When reminders just won’t dismiss, there are several things you can try to get rid of it:
Use the Cleanreminders switch. This works most of the time.
When cleanreminders doesn’t work, look for the appointment the reminder belongs to and delete it.
When you can’t find the appointment, you need to use MFCMAPI to browse “inside” the message store and delete the reminders. Outlook will then rebuild the list with just the valid reminders.
Use Cleanreminders switch
The easiest way to try to get rid of corrupt reminders is by closing Outlook and reopening it using the /cleanreminders switch. To do this, press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog. type
outlook /cleanreminders
in the field and press Ok.
Make sure you have a space between Outlook and the slash. Using ‘outlook.exe’ is optional – just the program name should work.
A (very) few people will need to use the full path to outlook.exe. Click Browse and look under C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\ (C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\ if using 64-bit Windows).
Delete the Appointment
Sometimes the cleanreminders switch doesn’t help. When this happens, look for the appointment that is associated with the reminder and delete it. If you can’t find it, you’ll need to use MFCMAPI to delete the reminder.
Use MFCMAPI
- Run MFCMAPI
- Go to Session, Logon and Display Store Table
- Select your profile
- Select Mailbox
- Expand “Root Container”
- Right click “Reminders” and select “Open Contents Table”
- New Window Launches with Title Reminders
- Find the corrupt reminder(s) then right click and select “Delete Message”
- Close MFCMAPI
Note: In Cached Exchange, you’ll see “Root – Mailbox” instead of Root Container; Reminders are under the Finders folder. You may need to log into the mailbox using a non-cached profile and delete the reminders from the mailbox on the server too.
Alternately, you can delete the Reminder folder and Outlook will rebuild the valid reminders.
Delete Outlook Reminders Tutorial
When you are deleting reminders from Exchange accounts, choose your Mailbox name. When you are deleting reminders from POP3 accounts or *.pst files, right click on the pst name that contains the corrupt reminder.
Remember: Delete only the corrupt reminder when you delete from inside the reminder folder you are deleting the appointment too. If you can’t find the corrupt reminder, delete the entire Reminders folder. Outlook will rebuild the folder and the (good) reminders.
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Last reviewed on Nov 21, 2011
what if the error occurs in OWA? Synced to an Android phone.
I assume then that the problem is NOT local, I don’t see anything at the Exchange end, and it appears to be just 1 of 12 users..
If the problem is in OWA, it should also be in outlook. They share the hidden reminders folder. If it’s in OWA, but not in cached Outlook, the cache is syncing everything with the server.
The fix is the same, use Outlook to clean the reminders. I’m not aware of a way to do it from OWA, although it might be possible using a cmdlet in Exchange 2007/2010. I’ll see what i can find.
These MFCMAPI instructions caused many calendar items to be deleted, not just the reminders. Is this expected or did I do something wrong? I was in the reminders folder…
Did it delete the actual calendar item? If so, you did something wrong.
When you delete the reminders, it removes the reminders from the Reminders folder. This folder is where Outlook keeps track of reminders it shows in the reminders window. When you restart Outlook, it recreates the valid reminders.
Yes, many of the calendar items were in the dumpster, even though I selected delete to deleted items folder.
I did perform this against another users mailbox. Do I need to run mfcmapi locally?
I have not tested it against a shared mailbox, so I can’t say what would happen. I’d use it locally to avoid possible problems.
Hi Diane,
I am running MFC Mapi and running it locally on a non cached mode of Outlook 2003 sp3. I am opening my Mailbox store, expanding root container, going into the reminders window and deleting the reminder, by right clicking and delete message. However when i do this it deletes the entire reoccuring appointment. Do you know why this could be happening? I followed the instructions word for word.
I’ll check it out. This is with an exchange account, correct?
Either delete the corrupt item, if you know which one it is or delete the Reminder folder. Deleting the item from the folder is used to get rid of appointments that are corrupt and need deleted. If you delete the folder, Outlook will recreate it and rebuild the reminders.
I have ~60 reminders that will not clear. They show up in the Reminders folder for my local profile, but they do not show up in the Reminders folder for my OWA folder. When I try to delete individual reminders or the local Reminders folder or the OWA Reminders folder, I receive an error:
Error:
Code: MAPI_E_UNKNOWN_FLAGS == 0×80040106
Function lpParentFolder->DeleteFolder( lpItemEID->cb, (LPENTRYID) lpItemEID->lpb, lpProgress ? (ULONG_PTR)m_hWnd : NULL, lpProgress, ulFlags)
File .\MsgStoreDlg.cpp
Line 973
Any idea how I might solve this (and thereby solve the annoying recurring reminders problem)?
Thanks!
You are using cached mode? The easiest way to fix it is to delete the ost file and let outlook rebuild it.
Other than that, I’m not sure why are are getting that error.
I also downloaded the MFCMAPI file to fix an error message ” Cannot turn off the remnder. You may be reminded again. Cannot locate recurrence information for this appointment” The outlook /cleanreminders method did not solve the issue.
I followed the “Delete Outlook Reminders Tutorial” and discovered that the MFCMAPI file that I downloaded is different than in the tutorial. I downloaded ver. 15.0.0.1030. The problem is that this version does not show “mailbox” after choosing “Outlook” as my profile, so I can’t even locate the root container that has reminders as a sub-folder.
I am running W7, 32 bit and wondering if anyone can get me to the reminders in MFCMAPI
What do you see? Only Exchange mailbox users will have “Mailbox” listed by name. Everyone else needs to right click on their default pst file, or on the pst file that has the corrupt reminder. (I updated the tutorial using the current MFCMapi build.)
Dianne,
I am running Outlook 2010 and have a reminder that I have deleted from the Calendar but each time I open Outlook up pops the reminder, which is now 4 weeks overdue. What ever means I use to close it up pops a box saying “Cannot turn off reminder. You may be reminded again. You must enter a positive duration.”
I have used outlook /cleanreminders and have tried using the MFCMAPI as stated above but where you say select your profile, the only profile available is outlook and when that is selected there is no reminders shown in the expanded root container. Where do I go from here? Thank you.
Use a List view (View ribbon, Change view) – can you find an appointment of the same name as the reminder? If so, use Shift+Delete or drag it to the deleted items folder.