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December 23, 2025
Question

Older Outlook Version Not Working in QB anymore

  • December 23, 2025
  • 11 replies
  • 66 views

Important Message for Users Experiencing Outlook Issues in QuickBooks

If you're having trouble with Outlook not working in QuickBooks, don't believe the support team when they tell you that you need to purchase Microsoft 365. This is not the case.

After the release of QuickBooks RB 12/22/2025, Outlook may stop working and disappear from the Send Forms Preferences in QuickBooks. You'll only see Web Mail and QuickBooks Mail as options.

To fix this:

  1. Close QuickBooks.

  2. Go to Add or Remove Programs in your Windows settings.

  3. Find QuickBooks in the list and click "Uninstall," but do not fully uninstall it.

  4. Click "Next" and you'll be presented with an option to Repair QuickBooks.

  5. Select "Repair" and once the process is complete, Outlook should reappear in the Send Forms Preferences, working properly again.

This solution should restore your Outlook functionality without needing to purchase additional software.

11 replies

QuickBooks Team
December 23, 2025

Hi labels1,

 

Thank you for sharing your solution here in the Community regarding the issue with the older version of Outlook not working in QuickBooks. We truly appreciate you taking the time to share your insight, as it could serve as a helpful guide for others who encounter the same problem.

 

If you have any questions or need further assistance, the Community forum is always here and ready to support you.

labels1Author
December 24, 2025

So we had yet another update in QB today and once again outlook was removed from the Send Form preferences even on computers running Outlook 365. I had to run the repair again to get it to work. Funny how QB makes our lives miserable at the very last weeks of the year with absurd updates that break QB, they do this stuff every year.

chewy-chewbacca
December 24, 2025

FYI that if your repair fails, you can uninstall, reinstall, update and THEN repair. 

 

Thanks @labels1 for the post! No thanks to Intuit... the grinch that stole my Christmas Eve.

December 26, 2025

This worked for us. Thanks!

December 31, 2025

The issue is with version R18_56
The previous version, R18_45 has no issue with it.

When you run a repair install (or at least as of yesterday, a fresh install from the online installer), R18_45 is installed. Even if you have R18_56 already, if you run the repair, it downgrades it.

 

Problem is, it automatically updates again overnight, and you're back to having the same issue.


We'll probably run into this until a new update is released.
They didn't even post a changelog for R18_56, so I'm not sure what all they had changed

January 3, 2026

Any updates on this? It's causing a LOT of problems for our company, and since we use the desktop version hosted by RightNetworks, we have ZERO ability to do a repair installation. 

January 5, 2026

Same thing happened to us last week. 

FIX THIS INTUIT!!  We pay way too much for this software as it is.

January 6, 2026

Same issue.. Re installed QB and the next day outlook is gone.

please fix.

QuickBooks Team
January 6, 2026

Hello and welcome to the Community, ACE.

 

I understand the importance of Outlook in enabling you to send emails directly to your customers efficiently and seamlessly.

 

As a workaround, if you need to send forms promptly, please advise the following alternatives:

 

  • 64-bit: Install a 64-bit version of Outlook or Thunderbird. (Note: A clean install of QuickBooks may be required after reinstallation of the email application.)
  • Webmail: Configure a Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook.com account directly within QuickBooks.
  • QuickBooks Mail: Use the built-in QuickBooks email service.
  • PDF Export: Save the form as a PDF and manually attach it to an email within the Rightworks Outlook application.

 

Please also consider reaching out to our Live Support Team, which can help minimize delays, strengthen communication, and ensure your concerns receive timely attention. 

 

To get started, follow these steps:

 

  1. Open QuickBooks Desktop.
  2. Go to the Help menu and select QuickBooks Desktop Help/Contact Us.
  3. Use the Search questions, keywords, or topics field to enter your question.
  4. You’ll get a list of related articles.
  5. If you don’t get the answers you need, select Contact Us.

 

Also, please note that they're available from Monday through Friday from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM Pacific Time, and on Saturdays from 6:00 AM to 3:00 PM PT.

 

If you have any further QuickBooks-related questions, feel free to reply to this conversation.

January 6, 2026

We are having the same issues with Quickbooks Pro & Enterprise 24 R18_56, thanks for sharing your solution!

 

Does anyone know if Intuit has acknowledged the issue yet?

 

@QuickBooksSupport

@IntuitSupport

 

Thx!

QuickBooks Team
January 6, 2026

You're welcome, Joe8888888. We're glad that the workaround shared was helpful to you.
 

For timely updates regarding the issue about Outlook not showing in the email preferences, I recommend contacting our live support team.

This thread is open for further inquiries you have.

January 6, 2026

@Irene R can you provide us with any guidance when the issue will be resolved by Intuit Quickbooks?

 

I've tried to chat with support and not had any success other than answer the same question over and over - name, email, license and describe the issue!  It's very frustrating.

January 7, 2026

Verified Solution: First, this is insane. QB charges way, way, too much to have this type of ridiculous problem and not inform anyone. Second, the send form area should at least have a message that says "Outlook 32 bit has been removed - please use 64 bit". That would have saved us all a great deal of time and effort.

 

I was seeing this with multiple clients across random computers and sure enough it's related to the 32 bit Office applications. Repairing QB errors on most of mine for some reason...regardless I tried absolutely everything from new profiles to repairing 365 and quickbooks and the problem persisted.

 

I uninstalled Office 365 32bit and reinstalled 64bit and boom...done. Took 5 minutes. No further issues for a week now. Thanks Intuit for f***** up my holiday. For those who might wonder why some random computers are still on 32 bit 365 it's due to the fact we image computers when upgrading hardware instead of reinstalling from scratch. If the user is experiencing zero problems it's a hell of a lot faster these days to bare metal restore to new hardware and keep going.

January 7, 2026

@CublaInc Yeah I'm with you.
64-bit definitely does fix it, and I am very frustrated that there is still 0 communication on this from Intuit.

It shouldn't take a handful of users on a community thread to determine this, after a random update released right before Christmas, with no change log.

January 7, 2026

I too lost Outlook.  

When I ran the repair function, I get error message 1334 that says 'The file header_ef_all.gif cannot be installed.  Insert the QB CD and retry.'  I have no cd.  I downloaded the program.  Do I need to burn a cd of the downloaded installation files?

How old school.

Please help.

Thanks.

QuickBooks Team
January 7, 2026

Hi there, FLBill. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, and I appreciate the effort you’ve already put in, such as running the repair function.  

 

The error message 1334 typically occurs when QuickBooks is unable to locate certain installation files required for the repair process.

 

Since you’ve already downloaded QuickBooks, there’s no need to burn a CD for the files.  Instead, you’ll need to uninstall and then reinstall QuickBooks Desktop to resolve the issue.  

 

You can refer to this article for detailed steps and guidance in fixing error 1334 under Solution 1.  

 

If you have any additional concerns related to QuickBooks, please feel free to reply here. We’re always happy to help.

January 8, 2026

My version is over 20 years old I don’t have disc I would like to put this on an online account. It is run thru account t and I only have 2 to 3 entries a month

January 14, 2026

Has anyone seen any update on this issue?  Has Quickbooks pulled the R18_56 update yet?

Thx!

QuickBooks Team
January 14, 2026

Hello there, Joe8888888. 

 

For the most up-to-date information about the older Outlook version not working in QuickBooks, and whether updates like R18_56 have been removed or changed, we recommend contacting our live support team directly.

 

They'll provide real-time updates and help you with any concerns related to this.

 

Here's how you can contact them:

 

  1. Go to Help, then select QuickBooks Help.
  2. Select Contact Us.
  3. Enter your issue.
  4. Hit Continue.
  5. Select to chat with us or Have us call you.

Please take note of their support hours so you'll know when agents are available.

 

If you have other questions related to QuickBooks, feel free to Reply to this post. 

January 14, 2026

This issue isn't tied to the configuration of a individual user.  Why do we have to contact support individually to find out if or when this issue has been resolved?  This is affecting a large section of your user base and this is a support forum.  Can you please just let us know the status in this thread?  Why be obscure about it?