I recently ran into a problem while using Microsoft Outlook on my laptop. It has Windows 7 and I am currently using Office 2010. I went to open Outlook and got the following error:
Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Can’t open Outlook window.
I hadn’t had any problems with Office on my computer before, so it was a little weird. I installed a few apps and a few Windows updates, but otherwise everything was the same. If you’re having the same problem, read the possible solutions below and see if they work for you.
First method – a corrupted profile
There is a file named profilename.xml that stores the navigation pane settings in Outlook. If it gets corrupted (it might be 0KB) it could cause Outlook to not open properly. File location in Windows XP and Windows Vista / 7:
XP – C: Documents and Settings Application Data Microsoft Outlook
Vista / 7 – C: Users AppData Roaming Microsoft Outlook
To fix this problem, you just need to reset the navigation bar file. You can do this by choosing Start and then Run, or in Windows 7 by clicking Start and typing Run in the search box. Then enter the following command:
– /
Now try starting Outlook again and see if the problem goes away. If not, try the other possible solutions below.
Method 2 – Turn off Cached Exchange Mode
If you are an office worker and are using Exchange with Outlook, something called Cached Exchange Mode might be causing this issue. This basically stores a local copy of your Exchange mailbox, which is useful on a laptop, but not on a desktop that is always connected. If you don’t need to cache a local copy, disable that and you should no longer receive an error. Below are links to disable Cached Exchange Mode in Outlook 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016.
You can also get this “Exchange” error when you are not even using Microsoft Exchange. Then you can safely disable cached mode and everything should work fine.
Method 3 – Use ScanPST.exe
If the above two methods didn’t work for you, then you might have a problem with your current PST file. In this case scanPST is the best option to fix the problem. You can read the following post which details how to use scanpst with Outlook 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2016.
http: //vvv.novto-outluk.kom/fak/usingssanpst.htm
Fourth method – create a new profile
If you have a corrupted profile, you will receive this error until you create a new profile. You can do this by going to Control Panel, then to Mail, and then to Show Profiles, and then deleting all current profiles. However, before deleting any profiles, make sure you back up your PST file.
Method 5 – Start Outlook without extensions
Another issue could be a third party add-on. You can check this by starting Outlook without extensions. You can do this by going back to the Run dialog as we did above, and this time by typing the following:
outlook.exe / noextensions
If Outlook starts normally, you need to go into Add-on Manager and disable all add-ins, then re-enable them one at a time to see which one is causing the Outlook problem.
Method 6 – Outlook Connector
You may also receive a similar message if you are trying to set up Windows Live Hotmail in Outlook:
Microsoft Outlook cannot start. Can’t open Outlook window. The set of folders does not open. An unexpected error has occurred. MAPI could not load the information service msncon.dll. Make sure the service is properly installed and configured.
In this case, the problem is with the Outlook Connector. You have to uninstall it and reinstall it. You can download it here:
32-bit – http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=24677
This should definitely fix your problem for Hotmail users.
Method 7 – default gateway
You can also get this error if the default gateway is not installed on your computer for some reason! Not really sure why it matters, but apparently it does. Luckily, Microsoft already has a Fix It download that will add the appropriate registry key to your computer to fix the problem.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/913843/error-messages-when-you-try-to-connect-outlook-2007-to-exchange-serverhttp://support.microsoft.com/ kb / 913843
Hopefully one of the above methods will solve your problem. If not, please leave a comment here with your Office version, OS, and other important information. Enjoy!
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