Outlook 2016 Issue
The following message often pops up when I try to move an email to a folder. This happens even though I have not changed the message at all other than to read it. If I close the message and/or move to another message and then try to move the original message again, it will work.
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- Microsoft Outlook is one of the popular email clients that is used by a lot of people worldwide for sending and receiving emails. Like Gmail, Outlook also has a feature to move specific emails to a particular folder. This feature is useful when it comes to searching for important emails in Outlook. If any kind of error occurs in Outlook, it makes it very frustrating for the users. In this article, we will talk about an error message
- “The operation cannot be performed because the message has been changed” that occurs in the Outlook desktop app while moving the emails to a particular folder. Some users have also experienced the same error message while sending emails.ok.
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There are some temporary fixes that some users have tried and were able to solve the problem. We have described these solutions below:
- Mark Unread the message you are experiencing the error with while moving it to another folder. After that, you may be able to move it to the desired folder.
- Delete the email that you want to move to a particular folder. This will move it to the Deleted Items. Now, open the Deleted items and right-click on your email to move it to the desired folder.
- Open another email message and then the one you are experiencing the error with. Now, you may be able to move it to the desired folder.
The above fixes are temporary fixes, hence, they will not solve the issue permanently. If you want to get rid of the problem permanently, try the following solutions:
- Run Microsoft SARA (Support and Recovery Assistant) tool
- Disable Conversation Clean Up options
- Delete the email from Drafts
- Troubleshoot Outlook in Safe Mode
- Disable your Antivirus Email Scanner
- Contact Kaspersky customer support (solution for Kaspersky antivirus users)
- Configure IMAP account settings (solutions for the users with an IMAP account in Outlook)
- Turn off Autosave in Outlook
- Perform an Online Repair
Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant Tool is a desktop client that helps users troubleshoot and diagnose issues. It runs tests on a computer to identify the cause of the problem and offers the best solution to the users to fix the issue. You can run this tool if you are experiencing an error with Office, Office 365, and Windows. If this tool fails to fix the problem, it will give you some suggestions to fix the issue.
The steps to run the SARA tool are listed below:
- Visit microsoft.com to download the SARA tool.
- Run the installer file to install the tool on your system.
- Run the tool, read the Microsoft Services Agreement, and click I Agree if you accept the agreement.
- Select the app you are experiencing the problem with and click Next.
- Select the problem and click Next.
- Follow the on-screen instructions.
2] Disable Conversation Clean Up options
Disabling the Conversation Clean Up options has fixed the issue for a lot of users. Hence, there are high chances that this solution will work for you too.
Follow the instructions below:
- Launch Microsoft Outlook.
- Go to “File > Options.”
- Select Mail from the left side in the Outlook Options window.
- Scroll down and uncheck the “When a reply modifies a message, don’t move the original” option. You will find this option under the Conversation Clean Up section.
- Click OK.
- Restart Outlook.
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If the above option is already unchecked in Outlook Settings, check or enable it, restart Outlook, then follow the above steps to uncheck the same option and then restart Outlook again.
Check if the issue is fixed or not. If you still experience the same issue, uncheck all the options in the conversation Clean Up section in Outlook and restart Outlook. This should fix the issue.
3] Delete the email from Drafts
If you are receiving the error message “The Operation cannot be performed because the message has been changed” while sending emails, there might be an existing email in Drafts for the same email address. This issue can be fixed by deleting that email from Drafts. Follow the instructions below:
- First, open Drafts and check whether there is any email message saved for the same email string. If yes, you have to delete it. But before you do so, copy the entire email message from the Compose email window and paste it into any word processing software or text editor tool, like Notepad.
- Close the Compose email window. You will receive a popup message asking you whether you want to save this email or not. Click No.
- Now, open your Drafts and delete the email.
- Open the Compose email window, paste your copied message there, and click Send.
The message should be sent this time without displaying the error message.
