Error Solved: “Microsoft Outlook Won’t Open or Start”

Summary: In this blog, you will find easy ways to fix Outlook Error: Outlook Won’t Open. This problem is caused when Outlook not responding, crashes, or freezes, throws an error or Outlook stopped working. In this post, we’ll outline some common reasons behind the ‘Microsoft Outlook won’t start’ issue. In addition, you’ll find some methods that can resolve this issue.

Microsoft Outlook continues to be the preferred email client for most organizations due to its impressive features such as intuitive user interface (UI), a wide range of add-ons, option to add contacts & create tasks, and many more. However, this popular email client is also prone to errors and issues. Sometimes, you encounter a situation when your Microsoft Outlook won’t open or start and returns an error message that reads:

“Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window. The set of folders cannot be opened. The operation failed.”

Why My Outlook Won’t Open?

Following are some reasons that may cause Microsoft Outlook not opening issue:

• Outlook PST file is accidentally deleted or damaged
• Outlook Profile belongs to an older Outlook version
• Incorrect configuration of the application
• Improper installation of the application
• Virus or malware infection
• Internal registry conflict
• Installation of conflicting add-ins

Tip: Corruption in Outlook data file (PST) could be the reason why you cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Repairing the corrupted PST by using the built-in Microsoft repair utility can be time-consuming and may result in data inconsistency. Use Stellar Repair for Outlook software to repair PST file and recover all the mailbox items, maintaining data integrity. be time-consuming and may result in data inconsistency. Use Stellar Repair for Outlook software to repair PST file and recover all the mailbox items, maintaining data integrity.

Methods to Solve ‘Outlook Won’t Open or Start’ Issue

You can’t access Microsoft Outlook emails and other items unless Outlook not starting issue is resolved. Let’s discuss some methods to fix this issue:

1. Update Outlook and Windows

If you are wondering why won’t Outlook open, maybe you just need to update Outlook application or install Windows OS updates.

To update Outlook:

1. Go to File > Office Account
2. Click Update Options, and then click Update Now

To install latest Windows updates manually (if automatic updates option is not configured), follow the given steps:

1. Go to Settings
2. Select Update and Recoveryand click how updates get installed 
3. Turn on automatic updates

Now, try to open your Outlook application and see if the ‘Cannot start MS Outlook’ error is resolved. If not move to the next method.

Note: In some situations, an antivirus program that’s not updated may also conflict with Outlook and become the reason why you cannot start Microsoft Outlook. So, you can try updating the antivirus and see if that removes the error.

2. Launch Outlook in “Safe Mode”

When you launch Outlook in safe mode, it starts with only the basic setup, without any add-ins. This helps you to check if a faulty or damaged add-in is causing the ‘Cannot Start Microsoft Outlook’ error.

Steps to launch Outlook in safe mode are:

• Go to Start > Run or Press Windows + X keys to open Run dialog box.

• Type ‘Outlook.exe /safe’ in the Run dialog box and click OK or hit Enter.

Note: Make sure to keep space when typing ‘Outlook.exe’ and ‘/safe’.

To disable the faulty add-in(s), follow these steps:

• In the Outlook menu, go to File > Options.
• In Outlook Options window, click Add-ins from the left-side panel, and then select COM Add-ins in the Manage field. Click Go.

If Outlook starts in safe mode, a faulty add-in(s) is likely responsible for the issue. If Outlook won’t open in safe mode, skip to the next method.

• Unselect all the add-ins checkboxes and select OK.
• Restart Outlook in normal mode.

If this works, enable the add-ins one-by-one and keep restarting Outlook after enabling each add-in. Doing so will help you identify the faulty add-in due to which you cannot start Microsoft Outlook.

3. Repair MS Office

Sometimes, a problem with MS Office installation might stop Outlook from responding and make you wonder why won’t Outlook open. In that case, you can use the in-built Microsoft Office repair tool to repair the program. Follow these steps:

1. Close all the running Microsoft Office applications.
2. Go to Control Panel, and click Programs and Features.

3. Find your Microsoft Office version, right-click on it, and then select Change.

4. The steps to repair your Office program will vary, depending on whether you’ve Click-to-Run or MSI-based Office installation type.

• For Click-to-Run installation type, do the following:

When ‘How would you like to repair your Office programs’ window pops-up, choose Online Repair, and then select Repair.

• For MSI-based installation type:

From ‘Change your installation’ dialog box, select Repair, and then hit Continue.

5. Follow the instructions on your screen to complete the MS Office repair process.

Once the repair process is complete, try to launch and open Outlook. If you cannot start Microsoft Outlook still, move on to the next method.

4. Restore/Delete Navigation Pane Configuration File

A common reason behind “Microsoft Outlook won’t Open” error is corruption in Navigation Pane Configuration File i.e. profilename.xml. If the file size is 0 KB, this means it’s corrupt. In such a case, you can restore the file by following these steps:

• Close Microsoft Outlook.
• Go to Start > Run.

• In the Run dialog box, type outlook.exe /resetnavpane.

• Click OK.

If repairing the corrupted Navigation Pane Configuration File doesn’t fix the error, you can delete it (your .pst file won’t be affected). To do so:

1. Go to Start > Run.
2. In the window that opens, type %appdata%\Microsoft\Outlook and click OK.

• You will be taken to the location of Microsoft Outlook configuration file.

• Search the xml file and delete it.

After performing these steps, check if the problem is fixed.

5. Create a New Outlook Profile

One of the causes behind the “Microsoft Outlook won’t start” error is the corrupt Outlook profile. You can create a new Outlook profile to resolve this error. Follow these steps:

• Go to Control Panel.
• Select Mail option to open Mail Setup dialog box.

• In Mail Setup – Outlook window, click on the Show Profiles button.

• In the dialog box that opens, click Add to create a new profile.

• Enter your profile name, and then click OK.

• In the ‘Auto Account Setup’ screen, under E-mail Account, fill in the required details, and then choose Next.

Note: The Add Account Wizard will automatically look for your mail server settings.

• When prompted, click Finish and you can see the new profile name listed in the ‘Mail’ dialog box under the General tab.
• Select Prompt for a profile to be used option under ‘When starting Microsoft Outlook, use this profile’, and then click OK.
• Restart Outlook.
• In the ‘Choose Profile’ dialog box, select the new profile name that you have created, and then choose OK.

Now try opening Outlook. If it starts normally, it means that the Outlook profile was corrupt and resulted in the ‘Cannot start Outlook’ error.

6. Repair Outlook Data File

If none of the above method works, this means that the Outlook data file (PST) is corrupt or damaged. To repair the Outlook data file, you can use Microsoft’s in-built recovery tool Scanpst.exe (also called Inbox Repair tool) or a specialized PST repair software.

Steps to repair Outlook data file by using Scanpst.exe:

• Exit Outlook.
• Locate the Scanpst.exe file.

If you don’t know the location of Scanpst.exe read this: How to Find Scanpst.exe Location in Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010 & 2007?

• Double-click SCANPST.
• Select Browse and navigate to the file that you want to repair.
• Select Start to begin scanning the corrupt PST file.
• Once the scanning is complete, a new screen reporting about the errors found in the file will appear.
• Select Repair to fix the errors.

After that, you can recover the repaired items to a new .pst file. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Start Outlook.
2. Press CTRL+6. This will turn on the Folder List view.
3. Under the Folder List, you can see a list of all the recovered data folders that include Inbox, Outbox, Contacts, Sent Items, Calendar, Notes, Journal, Deleted Items, and Tasks.
4. Create a new PST file.
5. Click Lost and Found folder, and drag all the recovered data items from the folder and drop them in the new PST file.
6. Remove the recovered PST file.

If you can’t Start Microsoft Outlook here is the Manual Guide

This may help you fix the Outlook won’t start issue. However, the Outlook Inbox Repair tool (Scanpst.exe) has certain limitations. You need to perform the repair process steps manually and with extra care to avoid any error. Above all, Scanpst.exe can’t repair severely corrupt or oversized Outlook data file. To overcome such limitations and avoid the hassle of manual efforts, use an advanced PST repair software such as Stellar Repair for Outlook to repair severely corrupt PST files of virtually any size.

Steps to repair corrupt PST file by using the software:

Step 1: Download, install and run Stellar Repair for Outlook.

Step 2: From the main interface, Browse the location of the PST File. If you don’t know the location, click Find.

Step 3: Select the PST file you want to repair and click Repair to initiate scanning.

Step 4: When the scanning process is complete, you will see a list of all recoverable files and folders in the preview window. Select the files and folders you want to repair.

Step 5: After selection, click Save Repaired File on Home menu.

Step 6: Select the desired file format in which you want to save the repaired file.

Step 7: Provide the location where you want to save the recovered files, and then click OK.

Now you can import this recovered PST file into your Outlook. This should resolve the Outlook won’t start issue.

Why Choose Stellar Repair for Outlook?

Stellar Repair for Outlook is a powerful tool that can easily repair a corrupted or damaged Microsoft Outlook Personal Storage Table (PST) file, along with its content such as journals, tasks, rules, contacts, emails, attachments, etc. This user-friendly PST repair software efficiently scans the damaged PST files, extracts and repairs the data, and saves the data into a new PST file. You also get advanced features, such as:

• Repair password-protected PST files.
• Offer preview of email content, attachments, embedded hyperlinks, etc.
• Recovery of permanently deleted emails.
• Export repaired PST file directly to an Outlook account or Office 365.
• Multiple export formats for mailbox data such as HTML, MSG, PDF, etc.

Conclusion 

Sometimes, Microsoft Outlook might not work or throws an error such as ‘Outlook Won’t Open’ when you try to open the application. However, you can fix such issues easily by following the methods mentioned in this post. In case the issue is caused due to corrupt PST file, you can use Microsoft’s proprietary Inbox Repair Tool to repair it. But the tool requires manual efforts and cannot repair a severely corrupt or oversized PST file. In such a case, use a dedicated Outlook PST repair software such as Stellar Repair for Outlook to effectively repair severely corrupt PST file with a few clicks.

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