Fixing RSS Feeds in Outlook 2010 Beta 2

I love RSS.  I can't believe I'm saying this, because for years, I never really 'got' it.  I knew how it worked technically, I saw how it could possibly be useful, but I just never really cared enough to actually use it, and I couldn't imagine why anyone else ever would, either.

That is, until Outlook added RSS support.

For me, Outlook is always running.  I manage half my life through that program, in fact (the other being OneNote, which I like even better).  And as I’ve mentioned before, I really dislike the current state of the web, where each web site is most like a program, with its own interface and quirks and learning curve, not to mention bugs, advertisements, distractions, and security issues.  So if I can take the content from the sites I love and read that content in a program I already know, I’m a happy man.

Outlook lets me do just that:

image

By default, Outlook creates a folder for each feed to keep things organized, but I’ve changed that to have everything delivered into my RSS Feeds folder.  Outlook keeps every article around until I choose to delete it, shows me which I’ve read, and lets me manage them just like any other Outlook item.  I can even forward interesting stories to friends just like an e-mail.  You can also see Outlook keep an archive of all our Slick IT articles here, which is a very easy way of having a complete backup and searchable offline reference of all our content.  Happily, the feeds I choose to read are saved in my .PST file, so I don’t have to re-add them every time I rebuild my machine or reinstall Outlook.

The Problem

When I upgraded to Outlook 2010 Beta 2, however, the magic stopped.  Everything looked okay… my RSS Feeds folder was still there, the articles I hadn’t yet read were working just fine, but I wouldn’t get any new articles delivered.  It wouldn’t sync.  I’d hit Send / Receive all day, but the RSS Feeds just wouldn’t update.  I even checked under Accounts, where they seem to show up:

image

But despite this, Outlook wouldn’t actually check them.

The Solution

It turns out to be quite an easy fix.  Here’s what worked for me:

  1. Using Internet Explorer, add a new feed.  If you’re using IE now, just click the View Feeds button on the toolbar and then click “Subscribe to this feed”:
    image
  2. Under the File menu, choose Open, and then click Import:
    image
  3. Choose “Import RSS Feeds from the Common Feed List” and click Next:
    image
  4. Check the feed you just added and click Next:
    image
  5. Click finish, and then try another Send / Receive.  You should find all your old feeds now begin to synchronize.  You’ll only have to do this once, and you can now remove the feed you just added.  But, if you just added Slick IT, why would you?

Hope this helps!

21 comments:

  1. Excellent!! Worked perfectly - I have been getting most frustrated trying to get my old feeds to sync!

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Outlook should automatically synchronize when I tell itto sync with CFL - isn't that what the option is saying? So why, after I removed my Outlook Connector and re-installed did I have to manually import after configuring it to synch?? We're at Office v14 and IE v8, mature product lines. New features should not be this tentative or misleading.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good tips. Worked perfectly for Office 2010, IE 8 and windows xp.

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Many thanks, work for Office 2010, IE 8 and Win 7 after System-Reconstruction with Easy-Transfer...

    ReplyDelete
  5. This had me stymied for 3 days. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have to do this everytime on open Outlook!! Why won't this setting stay?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi,

    We have recently upgraded all our staff PCs to Office 2010.

    The Development team use a local-network based "Twiki" Wiki site (http://localipaddress/cgi-bin/twiki/view/CPT/WebRss)

    When we were using Outlook 2007, the RSS feed from that site worked perfectly.
    Since the upgrade to Office 2010, it can no longer be added, or if imported via the CFL, gives the error:

    ""outlook cannot download the RSS content from" "because of a problem connecting to the server"

    Nothing else has changed (Antivirus/Firewall etc).

    Any ideas?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Well it never worked for me it is very frustrating the feeds come into outlook 2010 now I could open them but not any more

    ReplyDelete
  9. I have now found another way of fixing this problem; It worked for me in outlook 2010.
    Simply repair outlook on your control panel I.E. programmes and features.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Referring to the above comment (mine) I just had to do it again, I find that very annoying personally

    ReplyDelete
  11. OMG - thank you - this has been an issue all day!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Sounds great, but when I try to import my RSS feeds from the common feeds list, the feeds I am subscribed to don't appear in said common feeds list - it's empty. Tried deleting my feeds and re-subscribing, and closing/re-starting Outlook but it's the same every time...How do I get them to appear on the common feeds list in Outlook?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Why have I now got several hundred duplicate folders ending in (1) was I supposed to delete the originals first. Why not have the option of using the existing folder rather than create a new folder with the same name but with a number in brackets added. Or was I being stupid in not realising that Microsoft logic is not the logic of a sane rational being, but the logic of a drunk trying to get a Mars Bar out of a vending machine by trying to reach it through the glass with his/her tongue.

    ReplyDelete
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