How to Fix “Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook”?

• While trying to open the Microsoft Outlook’s desktop application, you might encounter a situation where the Outlook app won’t start. It would display an error message saying, “Cannot Start Microsoft Office Outlook.” 

This can hinder your daily workflow and might lead to operational delays in your work or business. Therefore, you should resolve the issue at the earliest. This guide delves into the intricacies of why this issue occurs in Microsoft Outlook application and provides some effective solutions to resolve it swiftly.

Causes of the “Cannot Start Microsoft Office Outlook” Error

Some common causes that can lead to the Microsoft Outlook application not starting issue are:

• Slow or no internet connectivity.
• Outdated version of Outlook application.
• Problematic add-ins.
• Corrupted navigation pane settings.
• Corrupt Outlook profile.
• Corrupted Outlook data file.

Methods to Resolve “Cannot Start Microsoft Office Outlook” Error

To resolve the error and regain access to your Outlook account, try the methods listed below.

Method 1: Check Network Connectivity

First, you need to check the consistency and quality of your internet connection. For this, you can use various online tools. If the internet connection is not reliable or the connection speed is too low, you can restart your internet router or contact your service provider for troubleshooting and further assistance.

Method 2: Start Outlook in Safe Mode and Disable Problematic Add-ins

Faulty add-in(s) can also cause startup errors in Outlook. In this scenario, you can try to start Outlook in Safe Mode. Here’s how you can do it:

• Close Outlook and open the Run dialog box (Windows key + R).
• Type Outlook /safe and click Enter.

If Outlook fails to start even in safe mode, you can move to the next method. However, if you are able to access your mailbox items in Outlook safe mode, it implies that a problematic add-in is responsible for the error. To find and remove it, follow these steps:

• Click File > Options. This will open the Outlook Options window.
• Click Add-Ins.

• In the Manage option at the bottom of the screen, choose COM Add-ins and click Go to open the list of add-ins installed currently.

• Now, uncheck all the add-ins. 

To find the faulty add-in, enable one add-in at a time and restart Outlook. This will help you identify the add-in responsible for the error. When found, deactivate the add-in permanently.

Method 3: Reset View Settings

You can reset Outlook’s view settings to resolve this error. This workaround has helped several users to get rid of this error message. The steps are as follows:

• Open the Run dialog box (Windows + R), type Outlook.exe /cleanviews and click OK. 

• Now open the Run dialog box again, type Outlook.exe /resetnavpane, and click OK or press the Enter key. This will reset the Outlook navigation pane.
• Start Outlook and check if the error persists.

Method 4: Create New Outlook Profile

A corrupt Outlook profile can also lead to startup issues in Outlook, preventing you from working on the application. To resolve this, you can create a new Outlook profile, delete the existing one, and then configure your email account with the new profile. 

Method 5: Repair your Outlook Data File (PST)

Corruption issues in your PST file could also result in the ‘Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook' or ‘We couldn’t create the Outlook data file’ error. To fix the corruption issues, you can repair the PST file using the ScanPST.exe or the Inbox Repair Tool, an in-built repair utility in Outlook. Here are the steps:

• Find x.exe location on your system and launch it.
• Select Browse and navigate to the default location of PST file that is to be repaired. 

Here’s the default location of PST file: 

drive:\Users\<username>\Documents\Outlook Files or drive:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook.

• Once the file is selected, click Start to initiate the repair process.

• The Inbox Repair Tool will scan the PST file and report the number of inconsistencies. Now, select Repair.

If the Inbox Repair Tool repairs the PST file successfully, it should resolve the error. However, it might fail to repair the corrupt PST file due to certain limitations.

For instance, ScanPST.exe freezes or fails to repair a severely corrupt PST file or a large PST file (close to 50 GB). To overcome such downsides, you can use Stellar Repair for Outlook, an advanced Outlook PST repair tool.

This tool can easily and effectively repair damaged or corrupted PST files, irrespective of the size of file or the level of corruption. It then saves the repaired data in a new PST file, which you can import into your Outlook and resolve the error message.

Conclusion

The “Cannot Start Microsoft Office Outlook” error can be resolved by following the troubleshooting methods listed in this guide. You can start by checking your network connectivity and disabling the problematic add-ins. You can reset the navigation pane settings or create a new profile to fix corrupted configurations.

If these methods fail to work, you can repair the PST using ScanPST.exe. However, if this tool fails to repair the file, it implies that either the PST file is too large for the tool to handle or the level of corruption is high. In this scenario, you can try Stellar Repair for Outlook, an advanced Outlook PST repair tool that can repair large, severely corrupted PST files with ease.