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3873troubleshooting-outlook-startup-issues
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  • Cathryn Toledo
  • 3873troubleshooting-outlook-startup-issues
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Created Oct 31, 2025 by Cathryn Toledo@cathryntoledo8Maintainer

Outlook data file issues repair and reinstall did not help Microsoft Q&A

If your computer is running low on resources, Outlook will freeze up. If your antivirus software isn't up-to-date, Outlook may not function correctly. If the problem doesn't occur after you restart Outlook, one of the add-ins is likely the cause of the problem.

Sometimes you’ll open Outlook and then for no apparent reason, it will freeze or shut itself down. There are quite troubleshooting Outlook startup issues a few different causes for this, but one of the most common is a defective add-in. Here’s how to disable add-ins in Outlook even when it keeps crashing. Customers using the contact support buttons at the foot of the support pages, or the "email us" links in support Virtual Agent, are unable to open the Help Pane.

Use the classic Outlook for Windows connectivity troubleshooter to troubleshoot Outlook connectivity issues. After you run any troubleshooter, Get Help provides details on any findings and suggestions for possible remedies. If one of these resolves your problem, close the app and continue working. Use the classic Outlook advanced diagnostics troubleshooter to create a detailed configuration report. Receive Community updates and events in your inbox every Monday morning. A lot of times, a user will click on something by accident and change their view and be unsure of how troubleshooting Outlook startup issues to get it back.

You must have at least three user accounts on the computer to complete these steps. You may have to contact your antivirus software vendor to determine how to configure the software to exclude any integration with Outlook or to exclude scanning in Outlook. For a list of antivirus software vendors, see Consumer antivirus software providers for Windows.

The information below covers issues with the Outlook desktop add-in pertaining to installing, updating, tracking and notifications, and obtaining debug logs. Get Help has troubleshooters for classic Outlook you can run for many common scenarios. If a troubleshooter is available for your issue, select Start to run that troubleshooter. Use the classic Outlook startup troubleshooter to resolve issues when classic Outlook for Windows is unable to start. Despite its popularity, Outlook is still software, and like all software, bugs, issues, and errors can occur troubleshooting Outlook startup issues at any time. Given Outlook’s popularity, we’ve decided to create a Hub especially dedicated to this particular topic where we will be providing you will all manners of troubleshooting guides.

Contact someone directly by selecting Start chat or Send email. Right-click an existing folder and select Create new subfolder. You can give feedback by selecting Help from the top menu, then Feedback.

After reinstalling, now it freezes constantly, even when not in use. Roughly every 5 seconds, the window freezes, grays out, and gives a "not responding" message--just as before. But it happens constantly without me even doing anything in Outlook now. Originally, the freezing would only occur when I actually tried to do something. So, if I tried to open a message, search my inbox, write a new email, go to the calendar, etc., it would freeze up for about 5-10 seconds at a time.

In the Folder Pane, you might see a folder named Recovered Personal Folders that contains your default Outlook folders or a Lost and Found folder. Although the repair process might recreate some of the folders, they may be empty. The Lost and Found folder contains any folders and items troubleshooting Outlook startup issues recovered by the repair tool that Outlook can't place in their original structure. We've streamlined search to make it easier than ever to find what you're looking for. The new Outlook Attachment Preview feature lets you see your pictures and files without leaving your inbox.

If you can open the original Outlook Data File, you might be able to recover additional items. The Inbox Repair tool creates a backup file with the same name as the original, but with a .bak extension, and saves it in the same folder. There may be items in the backup file that you might be able to recover that the Inbox Repair tool couldn't.

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. When you add someone as a favorite in People, they'll also show up under Favorites in Mail, and the other way around, provided that the contact has an email address. There might also be a visual alert that a message is unread, has an attachment, or is flagged. This is a lightweight app designed to handle multiple accounts and fairly moderate email use. Having trouble connecting to your email from Outlook on your desktop?

It will freeze while typing e-mails and looking through the inbox. The main reason why your Outlook not responding when sending email is that your data file has been corrupted. You can use the steps to repair by using ScanPST.exe (It’s the built-in Inbox Repair Tool). To start Outlook in safe mode, click on its icon holding the Ctrl key, or enter outlook.exe /safe in the Run dialog box. You'll see a message asking you to confirm that you really want to start Outlook in Safe mode, click Yes.

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