Member Avatar for gayleh

It could be me but for some reason when I click on the outlook icon the hourglass appears for a couple of seconds then nothing. I set up Outlook as my default e-mail and now can't get to it. It worked fine until a few days ago. Nothing else has changed. I've also tried opening it from the start menu but nothing happens. Help?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by mjdodd

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Short diagnostic steps that pick up where the thread left off (complaint: icon shows hourglass briefly, then nothing). Common, fixable causes are a hung OUTLOOK.EXE, a corrupted navigation pane or mailbox file, or an add-in/startup program preventing the UI from loading. The checklist below focuses on safe, reversible checks and gives concrete commands to run.

First, confirm Outlook is not already running and stuck: look for OUTLOOK.EXE in Task Manager and end it if present. Then try launching Outlook with switches that bypass custom settings and add-ins:

outlook.exe /safe
outlook.exe /resetnavpane

Starting in safe mode isolates add-ins. Resetting the navigation pane fixes a frequent hang that happens when the UI settings are corrupt.

If those steps do not produce a window, the mailbox file may be damaged. Locate and run the Inbox Repair Tool (SCANPST.EXE) against the .pst/.ost (back up the file before repair):

scanpst.exe "C:\path\to\YourMailbox.pst"

SCANPST lives in the Office program folder (Office11/12/14/15/16 depending on version) or can be found with a Windows search.

For further isolation, check the Windows Application event log for Outlook errors (run eventvwr.msc) to capture faulting module names. A clean boot (run msconfig) or testing under a fresh Windows user profile can rule out shell extensions, startup utilities, or profile corruption. These steps complement the replies from , and by focusing on add-ins, mailbox integrity, and OS-level interference. Back up mail files before doing repairs, and collect any Event Viewer error text if escalation is needed.

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Member Avatar for cguan_77

only outlook is not functioning? other programs like word or excel is okay? try to download CCleaner..and click on registry then click "Scan for Issues" check if it will help maybe some registry errors that's why outlook unable to run..

or try to scan for any viruses on your system..
post back..

Member Avatar for Talonis

Try launching outlook.exe , or whatever the exe located in the Outlook folder is called

Member Avatar for mjdodd

you can also repair outlook using the original installation disk or from the control panel and add remove programs and then outlook
M

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