Last update: August 2019
Sep 06, 2017 Outlook 2016 from office 365 will not open. When I am trying to open outlook after downloading I get the following message: 'Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window. The set of folders can not be opened. The information store could not be opened.'
Applies to: Outlook 2019,365, 2016, 2013; Windows 7, 8 or 10.
One reader sent us the following question:
Here’s an issue i just encountered: After launching Microsoft Outlook 365 to access my email i get stuck.. the login window comes up and stays for a while and then an error message stating that “the Outlook Window can’t open” comes up. I am using a Windows PC if that’s helpful for your troubleshooting this. I wonder my the software doesn’t open.. If it helps, a friend mentioned i should be using a specific command to launch a clean Outlook install so the installation can be repaired.. Any pointers on how to recover my Outlook access are appreciated up-front.
Thanks for the question, indeed a tricky one to troubleshoot online, but we’ll definitely try
First and foremost, i would assume that you are using Outlook 2019, although fixing this issue for earlier versions is not majorly different.
As you mentioned that the Outlook login dialog came up and stayed for a while, we’ll start out troubleshooting by looking into into any Outlook COM add-ins that are installed in your system and for some reason are not firing correctly causing Outlook to hang up when starting up.
These add-ins extend the functionality of Outlook to allow you (for example) to interact with PDF files, integrate with OneNote, work with SharePoint, launch a Skype meeting, etc’.
In order to start troubleshoot this we need to be able to launch Outlook without the add-ins firing up. That is accomplished with the so-called Outlook safe mode.
Starting and Running Outlook in safe mode
Kindly proceed as following:
- We first want to safe launch Outlook using the Run application. Assuming you are on Windows 10, hit on the Search Windows magnifying glass and type Run (or Start and the Run in Windows 7).
- Then, go ahead and type Outlook /safe and hit OK.
- The Outlook login window will come up.
- Now, you’ll need to go ahead and select a profile for Outlook. Go ahead and select the default one, then hit OK.
- Now Outlook will come up in Safe Mode.
- Next is to disable your Add-Ins (see instructions in the next section) and restart Outlook.
Note: How do we know that Outlook started in Safe Mode? That’s written in the upper side of your screen and visible in Mail, Calendar, People, Tasks panes.
Note: You can turn off the safe mode by simply closing Outlook and opening again by hitting the Outlook icon on desktop, task bar or program list.
Turning off Outlook Add-ins
Proceed as following:
- Once in Outlook, go ahead and hit the File menu (top-left in the main menu bar).
- Then select Options.
- The Outlook Options dialog opens up.
- Now, from the left pane, go ahead and select Add-Ins
- Then in the bottom of the page, in the Manage combo box, select COM Add-ins and hit Go.
- Go ahead and uncheck all entries in the Add-Ins list.
- Once done hit on OK.
- Now restart Outlook (in normal mode) by clicking the Outlook icon in your desktop or Start menu.
- If Outlook starts normally, enable additional Add-Ins from the list and re-launch Outlook to verify it comes up.
If this didn’t help, proceed to the next section.
Reset Outlook Views
![Open Open](http://en-support.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/office-365-login.png)
In case that you have customized your Outlook navigation pane, chances are that Outlook might encounter an issue opening the default Outlook window View.
In order to reset the navigation pane settings, proceed as following:
- On Windows 10, hit on the Search Windows magnifying glass and type Run (or Start and the Run in Windows 7).
- Then, go ahead and type Outlook /resetnavpane, then hit OK.
- Now try to startup Outlook again
If this didn’t help, you might need to create a different Outlook profile, we’ll cover this in one of our upcoming guides.
Outlook safe mode reader questions
Here are a few follow up reader questions that we have received as a follow up on this post:
Outlook keeps launching in safe mode
There could be times that even after fixing an Add-in launch issue, Outlook will continue to launch in safe mode. If this is the case, then hit the Windows Search magnifying glass, type Run and then type Outlook.exe, this will launch the program in normal mode. If this is not helping, the there is probably a failing Add-in issue. To fix that, go through the steps outlined in the section at the beginning of this tutorial.
How do i know that Outlook launched in safe mode?
When running in safe mode, that will be clearly indicated in the upper side of the Outlook screen.
Kindly leave us a comment in case of questions.