Problem solutions

Applies to version: Version 4.x, Version 5.x, Version 6.x

If you have difficulties with SimpleSYN, read the following information.

Question / Problem	Solution
SimpleSYN does not establish a connection, the symbol in the Windows® notification area is shown grey	If SimpleSYN cannot establish a connection, please note the following: Make sure SimpleSYN is installed and running on both the client and server computers. One computer must be configured as the SimpleSYN server, and the other PCs as SimpleSYN clients. All computers must be using the same major version of SimpleSYN (e.g., version 6.0). Different major versions (e.g., 5.0 and 6.0) are incompatible. You can find the version number in the main window under "Information." All computers must be connected to the Internet. Check that the Windows time, time zone, and date are set the same on both computers. If these requirements are met, check the "Status" message on the client. *If the client displays "not connected":* Open SimpleSYN on the server and go to "Options" to display the server ID. Open SimpleSYN on the client and go to "Options > Connect to a different server." Enter the server ID there. Save the settings. *If the client displays "Authentication failed":* Open SimpleSYN on the server. Go to "Synchronization Settings > Manage Users." Select "All Users", assign a new password, and save the page. Open SimpleSYN on the client. Go to "Options" and make sure: "Default" is selected for "Login." In the "Password" field, enter the new password you assigned on the server. Save the settings.
No synchronization is taking place	Make sure that you have selected the Outlook® folders for synchronization in the synchronization settings on the client PC. More information can be found here.
The synchronization settings of the SimpleSYN-client only show “No folder information is currently available” under “Server Folders"	This message is being shown if the SimpleSYN-client cannot establish a connection to the SimpleSYN-server or if the SimpleSYN-server is not available. Make sure SimpleSYN has successfully established a connection between server and client. Right click the window of the server folders and click “Refresh”.
SimpleSYN is not being started automatically	Activate under the menu point “Options” the checkbox “Start with Windows”. More information can be found here.
E-mail duplicates occur when synchronizing	Duplicate e-mails can occur on an POP3 account, when e-mails from more than one computer being synchronized are requested from the e-mail server. This is the case if the Outlook function “Leave copy of messages on the server” was activated in a POP3 E-mail account. The tricky here is that SimpleSYN cannot force Outlook to stop downloading an email a second time on another computer. If the first computer downloads the mail from the email server and it gets synchronized before the second computer downloads it, Outlook cannot detect that the email is already there. The second computer will than download the email from the email server and you got a duplicate. As the first email is also already synchronized, SimpleSYN assumes that the second download is intentional and synchronizes this copy too. In this case deactivate the Outlook function “Leave copy of messages on the server” so as not to save e-mails in your mail server and download them repeatedly. To deactivate this function follow these steps: Open Outlook Open the Backstage area by clicking on “File“ In the category “Information” click on “Account Settings” and “Add or Remove Accounts…” Highlight the POP3 E-mail account in question and click on “Change“ Click on “More Settings“ In the tab “Advanced” deactivate the check box “Leave copy of messages on the server“ Confirm the changes by clicking “OK“ Click on “Next“ and then on “Finish“ If you are using a current version of Outlook: Open Outlook Open the Backstage area by clicking "File" In the "Information" category, click "Account Settings" and then "Add or Remove Accounts..." Select the affected POP3 email account and click "Change" In the next dialog, uncheck the "Leave a copy of all messages on the server" checkbox Confirm the changes by clicking "Next"
Initial synchronization leads to duplicates of tasks, contacts or dates	If SimpleSYN apparently duplicates tasks, contacts or dates during the initial synchronization these have as a rule been created manually beforehand and therefore different for SimpleSYN. Usage of other synchronization tools may also lead to duplicates during the initial synchronization of SimpleSYN. Delete the doubled items. All further synchronizations won’t create duplicates
The notification “Some folders could not be synchronized” is shown	The notification “Some folders could not be synchronized” is shown This notification appears if the target folder for the synchronization of one or several folders is not available. This can have several reasons: The available folders have been restricted. More information can be found here New folders cannot be created. More information can be found here The data store is currently not available. Click on the notification to show the not synchronizeable folders. Here it is possible to specify how to handle the unsynchronized folders. Click on “Do not synchronize this folder” to not show the notification again.
The error message “An error occurred during access of your Outlook data” is shown	This message can be caused by faulty Outlook® Add-Ins of third party producers. Faulty Add-Ins of third parties can affect the closing of Outlook® which may leads to locking of the Outlook® PST file. This prevents communication between SimpleSYN and Outlook®. In this case deinstall the faulty Add-In, contact the support of the producer or wait for an update. The message can also occur if your PST file is corrupt. More information about checking the PST files can be found under: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/272227/how-to-repair-your-outlook-personal-folder-file-pst
The get the message “Authentication failed” under "Status" on the client	Open SimpleSYN on the server. Go to "Synchronization Settings > Manage Users." Select "All Users", assign a new password, and save the page. Open SimpleSYN on the client. Go to "Options" and make sure: "Default" is selected for "Login." In the "Password" field, enter the new password you assigned on the server. Save the settings.
I get the error message "Either there is no default mail client or the current mail client cannot fulfil the messaging request. Please run Microsoft Outlook and set it as the default mail client""	Please make a Outlook repair installation on this computer. Please follow this instruction: https://support.office.com/en-NZ/Article/Repair-an-Office-application-7821d4b6-7c1d-4205-aa0e-a6b40c5bb88b Important: choose a full online Outlook repair installation and NOT a quick repair.
I get the error message "SimpleSYN could not establish a MAPI session"	Open the SimpleSYN options > advanced options and under “Outlook version” select your current Outlook version. Save the settings and restart SimpleSYN. If the behavior still occurs: Please uninstall SimpleSYN on this computer from the Windows control panel > program/features and install SimpleSYN once again If the behavior still occurs: Make a Outlook repair installation (choose a full repair installation) on this computer. Please follow this instruction: https://support.office.com/en-us/Article/Repair-an-Office-application-7821d4b6-7c1d-4205-aa0e-a6b40c5bb88b
I use an IMAP account. Not all folders (e.g., Inbox) are displayed in the "Synchronization Settings" on the client PC.	IMAP accounts store your emails directly on your email provider's server. This means your emails are automatically synchronized across all your devices. Important: Since IMAP already automatically synchronizes email folders (such as Inbox, Sent Items), additional synchronization of these folders with SimpleSYN is not possible. This would lead to conflicts. Therefore, SimpleSYN does not display these email folders in the "Synchronization Settings" on the client. Even though email folders cannot be synchronized with IMAP, other local Outlook data such as: Calendar Contacts Tasks Notes can be easily synchronized with SimpleSYN. If you also want your email folders to be synchronized via SimpleSYN, you should use a POP3 account on all PCs instead.
I cannot synchronize the Outlook categories	If you have made changes to the Outlook default color categories, you must ensure that the color category list (formerly the "Main Category List") is manually configured identically on all PCs. SimpleSYN does not automatically synchronize this list. The categories assigned to the items are retained and correctly synchronized by SimpleSYN. Starting with version 6, the "Add new categories to the main category list" function is available. If this option is enabled, SimpleSYN checks during synchronization whether all categories used in the items are also present in the main category list. If a category is missing, it is automatically added to the list with a default color. You can then manually adjust the color to ensure a consistent display across all devices.
The read state of an e-mail was not synchronized	The behavior may e.g. occur when an e-mail has been opened and at the same time the reading status of the e-mail is changed on another computer or if SimpleSYN has been issued to one of the PCs while the reading status changes. If the item or another item in the same folder is changed and synchronized again in the future, then the current read state is also taken over again. There must be an actual change (for example, assignment of a category) for Outlook (with a change of the date), but a new change of the read state does not represent a direct change for Outlook because the date is not changed here.
On the client PC, folders are not displayed under the "Synchronization Settings" even though the client PC and the server PC are connected. The folder list is empty.	Please follow these steps: Select the right Outlook version in SimpleSYN main window under "Options -> Advanced Options > Outlook version". Save the settings and restart SimpleSYN. Make sure neither Outlook nor SimpleSYN is started with administrator rights. Check if SimpleSYN and Outlook are using the same Outlook profile. You can see the Outlook profil in SimpleSYN in the main window > Options Make sure SimpleSYN is not started with compatibility settings enabled. To check this, right click on the SimpleSYN shortcut and select “Properties”. Click on “Compatibility” and remove tick in the checkbox “Run this program in compatibility mode”. It is possible, that this setting was somehow enabled during the Windows 10 upgrade.
SimpleSYN Version 4 can not be started anymore. After a "double click" on the SimpleSYN link, SimpleSYN will not be loaded	In this case there is an problem on the file "SimpleSYN.config", so SimpleSYN can not be started anymore. To repair SimpleSYN on this computer, please follow these steps: Open a Windows Explorer and navigate to this directory: For Version 4: C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Local\SimpleSYN\4.0.0.0\SimpleSYN In this directory you will find the file: “SimpleSYN.config” (may also be shown as just “SimpleSYN” without the extension .config). Delete this file Restart SimpleSYN Then SimpleSYN starts normally again. You would then need to activate SimpleSYN only once with your license file.