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Outlook Hangs at Startup

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› Outlook › Outlook Hangs at Startup

Last reviewed on February 16, 2017     9 Comments

If you are using Outlook 2016 and it hangs at startup, try setting Outlook to always run maximized. To do this, Ctrl+Shift+right-click on the icon you use to start Outlook and choose Properties. Select the Shortcut tab in the Properties dialog then select Maximized in the Run field. Click OK to save and close the dialog.

start maximized

If problems continue or you are using another version of Outlook, the first troubleshooting step is to start Outlook in Safe mode. To start Outlook in safe mode, first close Outlook then hold Ctrl as you click on the Outlook icon to restart it. You'll get a message asking if you want to start in Safe mode. Click Ok. If it starts up OK, the problem is a one of the files that Outlook loads on start up, most likely the navigation pane.

Safe mode dialog

Sometimes just loading Outlook in Safe mode fixes the problem, so try restarting it. If it fails again, restart Outlook using the /resetnavpane switch. To do this, press the Windows key + R to open the run command, then type or paste outlook.exe /resetnavpane in the Open field and click Ok. Warning: this will reset the navigation pane to the default. You will lose any customizations and will need to redo the panes.

use the resetnavpane switch

Outlook Hangs at Startup was last modified: February 16th, 2017 by Diane Poremsky

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  • Bug: Only one version of Outlook can run at a time

About Diane Poremsky

A Microsoft Outlook Most Valuable Professional (MVP) since 1999, Diane is the author of several books, including Outlook 2013 Absolute Beginners Book. She also created video training CDs and online training classes for Microsoft Outlook. You can find her helping people online in Outlook Forums as well as in the Microsoft Answers and TechNet forums.

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Gregory (@guest_220237)
April 25, 2023 5:41 am
#220237

Thank you so much Diane. Worked excellently.

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Guest400 (@guest_219098)
January 21, 2022 12:09 pm
#219098

Thank you for the advice. It worked with my office 2016 on Windows 11

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thanh (@guest_218506)
July 6, 2021 12:07 am
#218506

thanks zillion times for helping, I just use the first solution and it fixes the hangup, do not know the reason why change to maximised windows fixes the problem

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Eric (@guest_218444)
June 23, 2021 3:30 am
#218444

Finally my outlook works with this step by step guide! Phew! Thanks Diane

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Gary (@guest_218332)
June 3, 2021 8:45 am
#218332

The safe mode thing totally fixed the problem. Thanks!

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Jeff (@guest_217551)
February 10, 2021 9:59 am
#217551

Wow - why in the world would starting maximized fix the issue? That is certainly a weird bug. But thank you!

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Defin Nugraha (@guest_215363)
June 9, 2020 12:03 am
#215363

Big Thanks.

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0
Reply
Hugh Lovatt (@guest_214872)
March 5, 2020 7:13 am
#214872

Thanks, perfect answer and so simple must be a first.

0
0
Reply

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