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ScanPST.exe fails repeatedly while error “Microsoft Outlook Won’t Start” still exists.

Why it happens in Outlook 2016? Help me!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by James_80

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Quick, practical triage for (and a short reply to and ): when ScanPST repeatedly fails but Outlook still will not start, the usual causes are an extremely large or badly damaged PST, a corrupted profile or navigation/view settings, add-in conflicts, or the PST being locked by another process. ScanPST is useful but known to struggle with very large files; Outlook 2016 uses a 50 GB default Unicode PST limit (adjustable via registry), so file size and severity of corruption should guide the next steps. (learn.microsoft.com)

Immediate, safe steps to try (do them in order and do not work on the only copy of the .pst):

  • Make a full copy of the .pst to a different drive (backup first).
  • Run the Inbox Repair tool (SCANPST.EXE) on the copy; allow it to create its .bak and repeat the scan/repair until it reports no errors. ScanPST sometimes needs several passes and will create a .bak that can be imported if items were recovered.
  • Start Outlook in Safe Mode to rule out add-ins: if it opens in Safe Mode, disable COM add-ins and test again.
  • If ScanPST reports successful repair but Outlook still fails, create a new Outlook profile and attach/import the repaired PST (this often isolates profile corruption). (support.microsoft.com)

Useful commands (run from Run or an elevated command prompt; modify paths for the system):

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\SCANPST.EXE" "C:\path\to\yourfile.pst"

outlook.exe /safe
outlook.exe /resetnavpane
outlook.exe /cleanviews
outlook.exe /profiles
outlook.exe /resetfolders

The above switches are supported troubleshooting options and the /profiles switch opens the profile picker. (support.microsoft.com)

If the Inbox Repair tool cannot fix the file: consider splitting/archiving the mailbox or restoring from a known-good backup rather than forcing repairs; changing the MaxLargeFileSize registry value is possible but can hurt performance and is not a repair for corruption. For severely corrupted or very large PSTs, professional recovery products or services are the practical last resort. Also consider running an Office repair (Quick or Online repair) if program files are suspected damaged. These choices carry tradeoffs; prioritize a backed-up copy before any destructive action. (learn.microsoft.com)

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Member Avatar for rubberman

Have you looked on the Microsoft web site? This is not likely a problem we can answer for you without more information.

Member Avatar for James_80
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