…’ option. This action will launch a dialog box with the title ‘Internet Accounts’.
- Now, inside that dialog box, choose the ‘Mail’ tab. Then, under that tab, double-click on the account you have. Instantly, the ‘Properties’ window specific to your account will open up.
- Inside that window, select the ‘Servers’ tab. Under that tab, check the information of the Server and see if they are correct or not.
Method 5: Check the Activation of Authentication
If the settings of the email client are properly configured, and even then you are getting the connect error 10060 on the Outlook application, then perhaps the authentication procedure is not enabled within the email client.
Here are the steps that you can follow to check.
- First, open the ‘Properties’ window of really, this error Outlook account by following the first four steps of method 5.
- Once the ‘Properties’ window comes up, select the ‘Server’ tab. Under this tab, move to the ‘Outgoing Mail Server’ section and then put a checkmark on the ‘My server requires authentication’ option.
- After that, to confirm the changes, press the ‘OK’ button.
- At last, reboot the computer and then check if the Outlook application can send an email message to someone.
Method 6: Use the Windows Registry to Increase the Time-Out Limit
If none of the above methods is able to rectify this problem, then as a last solution all you can do is to increase the time-out via the ‘Windows Registry’ window. Follow the steps underneath.
- First, hit the combination of keys ‘Windows + X’ simultaneously to launch the ‘Options Menu’. Next, from that Menu, locate and then choose the ‘Run’ option.
- Once you choose that option, a new dialog box will open up with the name ‘Run’. Within that dialog box, type in the text “regedit” on the blank space beside the ‘Open:’ label. Then, click on ‘OK’.
- Now, a new window that has the name ‘Registry Editor’ will come up. Inside that window, double-click on the folder: “Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W3Proxy\Parameters”.
- Next, go to the right pane of the window and locate the ‘RequestTimeoutSecs’ key. After that, right-click on the key and then, from the popup menu choose the ‘Modify’ option.
- Now, a new ‘Edit RequestTimeoutSecs’ dialog box will come up. In it, navigate to the ‘Value data:’ field and change the number to 180 and above.
- After that, to set that value within the key, click on the ‘OK’ button.
- Lastly, restart the computer and check whether this Outlook issue is fixed or not.
Summing Up
You easily correct the connect error 10060, if you follow all the six methods present in the above section carefully and minutely.
However, if even after following every step and procedure provided in this article, you are still encountering this problem, then, do not worry a bit.
Just provide all the details of your query on the comment section below this article and then get an instant reply from an expert.