1. Outlook Exchange
2. Outlook Exchange 365 Email

Office 365 (Office365 or o365) is an online productivity suite that is developed by Microsoft. Office 365 contains online and offline versions of Microsoft Office, Skype for Business (previously: Lync) and Onedrive, as well as online versions of Sharepoint, Exchange and Project. Cause: Outlook is offline. Solution: Verify that Outlook is online. On the Outlook menu, make sure that Work Offline is not checked. Cause: Outlook is not connected to the server that is running Microsoft Exchange Server. Solution: Check your Microsoft Exchange server connection. On the Tools ribbon, choose Accounts.

At a cursory glance, it might seem as though there’s no meaningful difference between Exchange and Outlook, Microsoft’s flagship email services. It’s easy to understand the confusion — after all, they both provide similar functionality, including email hosting and calendaring services — but to the trained eye, they’re completely distinct. And, although they’re sometimes positioned as an either/or proposition, Exchange and Outlook are complementary services that work best when used together.

Let’s take a closer look at the key differences between these two services and why it isn’t Exchange vs. Outlook, so much as Exchange and Outlook.

What is Microsoft Exchange

According to Techopedia, Microsoft Exchange is “a collection of applications that enable digital messaging and collaboration in an enterprise IT environment.” Exchange is a mail and calendar server, which means it is a dedicated network resource management program that uses transmission control protocols such as SMTP, IMAP and POP to communicate with email clients. In simpler terms, Exchange is responsible for sending and receiving emails to and from client computers. Exchange can be paired with any email client, though it is most commonly used in conjunction with Microsoft Outlook. Exchange is included Microsoft Office 365 for Business, the company’s collaboration and productivity suite.

What is Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is an electronic communications application also included in the Microsoft Office 365 suite. Primarily used for email, Outlook also enables users to manage calendars, tasks, contacts and more from a single interface. Outlook is an email client, which means it’s a basic program installed on your desktop that is designed to send and receive emails to and from a mail server using protocols. It is possible to use Outlook without connecting to Exchange, although this would require you to work offline, eliminating access to email and other collaboration capabilities.

Outlook vs. Exchange

In addition to one being a mail server and the other being an email client, there are a few other key differences between Exchange and Outlook.

Key Considerations

When Choosing a Hosting Service

Microsoft Outlook and Exchange are but two email hosting services in a sea of many and although they’re produced and provided by one of the world’s most recognizable software companies, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re right for every organization. In fact, it might more sense for you to consider alternatives to either Outlook or Exchange.

Outlook Exchange

Before you start your search, you’ll want to make sure you understand the different email hosting options available to you. There are three primary email hosting models:

• Self-hosting: You store emails on your own personal server
• Third-party hosting: You rent email storage space on a third-party provider’s server
• Shared hosting: You bundle web and email hosting through a third-party provider

Once you’ve decided which email hosting model is right for your organization, you’ll want to carefully evaluate providers based on a number of different factors, such as:

• How much they charge for their service
• What features and functionality they offer
• Whether they allow custom domains
• Whether they use spam filters
• What their mailbox storage allowances are
• And so on

Above all, be mindful of what security protocols potential hosting partners have in place, how they intend to use your data and who will have access to it. For more insight into how to choose the right email hosting service, as well as information about different providers, take a look at this blog post we put together on the subject.

Better Together

We hope this article clarifies that, when it comes to Microsoft email hosting, you shouldn’t think of it as Outlook vs. Exchange but rather why they’re better together.

Choosing an email hosting provider, Microsoft or otherwise, can be a real challenge; so can choosing an email archiver. That’s why we’ve put together this comprehensive guide to help you evaluate different email archiving solutions and providers. From regulatory compliance to litigation, we cover anything and everything you need to know to make a sound decision. Have any additional questions? Talk to one of our specialists today — we’re always here to help.

Outlook Exchange 365 Email

PROBLEM

When you use Microsoft Outlook together with Microsoft Office 365, you experience one or more of the following symptoms:

• Outlook responds slowly when you try to open email messages.

• When you send an email message, the message sits in the Outbox folder for a long time.

• Outlook responds slowly when you try to insert an attachment. Frequently, you receive the following warning message:

CAUSE

This issue may occur for many reasons.
This issue may be caused by an Exchange Online server issue. In this case, sign in to the Office 365 portal by using your administrator credentials, and then click service health to determine whether other customers are experiencing the same issue. If other customers are experiencing the issue, the issue should end when the service-interrupting event is resolved.
Also, determine whether any local network issues might be causing the problem. This includes issues that affect your local proxy server, firewall, or Internet service provider.

SOLUTION

To troubleshoot this issue, follow these steps:

1. Make sure that the latest updates for Outlook are installed. For more information, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

   2625547 How to install the latest applicable updates for Microsoft Outlook (US English only) Test to learn whether the issue is resolved. If the issue persists, go to step 2.

2. Try the methods from the following Microsoft Knowledge Base articles, as appropriate for the version of Outlook that you're running:

   • For Outlook 2010 and later versions:

     2652320 'Outlook not responding' error or Outlook freezes when you open a file or send mail

   • For Outlook 2010:

     2695805 How to troubleshoot performance issues in Outlook 2010

   • For Outlook 2007:

     940226 How to troubleshoot performance issues in Outlook 2007

   If the issue persists, go to step 3.

3. Try the following:

   • Click Outlook Advanced Diagnostics,and then click Run when you are prompted by your browser.
     Note This diagnostic creates detailed information about your Outlook configuration and provides solutions for any known issues that are detected. It also gives you the option to upload your results to Microsoft so that a Support engineer can review them before you make a Support call.

   • Disable Skype for Business Online (formerly Lync Online) integration. If Outlook is integrated with Skype for Business Online in your Office 365 environment, the integration may affect Outlook’s performance. To disable Skype for Business Online integration with Outlook, follow these steps:

     1. Open Lync, click the gear icon () in the upper-right corner, point to Tools, and then click Options.

     2. Click Personal, and then clear the check boxes in the Personal information manager area.

     3. Click OK, and then restart Outlook and Lync.

Still need help? Go to Microsoft Community.