Comments on: How to fix "Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Unable to open Outlook window" error

Unable to open your Outlook? In this article you will find really working solutions for "Cannot start Microsoft Outlook" problem. The fixes will help you open Outlook again with no errors, the solutions work in all versions of Outlook 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007 and lower and on all systems. Continue reading →

Comments page 9. Total comments: 235

  1. This one has me confused. Outlook 2013 will open if you have a solid color desktop. Any picture or even the stock Microsoft wallpaper desktops and Outlook will not open. Have reinstalled several times, deleted old Outlook profiles and made sure there are no add-ons attached.

    Any clues appreciated!

    1. Some video drivers may also be the cause. Please see David's response bellow (comment #26) for more details.

    2. Hi Jack,

      Sorry, I don't have any idea why this may happen. The only reason that comes to mind is that your are using a wallpaper on a machine with little memory, say under 2gb. Outlook is a very resource-hungry application and it does consume a lot of resources.

  2. Thanks for a great post.

    Running Office 2013 on Windows 8

    I have tried everything but still getting issues.

    As I have multiple email addresses I had multiple PST files.

    Created a new profile and imported emails from first old PST.

    Then re-installed email address with new PST files.

    Copied imported emails to new email PST files.

    Tried to import second PST file and got a repeat of the same issue (Cannot open.....)

    Should I reinstall Outlook, or will this not help.
    Any suggestions?

    1. Hello David,
      If this is a recent problem, you may try to reinstall Outlook 3013 without recently released SP1. If this does not help, then try running SCANPST.EXE several times until it reports any errors and create new mail profile WITHOUT an email address. The latter method helped Trish in similar circumstances, please see comment 23 above for the details.

  3. I was able to recover the data. I posted my issue on the Microsoft Outlook Community site. They suggested running SCANPST.EXE several times until I did not see any errors. Then they suggested I set up a new mail profile WITHOUT an email address, and try opening it up that way. It worked. Then I closed it and then opened it in my regular profile. Thank Goodness for that. I deleted the second profile, but it's good to know.

    Thanks...Trish :)

    1. Wonderful! Thank you very much for sharing the solution here.

  4. So I have been using Outlook 2013 on my Windows 8.1 laptop for three months. I was initially about to import ALL my old files from my old computer. Had all my old emails under "archive.pst". Last week I set up a new email account for work (MS Exchange server), and it worked fine. This morning, while I was looking at some options, Outlook crashed. I couldn't restart it, and in the end, I had to delete all my accounts and recreate them. This time I did not create the MS Exchange account, only the two Gmail accounts. I was able to open Outlook. I then tried to open "archive.pst" and it kept giving me an error saying I couldn't open it. Figuring it was corrupt, I tried the pstscan.exe file, with no luck. Fortunately, the file is backed up by File History, so I restored the file prior to setting up the MS Exchange account last week. Still got the same error. I went back as far as Dec trying to restore the file, and no luck. At this point, I am convinced it's not the PST file, but something about MS Outlook 2013, but I have no idea what. I can go back to my computer and get the original archive file from Dec 11th that was used when I did the original import, but I get the feeling it won't matter.

    Any suggestions? I have about 8 years worth of emails I would like to have back.

    Trish :)

    1. Hi Trish,
      It's hard to say what may cause this issue and I'm hesitant to give any advice not to make things worse.
      I believe the best way to tackle this would be to hand in your computer to some local IT professional.
      You can also try reinstalling Outlook 2013 from scratch and then importing the backed up pst file. BTW, SP1 for Office 2013 was released at the end of February, did you install it?

  5. Thanks everybody I took a little from each post.

    My issue started after I deleted an old exchange email account. Then I just got the outlook window cannot open error.

    I ended up fixing this by going into control panel/mail and resetting the default pst file.

  6. Hi Svetlana, I did try Fix it by Microsoft, but it did not work.
    Your's SCANPST.EXE worked for me. Thanks for step by step instruction with screenshots.

    1. Hi Sameer,
      I'm really glad to know my article was useful. Thanks for your comment!

  7. Worked a treat- Thanks you're a life saver

    1. Thank you Max! Nice to know that our solutions proved to be helpful.

  8. Hi I have the "microsoft office outlook has stooped working" Error.
    Im running windows 7 and office 2007.
    Outlook opens and then a few seconds later I get the above error!
    I have tried everything!
    1.I did a repair
    2.Did a reinstall
    3.Did the scan pst.
    4.If I start outlook in safe mode it does the same.
    5.Did the reset nave pane.
    6.Created a new profile with new pst.
    7.I have even loggin in as a different user on windows.

    If I am missing something please help!!

    1. Hi,

      In order to fix this problem "microsoft office outlook has stopped working" Error. Running in Windows 7 and Office 2007.

      Go to C:\Users\JoeBloggs\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

      Find the outlook.pst file (check the date before the problem started i.e. 19/01/15

      Right Click on outlook.pst properties and select 'Restore previous version"

      Select the restore point and click on RESTORE & OK

      Restart Outlook and watch the emails download.

      Let me know how you get on.

      Melissa

      1. worked a treat for me!! thank you soooo much -

    2. Hi Corne,

      Did you set the newly created Outlook profile as the default one? Also, have you tried to restore the profile?

      I'm asking just in case, to be 100% sure you've tried all the troubleshooting steps. If you have done this too and nothing worked, I can only suggest restoring your system to some point in the past when Outlook opened normally. Of course, Windows restore will delete all recent files and programs so you need to back-up everything prior to restoring.

      Also, you can contact Microsoft support, as David reported (please see comment 17) they did help him with this issue.

  9. I had this same issue in my computer. I tried these steps; repair office, remove and re install office. I have contacted Microsoftlive support they resolved my issue. They told that they removed old office files from registry and re install the office. Now it is working well.

  10. done all nothing working for me

  11. cannot find the start icon or bar to close the computer I know vaguely there are other ways to clost the computer ctrl atlt f9 I think but it is not working what else can I do thannks Babienne

  12. i am useing outlook 2013 in my office.but i have facing one problem i can't change outlook mail downloading default path.

    1. Hi Rupsesh,

      Sorry I don't exactly understand the problem. Cannot you change the default location of your .pst file or something else?

  13. try SysTools OST Recovery Tool to Convert OST File to PST File

  14. sorted - I had to delete all the .ost temp files within the c:\users... folder and then it created ost again from scratch

  15. I have tried all of the above, using 365 and the ost will not even create again from scratch all I get constantly is the file c:\users\etc\etc\.ost could not be opened

  16. This is really helpful. Thank you very much! :)

  17. Wow! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You have just saved me. Brilliant.

  18. Thanks for a detailed, logical, and sequential set of recommendations - building a new account and importing files from prior accounts was the best solution.

  19. Thanks worked out well..keep it up

  20. Hi Dave,

    It's a pity that other easier methods did not work for you : ( Anyway, thanks for your comment and thumb up!

  21. Thanks for the clear and well-structured advice. Very helpful and easy to follow.

    I tried all the fixes, but in the end had to create a new PST and cannot repair or access the old one. SCANPST will not fix it.

  22. Hi Phil,

    Thank you very much for sharing your solution here!

  23. I tried everything you mentioned, so thank you for all the great info!

    The clue for me was in the section "Create a new Outlook profile".

    My problem started when I was in process of deleting an email account I no longer used. During that time, Outlook crashed, which caused this error.

    1. Navigate to %localappdata%\Microsoft\Outlook.
    a. It is possible this could be located in %appdata%\Microsoft\Outlook.
    2. Find the .ost (Outlook Data File) file causing the problem.
    3. Delete that file and start Outlook.
    4. If you are unsure of the file that is causing the error, delete all .ost files, BUT KEEP THE FOLDERS! (very important).

    Hope this helps anyone else running into the same problem.

    Take care!
    Phil

    1. Finally a fix!!

    2. superb.....thanks bro.

    3. YES! Deleting the *.ost file was the Key! Thank You for the post.

    4. cannot open your default your email folder you must connect to Microsoft exchange with the current profile before you can synchronize your folder with your offline folder file.

      Error in ms outlook 2007.

      1. Hello Waheed,

        I am very sorry I cannot help you with this issue because I have very little experience with Microsoft Exchange.

  24. This problem can be resolved through re-constructing the spotted ares of PST file. However, Inbox repair tool is sufficient for this task but critical cases would be solve through advanced PST repair mechanism. To know how it works, consider the resources that are provided by stellar PST repair methodology.

    Regards:
    Russell

  25. Well, this just made a Mac user out of me. I have used Outlook for 10 years without problems, now I tried to change my default mail, and NOW I can't open Outlook at all. Tsskk. Thanks for all the wonderful memories, you guys, and Aloha.
    It'll be Mac and gmail.

    1. Is this why I can't get any support now and Equifax got hacked? *shakes his fist to the heavens * DAMN YOU MIKE!!!*

    2. I was once working at peek efficiency, then my back-end support stopped, and I have been working at low efficiency for the past few years thanks to Mike.

    3. Mike is the reason I am selling so much stock in Microsoft, 10 years of no problems and after one small problem you leave? I totally agree, how dare this happen.

      1. Don't listen to them Mike! You chose the light side, don't turn back!

    4. I am shutting the Office division now because of all the business I lost to Mike.

    5. Mike, thanks a bunch

    6. Mike! Please come back! The guys have had nothing to do for 2 years without you! I'm going to have to let them go now.

    7. Its been almost a year now and they miss you. Microsoft had to cut jobs after losing your support. Thanks Mike...

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