We're seeing a rash of errors with the To-Do Bar lately. This following message appears at the bottom, where the Task List is:
"The operation failed. An object could not be found."
Also, in the To-Do List in the Tasks module, the error message is
"Cannot display the folder."
Depending on the cause, it may be easily fixed by closing Outlook and reopening it using the /resettodobar switch then restart Outlook.
When it's caused by a corrupted profile (often due to using Easy Transfer or copying and pasting a *.pst file over the current *.pst file), check for duplicate *.pst files in your profile and delete the extras. If this doesn't help, you'll need to make a new profile.
How to use the /resettodobar switch
Close Outlook. At the Start search field on Vista or Windows7 Start menu or in the Start menu, Run command (Windows key + R), type
outlook.exe /resettodobar
Then press Enter (or OK) to restart Outlook.
Note: Make sure there is a space between the words.
Delete duplicate *.pst files
Close Outlook
Go to Control Panel, Mail, Data Files. This will open the Account settings dialog to the Data Files tab. (Search for Mail after opening the Control panel, if its not visible).
Do you have 2 identical *.pst files listed? If so, select one of them and click Remove then re-open Outlook.
Tip: While this procedure will not delete your *.pst file from the hard drive, if you don't have a backup of your *.pst, now is a good time to make one. Before removing the duplicated listing, select the *.pst file and click the Open Folder Location button. This opens Windows Explorer to the location where the *.pst file is. Make a copy of the *.pst.
More Information
How to start Outlook in safe mode
Outlook’s Command Line Switches
Where Are My Files?
See Error Message: Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. if the error is "Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Unable to open the Outlook window"
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Last reviewed on Sep 12, 2011
Awesome!! Works like a charm. I had too many .pst files. Thanks again!
Thanks for the fix!
We’ve had this problem in our environment since migrating from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2010. The problem though, is that even after running Outlook with resettodobar, after the user closes outlook, the next time they open oulook, the problem comes back. So far the only thing that we can find that fixes the issue is to create a PST backup of their mailbox, delete the mailbox, then create a new mailbox and import the PST. However, this can cause other problems with other users due to Exchange caching email addresses. Also, an upgrade to Outlook 2010 fixes the problem.
There has to be a more permanent fix for this than the resettodobar fix. Hard deleting the ToDo and Reminders using MFCMAPI also often results in a short term fix with the problem coming back next run of Outlook.
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