Windows Live Mail is the predecessor of Windows Mail in Vista, which succeeded Microsoft Outlook in XP as desktop email application for your Windows operating system. However, Microsoft Outlook still comes with your Microsoft Office suite. Like any other software, you are likely to receive errors on Windows Live Mail. The most common is the “an unknown error has occurred” which is usually followed by an error code. This statement means that the occurring error has not been documented and is very unlikely to occur after the developers ran several test. Despite this, many Windows Live Mail users are receiving this error when trying to delete or move their email conversations.
This page is going to explain to you why this error occurs and how to remedy it. It is worth to note that there is a similar error that occurs when trying to send an email over WLM.
Since I’ve had this issue before you should also check out the guide on error 0x800CCC67.
In Windows Live Mail, moving and deleting are related. Deleting will simply move your mail to the deleted folder. People with this problem, often need to delete or move multiple messages or entire folders. That error appears because WLM only thinks it has that/those message(s), but actually that message is nowhere to be found in the Windows email folders that have been saved to your hard drive. The message no longer exists, but WLM still shows it as being in its own folders and you simply cannot delete it using the normal procedure.
This issue is probably brought by the Windows Live Mail syncing. For some reason, the syncing action might have failed during the last account sync. This might leave ‘ghosts’ of emails in your folders thus creating the illusion that the messages exist, while they actually don’t.
Method 1: Feign forwarding of multiple messages in order to unlock the stubborn messages
While it is possible for one to drag the unwanted and non-existing emails to the Deleted Items folder (or folder of choice), one by one, it will be tiring if you want to move/delete a whole conversation/folder or multiple conversations. Feigning forwarding multiple messages will unlock the stubborn mails and allow you to delete/move them. To try to simulate forwarding multiple messages:
- Select multiple emails by clicking on one and then using SHIFT to click and select multiple concatenated messages. Do that screen after screen (scroll down/up). Stop when you see the FORWARD button has become grey. That means one email is even more stubborn and doesn’t even want to be forwarded.
- Hold the SHIFT key and click the messages up and down until you find the culprit. It should be just outside your selection, when your selection manages to un-grey the Forward button.
- With a lot of messages selected and concatenated, click on the Forward button. You’ll get another error message “One or more messages could not be attached. Select OK to continue creating the note.” Now click Cancel.
- Now something has unblocked those messages (or message information) and, with the selection on, you can delete them by simply clicking the Red X (delete) button or move them.
- The message that made the Forward button grey, can now be deleted as well.
- Keep doing that until you finish the bunch of messaged you wanted to delete when you got the initial error.
Method 2: Delete one message at a time
This method is sort of a jump start to the erroneous email.
- First right click the message and click on “open”, you will get the same error message.
- Right click the message again then click delete. This time it will delete successfully
Method 3: Drag the messages into one folder and delete the folder
This will collect all your error causing mails into one temporary folder so that you can easily get rid of them.
- Create a folder and name it as you wish e.g. ‘Bad Files’
- Move the message (one by one) to that folder by dragging
- You can now delete the whole folder that includes all the messages you moved into it.
Remember, right clicking and moving each message will create an error, unlike dragging the messages to the ‘Bad Files’ folder or folder of choice.
Method 4: Repair Windows Live Essentials
Since windows live essentials is what drives windows live mail, repairing the utility will repair corrupt and unreadable data in WLM.
- Press Windows/Start Key + R to open Run
- Type appwiz.cpl in the run textbox and hit enter to open the Programs and Features window
- Search for Windows Live Essentials then double click it.
- Click Repair all Windows Live programs.
- Now retry moving/deleting your messages.
Method 4: Delete the mails from your web browser
Since Windows Live Mail uses syncing to retrieve your mail, any deleted mails on the web will be deleted from your application and vice versa. Here is how to do it from the MSN page.
- Log in at the msn home page using your email address and password
- Click on “outlook mail.” your emails will be exactly the same as in windows live mail
- Deleted the emails causing the problems then deleted the contents in the delete box
- Log out of the msn account
- Log in to your application and they will have all disappeared.
