Troubleshooting Add2Exchange Enterprise Edition (A2E)

Premier Support by our Certified Experts is included in every DidItBetter Value Bundle license. Our goal is to help you resolve issues quickly — and to step in immediately when deeper analysis is needed.

If the steps below do not resolve your issue, or if syncing is business-critical, we strongly encourage handing off to our support team.

Accessing Premier Support

To start a support session:

  • Create a support ticket (recommended)
  • Call 813-977-5739 (Mon–Fri, 8am–4pm EST)
    • After-hours support options are available
  • Email support@diditbetter.com
  • Or contact your dedicated support representative

If stopping the Add2Exchange Service, rebooting, and logging back in as the service account does not restore syncing, escalation is recommended.

Before You Begin: Verify the Sync Service Account

Many A2E issues trace back to the Sync Service Account.

Confirm the following:

  • You are logged into the replication server as the A2E service account
    (default: zadd2exchange)
  • The password is known, correct, and does not expire
  • The password configured in Windows Services → Add2Exchange Service matches the actual account password
  • The account is not locked, disabled, or shared with another service

If the password is unknown or suspect:

  1. Stop the Add2Exchange Service
  2. Reset the account password
  3. Update the service to use the new password
  4. Restart the service

Step-by-Step Troubleshooting You Can Try

1. Reboot the Replication Server

  • Stop the Add2Exchange Service and wait until the Add2EXchange Agent drops. Reboot the machine to apply any pending Windows or Microsoft updates
  • See the Maintenance section below for post-update requirements

2. Review the Add2Exchange Event Logs

  • Open the Add2Exchange Event Log
  • A single or brief error may be benign
  • Repeated, consistent, or prolonged errors must be addressed immediately

3. Test Outlook & Autodiscover

A2E relies on Outlook for profile management, Autodiscover, and fault tolerance.

Steps

  1. Log in as the A2E service account
  2. Open Outlook
  3. Resolve any prompts (credentials, Autodiscover, MFA)
  4. Close Outlook after it opens successfully

Important Notes

  • Outlook does not need to remain open
  • If Outlook will not open, resolve this first
  • If a new Outlook profile is required:
    • It must use the same profile name
    • Outlook must be Online mode (non-cached) and the name of the profile must remain unchanged if it was syncing prior to maintain licensing.

4. Open the Add2Exchange Console

  • Launch the Add2Exchange Console
    (this will stop the Add2Exchange Service if running)

5. Check the Add2Exchange Agent

  • Open Task Manager
  • Observe the Add2Exchange Agent:
    • If CPU activity exists → wait
    • If no activity after ~60 seconds:
      • You may end the process
      • Reboot the server to clear stalled states or partial updates

6. Reboot and Observe Startup

  • Stop the Add2Exchange Service and close all applications
  • Reboot the server
  • Watch the system come fully online

Critical Tip for Microsoft 365 / MFA Environments

[TIP] If syncing to Microsoft 365:

  • After a reboot, you must manually complete any MFA, Duo, or interactive login prompts.
  • This is a known pain point — interactive MFA is not recommended on the replication server
  • The sync service account must be fully logged in for automation to resume in O365

Best Practices

  • Leave the server logged in and locked
  • Lock the machine or disconnect your session when leaving
  • If MFA is required, document this in your update procedure so post-reboot logins are not missed

The Add2Exchange Service runs in Delayed Start mode and will resume automatically once authentication is complete. 

Post-Reboot Validation

  • Wait approximately 30 minutes after reboot
  • Review the Add2Exchange Event Logs
  • Confirm successful sync activity

If errors persist:

Common Advanced Causes to Be Aware Of

Permissions & Folder Access

  • Source and destination folders must exist
  • The service account should have:
    • Owner (recommended)
  • No explicit DENY permissions for our service account should exist
  • New users should be included in the managed distribution list for that template and permissions must be run.  IF MFA is active on the account then these permissions must be run manually from the Diditbetter Support Menu.ps1 on the desktop, run as powershell and option Auto Login Permissions.

Slow Syncs or Delays

Often caused by:

  • Outlook Social Connector reactivated on the replication server after an MSO update.  With outlook closed, on the replication server, run the Diditbetter Support Menu.ps1 as powershell, select the option Outlook Tools and the option Setup Outlook profile.
  • Mobile devices repeatedly touching contacts or service account profile is open on multiple machines.  The source account should only be open on the Replication server.
  • Microsoft background contact re-writes

Mitigation

  • Exclude:
    • Source mailbox
    • Any mailbox that opens the source contacts
  • Apply Disable Outlook social connector to both:
    • Local Group Policy
    • Exchange / M365 policy (required in hybrid environments)

Microsoft Updates

Microsoft updates can silently affect:

Best Practice

When to Escalate to Support

Please contact support if:

  • Sync does not resume after reboot and Outlook validation
  • Errors repeat consistently in the event logs
  • MFA or authentication cannot complete cleanly


If a ticket is opened, we would connect to the machine with a Teams or Screen Connect Session.  We will identify the following to assist in resolving the issue:

  • Add2Exchange version number
  • Relevant event logs
  • Error messages or screenshots
  • Confirmation that Outlook opens cleanly as the service account

 

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