If your Outlook crashes when opening restore Outlook functionality or on startup or even if Outlook stucks at Processing, you can fix it by opening Outlook in Safe Mode. To open Outlook in Safe Mode, follow the instructions below. You can determine if it's corrupted by creating a new profile and changing which profile is used when Outlook starts. If Outlook is NOT able to start in safe mode, then try the next proposed solution below, entitled Create a new Outlook profile. Then, each item in your calendar folder is checked for known problems that can cause unexpected behavior, such as meetings that seem to be missing.

If you have email messages in an email program, you must import your email messages and addresses to the new user profile before you delete the old profile. If everything is working correctly, you can now delete the old profile. To manage your mailbox by reducing the size of the Outlook data file, see Reduce the size of Outlook Data Files (.pst and .ost). The above procedures will help you to resolve the Microsoft Outlook Stuck on Loading Profile error.

Occasionally, classic Outlook tries to run a process in the background. Auto-archive, sending and receiving a very large attachment, or running some of the other mailbox tools can all be done in the background. Check the status bar at the bottom of the screen to see if another process is running. If so, wait a short time (usually two or three minutes) to see if Outlook starts working again. If you can't choose any of the menu options, type inside an email message, calendar event, or contact, Outlook may have restore Outlook functionality frozen.

Ask a question and find solutions from Support Agents, MVPs, Engineers, and Outlook users. Now all you need restore Outlook functionality to do is to untick the add-ins and close the dialog. If it does and Outlook starts working properly, then most likely the problem is with one of your add-ins, which leads us to the next step.

I usually disable them one-by-one, closing Outlook with each change. This helps to pin down the culprit that causes Outlook to freeze. The first thing we need to do is kill all hanging Outlook processes.

It would get stuck at 82% and then she would turn it off. For awhile, when she did this, the system would try a system recovery installation and was successful until now. The navigation pane is the leftmost pane in Outlook where you'll find your folder list and the icons to move between Mail, Calendar, People, and Tasks. Running the /resetnavpane command removes all customizations to the navigation pane. Starting Outlook in safe mode, which starts Outlook without add-ins loaded, can tell you if an add-in restore Outlook functionality is the source of the problem. If the troubleshooter can't fix your issue, or if you'd like to fix it yourself, see the next section.

We will be delving into exploring the powerful methods to fix Outlook PST files in the following paragraph. Below are some proven methods to repair and restore corrupt, damaged, or inconsistent Outlook PST file. No validation is explicitly done on body-related properties or on subject-related properties, except the implicit low-level validation that this article discusses earlier. The recipient display properties are changed to restore Outlook functionality be consistent with the recovered recipient table. As soon as this operation is complete, other algorithms are run to collect all the orphaned messages and to put them in an Orphans folder. If you do not know where the .pst file is located, follow the steps in How to locate, move, or back up your .pst file.

Similar to our earlier suggestion of repairing Office (see #3 Repair Your Microsoft Office above), perform the same steps except choose to Uninstall. Be aware that you may need your product key if you received one. Microsoft has its own tool for automatically scanning and correcting Office when things go awry. You can read about it and then run the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant to see if that helps. It can automatically diagnose issues, troubleshoot, and fix problems with Outlook. Note that the above restore Outlook functionality link is for desktop Outlook for Windows.

Or, if the error lasted in Safe mode also, moving to the next solution is a better option. Before trying any fixes for the mentioned Outlook error, try one of the quickest hacks. If not, move ahead to other solutions to troubleshoot Outlook error Something is wrong with your data files. Users now should be mindful of the common causes why users need to fix Outlook data files (PST).

After October 14, 2025, Microsoft will no longer provide free software updates from Windows Update, technical assistance, or security fixes for Windows 10. Your PC will still work, restore Outlook functionality but we recommend moving to Windows 11.

To learn more about managing contacts in Outlook.com, go to Create, view, and edit contacts and contact lists in Outlook.com. Each message also has a mini toolbar when you open the message in a new window. For each message, you can delete it, mark it as unread, flag the message, or pin it to keep it at the top of your folder. Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support. We have multiple tools to help you automatically diagnose an issue, troubleshoot, and fix problems with Outlook.