Problem 1 Outlook is too sluggish

This is the most common of Outlooks problems. Over time, emails, notes, calendar entries,
attachments etc. keep piling up in the Outlook PST making it abnormally large in size. It
eventually reaches to such an extent that working with Outlook becomes nearly impossible
due to its utterly slow speed.

Solution The first solution here is to starve the PST. You need to remove any and
everything that is causing the PST to bloat up. Find out the folder called Larger Than 100
Kb in Outlook 2007, it will contain all emails that are larger than 100 Kb. Delete all
unwanted old emails (especially the ones with bulky attachments). If you really need an
attachment, save it to the disk but clear it out of the PST. Also, delete all other unwanted
emails and clear out the Trash.
The second thing that could do wonders is Archiving. Archive your emails by year. This will
save large amounts of data to your disk relieving the PST of its burden.

Problem 2 Outlook crashes unexpectedly

Its ironical how something thats meant to help can itself become a cause of the trouble.
Many Outlook add-ins claim to help around with Outlooks working and make things easier
for you but heaven turns into hell when any of the add-ins corrupt. Sadly quite a few add-ins
have bugs and many are poorly written. A corrupted add-in can cause Outlook to crash
without warning. And if you were in the middle of composing a rather long and important
email, the frustration can be imagined. Installing too many add-ins can make Outlook slow
too.

Solution To find out if add-ins are causing a problem, start Outlook in safe mode and see
if it performs better. If it doesnt, the problem lies elsewhere. However, if it does, go into
Outlooks Trust Center and disable any suspected add-ins, then restart Outlook normally.
Problem 3 An email on the office PC doesnt show up on your laptop
When Outlook is installed on more than one computer, you may find that the email set on
one doesnt match the other. Downloading an email on both would also lead to an
inconsistency.

Solution There are 2 straight solutions for this problem. One manually copy the PST file
from one computer to the other. Whichever computer has all the emails, copy its PST to the
other manually and then restart Outlook. Two switch to IMAP protocol that synchronizes
the mail on the server with the mail in Outlook.
Problem 4 Youre sending out Spam emails
You may get to know from your contacts that theyve received unwanted emails from you
while you may not be aware of sending them. This could prove to be quite embarrassing if
the receiver is an important business associate and the sent out email is inappropriate.

Solution The cause behind this problem could be either a malware-infected computer
with access to your email address or your email account being hacked. Changing the
password could solve the latter of the problems, however, if youre unable to do so, you
should contact support immediately and report the issue. If however, the problem is the
former, scan your entire hard disk with a premium antivirus program, other than your
regular one. Meanwhile also inform your contacts that something like this has happened so
that they can be aware for the future too.
Problem 5 Outlook PST has corrupted
Youll know if your PST has corrupted if you start seeing errors pointing out the same on
opening Outlook. A corrupted PST can lead to inaccessibility of all data within your Outlook
since it wont allow it to open.
Could not complete the operation. One or more parameter values are
not valid.
while addressing or sending an email message, meeting request, or assigning a task, or saving a
new contact, your auto-complete list may be corrupt. Some users also report getting this error
when they save an appointment or task.

The solution: clear the auto-complete list cache.

Outlook 2010: Clear Names from the Auto-Complete

List
To remove single addresses, select the name using the arrow keys then press Delete. In Outlook
2010, you can also click the x beside the name to delete it or use the Backspace key.
In Outlook 2010, you can clear the cache using the File, Options, Mail dialog, Empty Auto-
complete List button.

You can also close Outlook and use the /cleanautocompletecache startup switch. To use, press
Windows key + R to open the run command then paste

outlook.exe /cleanautocompletecache

in the Open field and press OK.

Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2003

To remove single addresses from the list in Outlook 2007 or Outlook 2003, select the name using
the arrow keys then press Delete.
In Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2003, you can remove all of the addresses from the autocomplete
cache, either by deleting the NK2 file (at %USERPROFILE%\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook ) or by opening Tools, Options, Email Options, Advanced Email Options
and deselecting the option to suggest names near the bottom of the dialog.

More Information

Solution Microsofts inbuilt ScanPST.exe proves to be quite effective in this situation. You
can find it within your Outlook installation folder and just run it should be all. However, if it
does not work, you could use a Stellar Phoenix Outlook PST repair to fix PST.

Outlook Only Starts in Safe

Mode?
Outlook 2010
If your problem began on December 8 or 9 2015 and affects Outlook 2010:

In Outlook 2010, all of my options were reset to their defaults and when I change them, the
changes don't stick. As soon as I close Outlook and restart it, everything is back to its default.

This is caused by installing KB3114409 - it causes Outlook to run in Safe mode, which uses the
default settings. Your customizations aren't lost, they just aren't being used when Outlook is in
Safe mode.

Microsoft released this update to fix the problem: December 16, 2015, update for Outlook 2010
(KB3114560). It is highly recommended that you install this update instead of uninstalling
KB3114409.

Microsoft removed the update, so users who haven't installed the December updates yet won't
be affected. Users who are affected should install the hotfix December 16, 2015, update for
Outlook 2010 (KB3114560).
A second option is to set a registry key to disable Safe mode. If you are in a hurry, this is
obviously the faster fix but you won't be able to use Safe mode in the future (for troubleshooting)
until you remove the key.

To set the registry key:

1. Open the Registry editor by pressing Windows key + R. Type regedit in the Open: field.
Then click Ok.
2. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Security\
3. If any key in the path is missing, you'll need to create it. Right click on the last key,
choose New, then Key and type the key name.
4. Right click on Security key and choose New, and then DWORD Value.
5. Type DisableSafeMode, and then press Enter.
6. Right-click on DisableSafeMode, and then click Modify.
7. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.

8. If you have 64bit Windows and 32bit Office, also add DisableSafeMode, Value: 1 to this
key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\14.0\
Outlook\Security\
9. Restart Outlook or reboot the computer.

If you don't want to edit the registry, you can use this reg
file: DisableSafeMode.regDisableSafeMode.reg for Outlook 32 bit on Windows 64-bit
Video Tutorial: How to use a .reg file

Uninstall KB3114409

To uninstall updates:

1. Open Control Panel

 2. Begin typing Installed Updates in the Search Control Panel field at the top right.

3. Click on View Installed Updates on the left

4. Begin typing KB3114409 in the Search Updates field in the top right

5. Select it and click Uninstall in the bar above

Outlook 2007 or 2003

The original reason this article was written in 2011 was caused by an issue with the search
service. Outlook 2003 and 2007 are affected by this problem.

Solution: Repair your Office installation and run scanpst on the data file.

The problem is caused, in part, by the 'Windows Search' service. This service provides Outlook's
Instant Search and Window's file search features. For a quick fix, you can stop or disable the
Windows Search service.

To do this, open the Administration Tools folder in the Control panel and double click on Services.
Look for Windows Search in the list. Double click it, then click Stop and Apply. You can also right-
click on Windows Search and choose Stop. The next time you use Instant Search or Windows
Search, the service will restart. To disable the service for a longer period, select Disable in the
dropdown and click the Stop button, then Apply.

Please note: when you disable the search service, Windows File Search and Outlook's Instant
Search won't work. Stop the Search service only so you can use Outlook in "normal" mode until
you have time to repair it.

Help! My Email Opens Slow

A common complaint about Outlook goes something like this:

The reading pane in Outlook 2003 is slow when I switch from different folders. The pane takes
about 20 seconds to come up to the current email. I have XP with SP2 installed. I have no other
problems except this one.

There are three possible causes to the problem:

1. Instant messenger. The fix is to disable the link to Instant Messenger on Outlook's Tools,
Options, Other tab.
 2. Network connectivity issues when you are using mapped network drives, including slow
networks or inaccessible mapped drives. The fix is to uncheck the box for the dialog to
always ask whether to open/save the attachments or disable mapped drives.
3. Alternative input support in Office 2003. This allows you to use speech or handwriting
instead of typing. Disable alternative input following instructions in How to turn off the
speech recognition and the handwriting recognition features in Office 2003.

Imported Addresses are missing

from Address Book
If you have Contacts in the Contacts folder but they are not accessible when you
click on the To button, and they were not imported, see Outlook Contacts are
missing when you click the To button for a common problem affecting Microsoft
Outlook.

Addresses imported into the Contacts folder from sources other than the
Personal Address Book (a) may not appear in the Address Book display and (b)
may not show all fields when Inserting Addresses in Microsoft Word Documents.

In case (a), the e-mail address has not been "resolved," using the Check Names
function. Resolved addressees are underlined in the E-mail fields in the Contacts
record. You can either open each record and use Tools | Check Names or
press Ctrl+K (use the Next Item button to browse through quickly) or add
VBScript to a form using the technique in the MSKB article How to
Programmatically Resolve a Contact E-mail Address. Or, you can use the Resolve
E-mail Address Utility.

Resolve Addresses using VBA

VBA
43 lines

Public Sub ResolveEmailAddresses()

 Dim objOL As Outlook.Application

Dim objNS As Outlook.NameSpace

Dim objContact As Outlook.ContactItem

Dim objItems As Outlook.Items

Dim objContactsFolder As Outlook.MAPIFolder

Dim obj As Object

On Error Resume Next

Set objOL = CreateObject("Outlook.Application")

Set objNS = objOL.GetNamespace("MAPI")

Set objContactsFolder = objNS.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderContacts)

Set objItems = objContactsFolder.Items

For Each obj In objItems

'Test for contact and not distribution list

If obj.Class = olContact Then

Set objContact = obj

With objContact

If .Email1Address <> "" Then

.User1 = .Email1Address

.Email1Address = .User1

' .User1 = ""

.Save

End If

End With

End If

Err.Clear

Next

Set objOL = Nothing

Set objNS = Nothing

Set obj = Nothing

Set objContact = Nothing

Set objItems = Nothing

Set objContactsFolder = Nothing

End Sub
Add-in can only be Disabled by an
Administrator
The Problem
When you attempt to remove an add-in, the dialog tells you that only an administrator can
connect or disconnect the add-in:

This add-in is installed for all users on this computer and can only be connected or disconnected
by an administrator.

The Cause
Trying to remove an add-in that was installed using the option All users will result in this error
message. If the add-in was installed for the current user this message will not appear.

When you install software, the screen may have an option to install it for the current user or for all
users of the computer as is shown on this screenshot.
Most users click Next without paying much attention to this screen (using the default set by the
developer), or set it for "All users" so the add-ins works for all Windows accounts.

The Solution
Close Outlook and restart it using Run as Administrator then remove the add-in. Close Outlook
and restart Outlook normally when finished.

To Run as Administrator, right-click on outlook.exe or the Outlook shortcut and choose Run as
Administrator.

If Run as Administrator is not listed, hold Ctrl+Shift+Alt as you right-click on the shortcut to show
the full menu.
Mail address was spelled wrong,
is delivered
An administrator questioned a message a user received:

"A customer sent an email to two users in our company. The client misspelled one of the email
addresses. Surprisingly, the user received the message, even though the address was spelt
wrong. I looked in Exchange tracking and found 2 emails - the message that was sent to both
users with one email address spelt wrong and right after that another email with same subject
that was sent to the 2nd user with his correct email address. The user only received one email
message - the one with his address spelt wrong. How did this happen?"

This happened because the sender used the Resend option in the NDR they received when the
first message bounced. They corrected email address and resent it. This is the message the user
received.
The confusion results from the resend behavior - when a message is resent using the Resend
button in an NDR, the display address is not updated and the recipient sees the original,
incorrect address.

This is not limited to Exchange server email, it can happen with POP3 email as well.

Cannot Expand Outlook Folders:

Not Enough Memory
This error affects Exchange server users with a large number of folders in their profile, either in
their mailbox, public folders, or SharePoint lists. In most cases, you won't have a problem until
you exceed approximately 1,000 folders, or a gigabyte of space is used.

Outlook works fine for a little bit (5-10 minutes) before users start getting this error:

Task 'Microsoft Exchange' reported error (0x8007000E) : 'Out of memory or system resources.
Close some windows or programs and try again.' Cannot display the folder. There is not
enough free memory to run this program. Quit one or more programs, and then try again.
Cannot expand the folder. There is not enough free memory to run this program. Quit one or
more programs, and then try again. Cannot expand the folder. There is not enough memory
available to perform the operation.

When they close Outlook and reopen it, they can again work for a few minutes before the errors
kick in. The error appears whenever clicking or expanding a folder (public folder or mailbox
folder) except for the Inbox. When the error occurs, mail in the Outbox also doesn't get sent until
Outlook is restarted.

The Solution
You have two options to avoid this problem: either disable the Download Public Folder Favorites
option, or keep the number of cached public folders favorites under 1,000 (or low enough to
avoid the error message.) .

You can typically reduce the number of public folder favorites by deleting them by using the
Outlook client.

To disable the Download Public Folder Favorites option:

 1. In Outlook, click File, Account Settings, and then click Account Settings.
2. Double click on your Exchange account or select it and then click Change.
3. Click More Settings.
4. On the Advanced tab, clear the Download Public Folder Favorites check box.

5. Click OK and return to Outlook.

You'll need to restart Outlook for these changes to take effect.

In some cases in which you have too many public folder favorites, you may receive an error
message when you attempt to delete the folders in Outlook. When this occurs, you'll need to use
MFCMAPI to delete the folders.

1. Run MFCMAPI.
2. On the Session menu, click Logon.
3. Select your Outlook profile name, and then click OK.
4. In the top pane, locate the line that corresponds to your mailbox, and then double-click it.
5. In the navigation pane (left-side pane), expand Root - Mailbox, and then select
the Shortcuts folder.
6. In the details pane (right-side pane), locate the PR_FOLDER_CHILD_COUNT
properties. The Value column contains the number of public folder favorites.
 7. If you want to delete all your public folder favorites, right-click on the Shortcuts folder in
the navigation pane, select Advanced, and then select Empty items and subfolders
from folder. Keep the default options, and then click OK.
8. If you want to delete specific public folder favorites, follow these steps, expand the
Shortcuts folder in the Navigation pane, right-click on the Public Folder favorite that you
want to delete, and select Delete folder. Keep the default options, and then click OK.

Other Possible Causes

Office for Mac
Performance problems when you try to access folders in a secondary mailbox in Outlook 2010

More Information
You receive "not enough memory" errors in Outlook when you have lots of cached public folders

Outlook is asking me to accept the

End User License Agreement
We get many questions about Office activation failing:

"After installing and activating Office, Outlook keeps asking to accept the End User License
Agreement (EULA)."

This is caused by Windows security and permissions. Your Windows user account doesn't have
the necessary permissions to write the activation to the registry.

How to Fix
Method 1: Right click on Outlook.exe and choose Run as Administrator. Accept the EULA. If
this doesn't help, use Method 2.

If Run as Administrator does not appear when you right click on the shortcut, use the Start menu
or Start screen's Search field to find outlook.exe. Holding Ctrl+Shift as you right-click on the
Outlook shortcut you use to open it should also enable the Run as Administrator link.

Method 2: Log on to the computer using a Windows account that has administration privileges.
Once you do this, open Outlook using Run as administrator. Now when you accept the EULA, the
acceptance is saved to the registry. When you log back into your Windows account, the EULA
won't appear.

More Information
You must accept the Office End User License Agreement every time that you start an Office
program (MSKB)

Help! My Email is Marked as

Read
Slipstick Systems
Home / Problems / Help! My Email is Marked as Read

Last reviewed on July 18, 2014 2 Comments

I've had a few questions this week asking how to read mail on a smartphone and
not mark it read in Outlook. The reason the users want to do this is so they don't
forget to respond when they are back at the computer and nothing jogs the
memory like an unread message, but they don't want to give up the ability to
quickly check their email on the phone.
Unfortunately, this is not possible when you use ActiveSync (or BES) to check
Exchange server email, as all changes are synced back to the Exchange Server
and to Outlook. Using POP3 on the phone might be an option, but it's not a
good option as changes won't sync back to the server and it won't include
calendar and contacts.

My suggestion: a search folder configured to display new mail from the last day
or so. You can review everything that arrived 'today' in the search folder and
mark mail unread as needed. A custom view could be used instead of a search
folder. The filter will be the same for both: On the Advanced tab of the filter
dialog, enter Received on or after Yesterday. Received on Today, or Received on
or after 2 days ago will also work.

My unread mail is marked as read but I didn't read it

When users complain about mail in their Exchange mailbox being marked as
read without the user actually reading it, it usually means they're using a
handheld device to check their email account. When the device uses POP3 to
check for new mail, all new messages downloaded will be marked as read on the
server.

Blackberry users (not using BES) can avoid having their mail marked as read by
connecting through OWA. If the account is set to wireless reconcile on the
device, messages will be marked read on the server when they are read on the
device. If reconciliation is disabled in Email Options on the Blackberry,
messages read on the Blackberry will not be marked as read in Outlook.

For instructions, see "Associate a Microsoft Outlook Web Access email account
with a BlackBerry Internet Service account".

Note: while it is possible for mail to be marked as read in the preview pane just
by selecting a message, only the currently selected message would be affected,
not all messages. This setting can be changed in Tools, Options, Other tab,
Preview Pane (or Reading Pane). In Outlook 2010 and 2013, Reading pane
options are on the Folder tab, Reading pane button. Disable the setting for
Mark after viewing for xx seconds.
How to Stop Accidentally Closing
Outlook
Note that this method does not work with Microsoft Outlook 2010 pre-SP1. See the Outlook 2010
section below for one solution when using Outlook 2010 SP1 (v 14.0.6023.1000 or higher).

It's very easy to accidentally close Outlook by clicking on the X in the upper right-hand corner,
instead of the minimum button. There are several ways you can prevent this.

Note: If you have Outlook 2003 or above, its possible to set it to minimize to the tray (notification
area). Many users don't realize they enabled this option and think Outlook closed when they
minimized it. Look for the Outlook icon in the notification area to verify Outlook is not running
minimized.

Unsent method
1. Open a new message - enter "Keep Outlook Open" as the subject. Don't enter an
address in the To field!
2. Save the message to Drafts.
3. Drag it from Drafts to the Outbox.
4. When you exit Outlook, you'll have the chance to cancel closing Outlook.

In Outlook 2000 Corp, you'll need a POP3 account in the profile for this method to work. (It can
use fake server names.)

Outlook 2010
The "Unsent Method" mentioned above does not work in Outlook 2010. In fact, in Outlook 2010
RTM (the released version), there is no unsent message warning, even for "real" messages in
the Outbox. SP1 restores the warning but it only works if messages are send-able, meaning the
Unsent Method above is still useless.

However, you can set Outlook to delay delivery of a message to force the warning and prevent
accidental closing. Choose a date in the future in the "Do not deliver before" date field.
 Please note, this only works in cached mode. Delayed messages are stored on Exchange server in
classic online mode.

To use this method:

1. Open a new message

2. Enter your own address in the To field
3. Enter "Keep Outlook Open" as the subject
4. Switch to the Options tab
5. Click the Delay Delivery button and enter a future date (a year or so should be fine.)

Outlook Virus Misconceptions

We used to think that you had to open or, in some case, preview a message for it to infect your
system with a virus. It's now been proven that malicious code can enter your system via an
Outlook mail message from the Internet -- even if you do not open or preview it. The flaw is in an
Internet Explorer component that Outlook shares with Outlook Express. See Microsoft Security
Bulletin (MS00-043) for more details and remedies.

Outlook does not execute a file attachment when you open a mail message. To infect a computer
with a virus that propagates via an attached file, the user must attempt to open the
file and disregard all the warning messages that Outlook and Windows may provide for that type
of file.
Though we recommend that you disable all scripting in HTML messages, as described
at Protecting Microsoft Outlook against Viruses, the default security settings in Outlook do not put
you at great risk for malicious script in HTML messages. To summarize:

In Outlook 2000, script never runs from the preview pane. The user cannot change this.
(Active content will not run in the preview or reading pane of any current version of
Outlook. )
If you have Internet Explorer 5.0 installed with the default security settings, HTML
message script cannot access such components as the file system or the Outlook address
book. (This is why the HTML mail vulnerability updates are so important: They move
several components into this class of controls that are not "safe for scripting.")
If you have Internet Explorer 4.0 installed with the default security settings, HTML
message script can access such components as the file system or the Outlook address
book only if the user ignores this warning prompt:

Outlook Crashes When You Reply

or Create a New Message
We see many complaints that Outlook crashes when replying to messages or creating new
messages. This happens because the delivery folder selection is corrupt and you are referencing
a nonexistent folder.

This should only affect POP3 email account and may be more common when the profile contains
a Microsoft Exchange Server account.

Select a delivery location

1. Open the Account Settings dialog. In Outlook 2010 and up, look on the File tab, in
Outlook 2007, it's on the Tools menu.
2. Select the POP3 account
3. Click Change Folder

4. Select a folder to deliver to.

 5. Work you way back out to Outlook and see if it still crashes.

Send and Receive Error: 0x8004010F

A missing or corrupt folder selection can also result in the following errors when attempting to
send and receive. The fix is the same: click Change Folder and select a folder for delivery.

Task 'you@domain.com - Sending' reported error (0x8004010F) : 'Outlook data file cannot be

accessed.'

Task 'you@domain.com - Receiving' reported error (0x8004010F) : 'Outlook data file cannot be

accessed.'

Note: when the error message is 'object cannot be found' and you use an Exchange mailbox, the
800x4010F error is the result of problems with the address book. See The Dreaded 0x8004010f
Operation Failed Error

More Information
Outlook crashes when you try to send email messages because of a nonexistent delivery
location setting in your profile

How to Prevent Skype (Lync) from

Locking Outlook's .OST file
When you use Lync or Skype for Business, you can save your conversations in your Outlook
data file. To do this, Lync needs to access your .ost file. Under normal conditions, this process
works very well and goes unnoticed.

If, when Lync is running, you are receiving errors stating that you don't have permission to
access the file when you try to open appointments or email messages, you need to check the
compatibility mode settings for both Outlook and Lync.

If the compatibility settings are correct (as compatibility is not turned on), you can disconnect
Skype of Business from Outlook.

Symptoms
When attempting to view Calendar:

Cannot display the folder. File access is denied. You do not have the permission required to
access the file C:\Users\username\local settings\application
data\microsoft\outlook\outlook.ost.

When attempting to open a message:

Cannot open this item. File access is denied. You do not have the permission required to access
the file C:\Users\username\local settings\application data\microsoft\outlook\outlook.ost.

If you stop Lync, the error goes away and you open the message or calendar without a problem.
When you restart Lync, the problem eventually returns. If you wait a bit (maybe 5-10 minutes),
the problem may go away on its own.

Solutions
There are three possible causes/solutions for this behavior:
 1. The Lync shortcut or application is configured to run in Windows XP SP3 Compatibility
mode.
2. You may receive this error if you have Lync set to run as administrator.
3. Skype for Business (Lync) is connected to Outlook and accessing the .ost file.

There is no reason to use compatibility mode with Lync. Compatibility mode should be used
only with old programs.

Change Compatibility Settings

Check Compatibility Mode Settings

1. To disable Compatibility mode or confirm its not enabled, right click on the Lync shortcut,
then select Properties.
2. Click the Compatibility tab in the Properties dialog and uncheck the Compatibility mode
box that says "Run this program in Compatibility Mode".
In most cases, it won't matter if you use the run as administrator option, but it also should not
be enabled permanently (for most users). We recommend disabling run as administrator (if
enabled).

We have a video tutorial at How to Disable Compatibility Mode in Outlook. While this shows how
to disable it in Outlook, the process is similar for other applications.

Application failed to start

because MSVCR80.dll was not
found.
This error often caused by add-ins installed by Norton security products, but if you have an Acer
computer, the eDataSecurity add-in for Outlook may be the cause. Note that these two
applications are the most well-known cause but other applications may cause it as well.

Unloading the offending add-in will usually fix it, if not you'll need to uninstall the application.

Outlook 2010 and 2013 users will go to File, Options, Addins, while Outlook 2007 users will look
in Tools, Trust Center, Add-ins. In Outlook 2003, go to Tools, Options, Other tab, Add-ins,
locate the offending add-in and disable it.

If the offending addin is not listed, you'll need to edit the registry.

1. Open the registry editor (Start menu, Run, type regedit)

2. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins
3. Locate the suspected add-in in the list
4. Set the LoadBehavior to 0

More Information
In most cases, disabling the application's integration won't affect your usage of Outlook and often
makes it run smoother, but if you need Outlook integration, check the vendor for updated
versions. Note that you do not need Antivirus scanning of your email - Outlook's security blocks
active content and all attachments are written to the hard drive prior to opening so they can be
scanned by the autoprotect feature of antivirus software.
Your Outlook Data Suddenly Vanishes
Lets nip this nightmare in the bud, before it happens.

You keep a lot of information in your Outlook data file--including your email
messages, your contacts, and your appointments. If something destroys or corrupts
that file, youre in trouble. And since Outlook handles its data files in its own unique
way, your regular backup routine may not be protecting its data. (You do back up
regularly, dont you?)

Getting to the

Account Settings dialog box in Office 2010 requires you to click an Account Settings
button, which pulls down a menu with only one option: Account Settings. So you need
to make sure that youre backing up your Outlook data. But first, you have to find that
data.
You can do so in the Account Settings dialog box. To open it in Outlook 2007,
select Tools, Account Settings. For version 2010, click the File tab, and then select
the Info option in the left pane, followed by Account Settings, and Account
Settings again. (Yes, I know that's redundant.)

Once youre in the dialog box, click the Data Files tab. Select your data file (probably
Outlook.pst), and then click the Open Folder button (version 2007) or the Open File
Location button (2010). Windows Explorer will open to your Outlook data folder.
With Outlook closed and the folder open, copy the contents of the folder to a safe
location, such as an external hard drive. Better yet, make sure that your regular
backup routine includes this folder.

When the nightmare hits and youve lost your data, heres how to restore it:

1. Reinstall Outlook and go through the setup wizard. This will create a new but
empty data file.

2. Once Outlook is up and running, launch the Import and Export Wizard. In Outlook
2007, select File, Import and Export. In Outlook 2010, click the File tab and then
the Open option on the left, and choose Import.

3. In the wizard, select Import from another program or file and click Next.

4. For the file type, for Outlook 2007, select Personal Folder File (.pst). For 2010,
choose Outlook Data File (.pst).

5. On the wizards next page, click the Browse button and find the backed-up
Outlook folder. Select the appropriate file (probably Outlook or Outlook.pst).

6. As you go through the rest of the wizard, select Personal Folders, make
sure Include subfolders is checked, and click Finish to start importing your backed-
up data.

Your Outlook Data Set Is Too Big and Cumbersome

If Outlook is slowing down, its probably time to shrink your Outlook.pst data file. By
default Outlook 2007 can handle a 20GB data file, and Outlook 2010 can manage a
50GB one. You can increase those size limits--but frankly, youll get better
performance by decreasing the size of the actual file.

The previous tip described how to find and open the folder containing the file. Do so
to check its current size, and to see how the size changes as you follow the
suggestions below.
 The Open File

Location button (or Open Folder in Office 2007) will tell you where your Outlook data
files are located.Start by compacting the file, which removes empty space. In Outlook
2007, select File, Data File Management. Select outlook.pst, and then
click Settings. Click Compact Now. In Outlook 2010, click the File tab, and then
select Info in the left pane. Click Account Settings, and Account Settings again. In the
Account Settings dialog box, click the Data Files tab. Select the file and
click Settings, Compact Now.
If that doesnt shrink the file sufficiently, try archiving, which moves old messages
and appointments to another .pst tile (the default is archive.pst). You first need to
reach the AutoArchive dialog box. In Outlook 2007, select Tools, Options. Click
the Other tab, and then the AutoArchive button. In Outlook 2010, click the File tab,
and then choose Options in the left pane. In the Outlook Options dialog box's left
pane, click Advanced. Click the AutoArchive Settings button.

Once there, youll find plenty of options for what to archive.

You can also start archiving now, rather than waiting for the next time it happens
automatically. In Outlook 2007, select File, Archive. In 2010, click the File tab and
select Info. Click the Cleanup Tools button, then Archive.
 Outlook 2010

offers several options for slimming down your mailbox. The program has other tools for
cleaning up email. In Outlook 2007, select Tools, Mailbox Cleanup to find them. In
Outlook 2010, click the File tab and select Info. Click the Cleanup Tools button,
then Mailbox Cleanup.

Outlook not responding, stuck at "Processing," stopped working, freezes,

or hangs

Applies To: Outlook 2016 Outlook 2013

Did you get an Outlook not responding error? Is Outlook stuck on a screen that simply says
"Processing"? Or does Outlook hang, freeze, or stop working when you're opening a file or sending an
email message?

There are a number of possible reasons for Outlook to behave this way. We've presented the potential
solutions in order from quickest to most time consuming.

Start Outlook in safe mode to fix "Processing" screen

If Outlook stops responding at a screen that says "Processing," you can close Outlook, start it in safe
mode, then close it and open it normally to fix the problem.
 1. Close Outlook.
2. Launch Outlook in safe mode by choosing one of the following options.
o In Windows 10, choose Start, type Outlook.exe /safe, and press Enter.
o In Windows 7, choose Start, and in the Search programs and files box,
type Outlook /safe, and then press Enter.
o In Windows 8, on the Apps menu, choose Run, type Outlook /safe, and then
choose OK.
3. Close Outlook, and then open it normally.

If Outlook isn't stuck at a screen that says "Processing," or this didn't resolve your issue, continue to
the steps below.

Step 1: Is there a dialog box open?

Some things you do in Outlook ask for confirmation. 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. Check for open dialog boxes.
Pressing Alt+Tab will help you switch from window to window and help you see what dialog boxes
might be stopping Outlook from responding.

If you can't find a dialog box open, move on to the next step.

Step 2: Make sure Outlook isn't working on a large or long process

If you try to delete or move a large number of messages at once, Outlook can appear to hang, but
really, it's working behind the scenes. Check the status bar at the bottom of the screen. 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 working on a large or long process, move on to the next step.

Step 3: Install the latest Windows and Office updates

Outlook works best when it's up to date. We recommend setting Windows Update to automatically
download and install recommended updates. Bug fixes, new features, and performance enhancements
are released regularly.

To install the latest Windows and Office updates, see Install Office updates.

If installing the latest updates didn't resolve your issue, move on to the next step.
 Step 4: Repair your Office programs

Repairing your Office programs can resolve issues with Outlook not responding, hanging, or freezing.
Errors in Office files are repaired automatically.

1. Quit any Office programs that are running.

2. In Control Panel, choose Programs and Features.
3. In the list of installed programs, right-click Microsoft Office 2016 or Microsoft Office 2013,
and then choose Change.

If repairing your Office programs didn't resolve your issue, move on to the next step.

Step 5: Repair your Outlook data files

When you install Office, an Inbox Repair Tool (SCANSPST.EXE) is also installed on your PC. The
Inbox Repair Tool can resolve issues by scanning your Outlook data files and repairing errors.

To use the Inbox Repair Tool, exit Outlook, go to Repair Outlook Data Files (.pst and
.ost) and follow the relevant steps.

If repairing your Outlook data files didn't resolve your issue, move on to the next step.

Step 6: Create a new user profile

Your profile stores a variety of settings that control how Outlook looks and feels. You can create a
new profile and then add your email accounts to the new profile.

1. Close Outlook.
2. Choose one of the following:
o In Windows 10, choose Start. Type Control Panel and press Enter. Choose User
Accounts > Mail > Show Profiles.
o In Windows 8, open the Apps menu, choose Control Panel > Mail > Show Profiles.
o In Windows 7, choose Start > Control Panel > Mail > Show Profiles.
3. Choose Add, and in the Profile Name box, type a profile name, and then choose OK.
4. Enter an email address and a password for the primary email account you use in Outlook and
then walk through the steps to create the profile.
5. Once the profile is created, on the Show Profiles dialog, choose Prompt for a profile to be
used.
6. Start Outlook and choose your new profile.
If creating a new profile solves your issue, you can return to the Show Profiles dialog and delete your
old profile.

Do you have an email with a problem recipient stuck in your Outbox?

- Click on your Outbox and see if there are any email messages stuck in there. If so, either click and move the

message(s) to the Draft folder or right click and delete the message(s) that are left in your Outbox.

Make sure to click on Send/Recv button:

- Our mail server requires you to login to check your email before sending email (for spam protection)

and clicking on Send/Recv button just does that.

If you can receive but can not send:

- Double Check your Outgoing Mail (SMTP) setting - use the above instructions (1.)

- Which company is your Internet connection provider? You usually use your Internet connection

provider's Outgoing Mail (SMTP) setting when sending email.

- You'll need to contact your Internet connection provider to verify your Outgoing Mail (SMTP) setting.

- For an example of Outgoing Mail (SMTP) setting for Outlook Express for users who are using the SBC

DSL connection, click here

If you can send but can not receive:

- Double Check your Incoming Mail (POP3) settings (Use the above instructions)

- A common mistake: For Servers setting (Servers tab), -> Account Name make sure that you use the

full email address and not just the first part of the email address - for example: janedoe@comentum.com and

not just "janedoe"

- Login to your Web Mail and Delete any suspicious email that can block your Mailbox. (emails that have

no "From" or corrupted spam emails can cause Outlook/Outlook Express to hang.

Did you just install a new Firewall/Anti-Virus/Anti-Spam Software or change the settings on an existing

Firewall/Anti-Virus/Anti-Spam Software?

- There are many reported issues on newly installed or existing Firewall/Anti-Virus/Anti-Spam softwares

which are misconfigured and are causing problems sending and receiving emails. You may want to disable

these types of software in your computer temporarily to see if your email problems go away. If this fixes your

issue, try updating/re-installing or re-configuring your Firewall/Anti-Virus/Anti-Spam software correctly.

Write down the error message and number (error# example: 0x800ccc15) and do a Google/Yahoo/MSN

search on the error#:

 - If you type the error# or part of the error message in Google/Yahoo/MSN search, you will find hundreds

of results and solutions to your specific email issues.

13. Email messages will stop downloading at a particular message or keeps downloading the same

messages over and over:

- This is an issue with the older version of Outlook/Outlook Express. A corrupted message stuck in your

Mailbox on our server will cause Outlook/Outlook Express to hang or keep downloading the same message.

Login to your Web Mail and delete all of the suspicious messages. Also try to upgrade your Outlook/Outlook

Express.