Perhaps you know the error message ” A client operation failed ” that can occur in Microsoft Outlook. So far, this message appears in all Microsoft Outlook versions , i.e. with Outlook 2007, 2010, 2013, Outlook 2016 and also with Office 365. We have shown you below the exact error message as it currently occurred with an Office 365 installation .
Unfortunately, the error message “A client operation failed” is not particularly meaningful, because it is not possible to tell from the error description where the problem actually lies in Outlook. Inexperienced Outlook users are often overwhelmed with this error message and then contact the support department for help.
However, the solution is very simple. We have marked this accordingly in the picture, it is ultimately due to the recipient email address . In this case we wanted to send an email to an email address that contained an umlaut in the email address . Since umlauts are not allowed in e-mail addresses, the error message ” A client operation failed “.
It is unclear why Microsoft has not yet been able to issue the error message “more speaking ”. It should be easy to inform the user that he has a typo in the email address . In any case, this current error message unnecessarily unsettles the user. We would like Microsoft to finally correct this shortcoming in Outlook.
Incidentally, this message also comes when you use the “wrong” email address in the ” CC ” or ” Bcc ” error , whether you are writing a new email or forwarding emails. So please pay attention to the correct spelling of the e-mail addresses.