Where Is Outbox in Outlook? Find It and Fix Stuck Emails

If you are asking where is Outbox in Outlook, it is in the folder pane on the left, sorted alphabetically with your other folders. In this guide, I’ll show where it sits in classic Outlook, new Outlook, Outlook on the web, Mac and the phone app, why it goes missing, and what to do when a message will not leave it.

Quick Answer: The Outbox is a folder in Outlook’s left folder pane, sorted alphabetically with your other folders. It holds a message only until it is sent successfully, so an empty or missing Outbox usually means nothing is waiting. If the folder pane is closed, open it from the View tab.

Where Is Outbox in Outlook? Find It by Client

The folder pane is the answer everywhere. What changes is the menu that brings the pane back, and whether the Outbox shows at all when it is empty.

Classic Outlook for Windows

Look in the folder pane under your mailbox name. The Outbox is not next to Drafts. In my mailbox it sits after Junk Email and a custom folder, and before RSS Feeds, because the list is alphabetical.

If the whole pane is gone, go to View > Layout > Folder Pane > Normal.

New Outlook for Windows

Same place: the left folder pane, alphabetical (Microsoft’s Where is the Outbox page says the same). If the pane is closed, go to View > Folder Pane > Folder List > Show. A message you schedule for later also waits in the Outbox until its send time.

Not seeing it may just mean nothing is waiting. Microsoft’s page does not say when the folder hides, but community advisors on Microsoft Q&A report that it shows only while a message is pending.

Outlook on the Web

Outlook on the web normally has no Outbox. When you click Send, the message goes straight to the server, so there is nothing to hold. This is my folder list in the web version: Inbox, Drafts, Sent Items, Scheduled, Deleted Items, Junk Email, and no Outbox.

That comes from community answers, and Microsoft does not document it for the web. If a message failed there, check Drafts and Sent Items, then Deleted Items, and search All folders for part of the subject.

Outlook for Mac

In classic Outlook for Mac, Microsoft says the Outbox appears at the top of the sidebar only while messages are waiting to be sent. If you do not see the sidebar, go to View > Sidebar. Microsoft’s page does not say where the Outbox is in new Outlook for Mac, and it says the Online/Offline slider does not exist there.

Where Is the Outbox in the Outlook App on iPhone and Android?

Tap your profile picture at the top left to open the folder list. Microsoft does not document an Outbox in the mobile app, so I will not promise where it shows.

What Is the Outbox in Outlook?

The Outbox is the holding folder for mail you have sent that has not been delivered yet. Microsoft says a message stays there until it is sent successfully, then it moves to Sent Items.

A healthy Outbox is empty almost all the time, because messages pass through in seconds. If one stays, Outlook is offline or something is blocking it. That is why people open it when an important email seems to have vanished.

Why Is Outbox Missing in Outlook?

1. The folder pane is closed. Open it from the View tab as shown above.
2. Nothing is waiting. In new Outlook and the Mac sidebar, the Outbox may show only while a message is pending. To test it, go offline, write a message and send it. In classic Outlook the Work Offline button is on the Send / Receive tab. Turn it off afterwards.
3. You are on Outlook on the web. There is normally no Outbox there.
4. The folder list changed. Community advisors suggest View > Reset View, and turning on Show All Folders in the navigation pane.

Why Is My Email Stuck in the Outbox in Classic Outlook?

Microsoft says the most likely cause of a stuck message is a large attachment. These are the steps from its Outlook email stuck in the Outbox page, in the order I would try them:

1. Select Send / Receive > Work Offline so Outlook stops trying to send.
2. Open the Outbox from the folder pane.
3. Delete the message, or drag it to Drafts, open it, remove the large attachment and send it again.
4. If Outlook says it is still transmitting and will not close, end outlook.exe on the Processes tab in Task Manager, then reopen Outlook.
5. Select Work Offline again to turn it off.

If the Work Offline button is blue, Outlook is offline. Click it so it turns white, then select Send All. To stop it happening again, go to File > Options > Advanced and turn on Send immediately when connected, under Send and receive. Greyed out means group policy controls it.

If the attachment is the problem, see Outlook freezing when attaching files. If the status bar says Disconnected or Trying to connect, the Outlook yellow triangle guide covers it.

New Outlook Shows Queued After the Email Already Sent

In new Outlook, a message can sit in the Outbox marked Queued even though the recipient already got it. Delete it and it can come back. A Microsoft Q&A thread on this started in June 2024 and has dozens of replies. I could not find a Microsoft statement that names a cause or a fixed build.

Here is what Microsoft’s moderator and other users in that thread suggested, easiest first:

1. Check your internet connection.
2. Repair, then reset new Outlook: Settings > Apps > Installed apps > Outlook (New) > Advanced options > Repair or Reset.
3. Close Outlook and delete the files inside %localappdata%\Microsoft\Outlook\RoamCache.
4. Remove the email account and add it again: Settings > Accounts > Email accounts > Manage > Remove.
5. Some users report that turning off Settings > General > Offline made the problem go away. It also removes offline access to your mail and calendar, so I would try it last.

Before you resend anything, check Sent Items or ask the recipient, or the same message may be delivered twice.

Stop an Email in the Outbox Before It Sends

While a message is still in the Outbox, you can pull it back. In classic Outlook, select Work Offline first, then open the Outbox and edit or delete the message. On the Mac, move the Online/Offline slider on the Tools tab to Offline, then edit or delete it. Messages with a delayed delivery wait in the Outbox too, so the same trick works on them. See delay delivery when Outlook is closed for how timed sending behaves, and how to edit a draft in Outlook for saved messages.

Where Does an Email Go After the Outbox?

To Sent Items, once it is sent successfully. Missing from both folders, it may be in Drafts or Deleted Items, so search All folders too.

When the Outbox keeps filling after the steps above, check the largest attachment and your connection status first. A message that sticks on more than one device is one for your IT team, who can look at the mailbox on the server side.