Error
Error - Outlook Client connects to Microsoft 365 before cutover
Cause
Outlook clients are connecting to Microsoft 365 before the cutover.
Resolution
Starting in Outlook 2016 version 16.0.6741.2017, Microsoft has enabled a new feature called Direct Connect to Microsoft 365. This feature connects Outlook directly to Office 365 if Autodiscover is not working.
If Autodiscover is not working on the source server or there is a network hiccup between a computer and the source email server then Direct Connect may cause Outlook to connect to Microsoft 365 even with a valid Autodiscover record pointing to the source.
To prevent the profile from connecting to Microsoft 365 there are two workarounds:
- Registry Edit
- CAS command in Microsoft 365 to disable MAPI
Edit the Registry
- On each affected computer open the Registry Editor and navigate to this registry branch: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\office\16.0\outlook\autodiscover
- Set the value DWORD: ExcludeExplicitO365Endpoint Value=1
- If the value does not exist, it will need to be added and set to 1
- Restart the computer.
CAS Command to Disable MAPI for a Mailbox
Refer to this Microsoft article: Enable or disable MAPI for a mailbox
- Example: Set-CASMailbox -Identity "username" -MAPIEnabled $false
After performing one of the workarounds you will need to create a new profile that connects to the source. A new profile is required because the msExchMailboxGuid of the source server is different from the msExchMailboxGuid in Microsoft 365.
- At cutover, you will need to remove the registry edit or use the enable CAS command to enable the Direct Connect feature.
- For more information on Microsoft's Implementation of Outlook 2016 Autodiscover see this Microsoft article: Outlook 2016 Implementation of Autodiscover