Outlook Autodiscover identifies the settings required to connect to an Exchange or Microsoft 365 mailbox. A legacy on-premises SCP record, wrong DNS target or TLS certificate problem can cause profile creation failures.
Diagnostic steps
- Confirm the user can sign in to the mailbox through the provider's web interface and that the account is licensed or enabled.
- Review the domain's Autodiscover DNS records and their target names using nslookup or Resolve-DnsName.
- Check HTTPS access and the TLS certificate of the actual Autodiscover endpoint.
- Use Outlook's supported connectivity or configuration diagnostics to identify the requested endpoint and authentication error.
- In hybrid or migrated Exchange environments, check whether legacy SCP values or cached profile data still reference the former platform.
Key precautions
- Record DNS, SCP and endpoint results before modifying an Exchange or Microsoft 365 configuration.
- Do not change multiple discovery mechanisms simultaneously; retest profile creation after each controlled change.
- Do not weaken authentication or bypass TLS errors to force a mailbox connection.