Problem

When I try to configure an IMAP account in Outlook 2013 it always wants to send a test email to confirm the settings are correct.  However, the test email does not contain date headers and is refused by the mail server returning the following error:

Error 552 – Mail with no date header not accepted here.

The email settings are deleted when I click ‘Cancel’ while ‘Next’ simply takes me back to the sending of a test email resulting in an infinite loop.

I am unable to configure my mail account due to the test email being sent not containing date headers.

Solution

None – Microsoft has never fixed this in Outlook 2013.

Workaround

Outlook creates the mail profile as soon as you click Next, then deletes it if the sending of the test email fails. So all you have to do is use Task Manager to kill the active program while it is trying to send the test message.   This way, the mail profile settings that were saved just prior to the sending of the test email are kept and not deleted.  Then, when you re-open Outlook, assuming you got the settings right, the account should work.