How to resolve Outlook issue "Contacting the server for information"

Case #

You are using Microsoft Outlook client (or any other Microsoft 365 application such as Excel) and you receive the following popup message "Contacting the server for information".

Solution #

This occurs because the Microsoft Outlook client er Microsoft 365 application such as Excel) is trying to contact a remote resource and there is an issue with contacting the remote location. The remote resource can be a file repository, an email server, a printer, or an Internet location. You should consult the following Microsoft support article for all possible solutions and workarounds:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/why-am-i-getting-the-message-contacting-the-server-for-information-973c8d98-4d22-49b5-bc66-0d9d87783f99?ns=outlook&version=90&syslcid=1033&uilcid=1033&appver=zol900&helpid=141277&ui=en-us&rs=en-us&ad=us.

Also if your Microsoft Outlook client performance and responsiveness is persistently slow, you should review the following best practice article for implementing Office 365 in slow network locations:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/enterprise/best-practices-for-using-office-365-on-a-slow-network?redirectSourcePath=%252farticle%252ffd16c8d2-4799-4c39-8fd7-045f06640166&view=o365-worldwide