Fix: "Cannot Start Outlook" Unable to Open Outlook Window Error
Your profile stores a variety of settings that control troubleshooting Outlook startup issues how Outlook looks and feels. You can create a new profile and then add your email accounts to the new profile. If repairing your Microsoft 365 programs didn't resolve your issue, move on to the next step. If installing the latest updates didn't resolve your issue, move on to the next step. For example, the first time you try to Dismiss All on a list of reminders, Outlook asks you if you're sure you want to do that. If you don't choose an option on that dialog box, Outlook won't let you do anything else.
If you can't choose any of the menu options, type inside an email message, calendar event, or contact, Outlook may have frozen. There are three steps you can take to try to get Outlook working again. We recommend setting Windows Update to automatically download and install recommended updates. Bug fixes, new features, and performance enhancements are released regularly. There are a number of possible reasons for Outlook to behave this way.
See and manage the tasks troubleshooting Outlook startup issues in the selected list from this window. Right-click a task for a list of options, or select a task to see and manage its details. To import contacts from other email services, export contacts, or clean up duplicate contacts, select an option from the Manage contacts menu. Add a contact to your Favorites by selecting a contact in the list, and then selecting Add to favorites.
Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support. You can start Outlook in safe mode, disable your add-ins, and then try to open Outlook normally. Starting Outlook in safe mode, which starts Outlook without add-ins loaded, can tell you if an add-in is the source of the problem. For a short intro about how to access and read the Event Viewer in Windows, see this Quick Tip. If these methods dose not work, you can also try a third party tool, Kernel for Outlook PST Repair tool. If anyone finds a more permanent solution, I would appreciate it.
It seems like something went wrong on Microsoft update and they might recall it or fix it, so we might need to wait untill that. We have multiple tools to help you automatically troubleshooting Outlook startup issues diagnose an issue, troubleshoot, and fix problems with Outlook. If you can't open Outlook, or Outlook disappears or crashes, one of your add-ins may be to blame or you may need to update Outlook. The navigation pane is the leftmost pane in Outlook where you'll find your folder list and the icons to move between Mail, Calendar, People, and Tasks.
Starting Outlook in Safe Mode will prevent some or all add-ins from being loaded, prevents several settings files from being loaded and turns off the Reading Pane. Get Help has troubleshooters for classic Outlook for Windows you can run for many common scenarios, such as Outlook startup or profile setup problems. These often help resolve issues without the need to contact support. When reaching this point of the guide, the issue most likely also occurs for other users on the computer. This means that the issue is not caused by a configuration setting but by an troubleshooting Outlook startup issues installation error.
I want it to open automatically whenever I open my laptop. Occasionally, classic Outlook tries to run a process in the background. Auto-archive, sending and receiving a very large attachment, or running some of the other mailbox tools can all be done in the background. Check the status bar at the bottom of the screen to see if another process is running.
Those who do not install Outlook desktop can use Outlook features by creating a free account on Outlook.com. Keep track of appointments, meetings, or any other event from anywhere. Add, edit, or delete events using daily, weekly, or monthly views. For more information about working with calendars in Outlook.com, go to Using the calendar in Outlook.com. Select More to see additional actions—for example, an option to print a message.
Sometimes, when Outlook isn’t working right, a simple restart can help. When you turn your computer off and on again, Outlook and your computer may solve many problems. As a result, it helps to clear out any issues or things that might be causing trouble, like when you clean up a messy room.
If it never worked before or if you are starting Outlook for the very first time, it could very well be that you have not configured your mail account correctly. A common mistake is choosing for an Exchange account while in fact you are using a POP3 or IMAP account. Just to make sure you are not troubleshooting Outlook startup issues trying to troubleshoot an issue which has already been solved, before you begin verify that you have installed all updates for your version of Outlook. I’m not certain to which post you’re referring, but everything that’s been mentioned so far can be done directly by the user. No elevated permissions are required to do any of these steps.
If creating a new profile solves your issue, you can return to the Show Profiles dialog and delete your old profile. If you try to delete or move a large number of messages at once, Outlook can appear to freeze, but really, it's working behind the scenes. If Outlook is performing some operation on hundreds or thousands of messages at once, it might appear to be stuck. Give Outlook a few minutes to finish the process and it should start to work again. If Outlook isn't stuck at a screen that says "Processing," or this didn't resolve your issue, continue to the steps below. Use the classic Outlook startup troubleshooter to diagnose and fix several common classic Outlook for Windows issues for you.