One common troubleshooting method is to uninstall and reinstall Office or to repair the Office install. While uninstalling and reinstalling rarely fixes the problem (it will only help if the install is corrupt), reinstalling (without uninstalling Office first) will almost always have the same effect as uninstalling and reinstalling: it will either fix the problem or do nothing. Detect and Repair or Office Diagnostics won't fix many problems but also won't harm.
When you use Repair, under most circumstances, your profile and data files are not touched. However, we do recommend making a copy of your *.pst file, just to be safe (and because many users don't have a recent backup of their *.pst file).
The steps are basically the same for all versions:
- Close Outlook and any other open Office applications
- Open the Control panel or Settings
- Find Add or Remove Programs
- Select the Office installation (or Outlook, if using standalone Outlook)
- Click the Modify, Change or Repair button
- Select the desired repair option and complete the wizard
For the steps and screenshots specific to older versions of Outlook, see:
Outlook 2010, Outlook 2007, Outlook 2003
Office 2013 & Office 2016
Use the Repair process in the Control Panel's Programs and Features or Windows 10 Settings. You can open it by typing Add or Remove Programs on the Start screen or in Search. In Windows 10, open the Control Panel then find Programs and Features or Add or Remove Programs.
Quick Repair will check files and replace missing or potentially corrupt files.
Online Repair is essentially an uninstall and reinstall. User settings and files won't be affected or lost when using Online Repair but activation may be lost. If you do not have the installation tied to a Microsoft account, you'll need to have your key code handy.
Ramesh says
Did you know Diane - you're one of the greatest!
Keenan says
Hi Diane - I'm running Mac OS 13.2 on a 2015 MBP. All of the the latest updates are in order.
Last week Outlook 2016 for Mac (v16.9) suddenly became unresponsive after downloading a series of new emails.
Restarting didn't resolve the issue and it persists when rebooting in safe mode. I created a new Test Profile, and the application appears to work fine.
Is there a way to repair the database in 2016? Would re-installing Office work?
Diane Poremsky says
Outlook should offer to rebuild or repair it... but if not, instructions are here https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Rebuild-the-Office-database-C21643BE-0F0D-4997-9EC1-8044080054B0
Keenan says
Thank you, the article states that 2016 doesn't allow you to rebuild the database and that I should contact MS support. Does this sound like a database issue or possibly something else?
Diane Poremsky says
Outlook for mac repair cant be started by the user; if outlook detects an issue, it tries to repair.
Is it a local storage file or for an Exchange or imap account? If exchange or imap, its usually better just to make a new one. (You may need to delete the account and add it back.)
If its a local storage file, do you have a backup in time machine? if not, you can try support, but I'm not sure what they can do.
Joan says
I was getting the "Outlook has stopped working message" upon opening Outlook 2013 as the send/receive completed. This just started suddenly. I tried the quick repair, but no change. Then I tried the on-line repair. It asked me to sign up for an account (or something to that effect), but I bypassed that message, which it allowed me to do. Now when I open Outlook I get a message about Activating Office. Sometimes it lets me enter my email address and password, but then it says the email is not associated with this Office product. To activate this install please sign in with the account associate with your product.
Diane Poremsky says
I'm guessing you have a retail license, not a subscription... there should be a link to switch to a key code.
Barb says
We have just installed Office 2010 and although it says that Outlook installation is successful, none of our emails are there and we can't send or receive emails.
Diane Poremsky says
What type of email account do you use? If pop3, did you add your old pst file to the profile? Do you get any error messages?
Scott Shamblin says
in Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013, there is no QUICK REPAIR.
Diane Poremsky says
If the option is not available, you'll need to do the full repair.
Marjori says
I have followed these steps and it worked perfectly for me, try these steps
Jim Holt says
I may want to do the online repair of Outlook 2013 on my Server because Outlook starts, but freezes when I try to send/receive. I have about 15 accounts being processed. If I do the online repair, will all the accounts be affected? How can I repair Outlook without losing any of the accounts?
Diane Poremsky says
Online repair won't affect your accounts - do not use the utility available from microsoft that will scrub office from the computer - it will delete the profile, templates - everything.
Did outlook ever work? Did you delete the SRS file for your profile? https://www.slipstick.com/problems/outlook-crashes-send-receive/
Kristine Emborgo says
Im currently using office 365, i encountered some issues with my Macbook pro and I reset it to factory setting but before I did that, here's the process that I have done:
1. Uninstalled Microsoft Office from my MacBook Pro.
2. Run Time Machine one more time to create a new, completely up-to-date backup.
3. Restored my laptop's factory settings as planned.
4. Connectted my backup device and restored the data from that latest Time Machine backup.
5. Reinstalled Microsoft Office to my newly restored device.
6. Test it out to make sure I can open and log in to my account.
Afterwards, I was able to open my outlook in office 365 but I wonder I can No longer see my old mails and folders in the mail box. Im so worried cause I didn't archive my mails in the outlook cause I've read from some articles that uninstalling Outlook (within Office 365) will only uninstall the software, not the content. Equally, you will not lose any of your Word documents, or Excel spreadsheets by uninstalling Office. It is merely a temporary removal of the applications Word, Excel, Outlook and the rest. The content stays where it is.
So please help how I can restore my old mails and folders in the mailbox?
Appreciate if anyone could support me.
Thank you
Kristine
Diane Poremsky says
It's a little different for the mac, especially for Outlook profiles. The data file isn't picked up like it is with the windows version. Outlook 2016 for Mac uses a SQLite database in the /Users/username/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles folder. This file is tied to the account in the profile - you can recover it from time machine to use in the profile that created it. You can try renaming it to replace the datafile created by the new account but the best way to to export to an olm file before restoring the computer.
Nick says
Is there a service that you can recommend that provides remote service to remotely repair Outlook 2007 account,s profile and files?
Diane Poremsky says
I do remote assistance - my calendar is at https://www.meetme.so/slipstick - but I'm out of town on business until the 15th.
Mark Jasen says
Is there any way to move an older hard drive that had Office 2013 on it to a new computer and have the new computer recognize the Office instance on the new (old) hard drive?
Diane Poremsky says
You can swap out drives if they are the same type (IDE, SATA etc) but it's usually easier just to reinstall the software on the new drive - you'd need reboot multiple times and install all drivers then hope it wasn't buggy.
Libbie says
I uninstalled and reinstalled Office 365 but it didn't cause Outlook to open. What's the next "fix"? I'm thinking perhaps my pst file is too large -- it's over 1 million K.
Diane Poremsky says
Do you get any error messages? I don't think its the pst size - outlook supports 50GB pst files. If your pst is that big, then yeah, it might be the cause.
Charles David says
I installed Office 2016 while I still had Office 2010 on the system. I took off Office 2010 before I had opened Outlook. I just do not like the feel. As I tried to go back to reinstall 2010, it goes through several minutes, looks like it is working and them gives me the encountered errors. Don't say what. Cleaned the registry and took off Office 2016, still does not work. Any suggestions?
Diane Poremsky says
did you use the file at https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Uninstall-Office-2016-Office-2013-or-Office-365-from-a-PC-9dd49b83-264a-477a-8fcc-2fdf5dbf61d8 to remove office? (It's option 2) It will remove the outlook profile and scrub all office keys from the registry and program files from the hard drive.
Charles David says
I tried the link and it takes off 2016 but I still get the error about 85% through the installation of 2013. I have two disks for the 2013 plus a download and valid key codes. Still does not let me install 2013 again.
Diane Poremsky says
Nothing informative in the error, just encountered an error? There should be an install log in the Windows Temp folder. See it if has any clues.
Charles David says
One more thing. I reinstalled 2016 and my outlook messages and profiles were still available in Office 2016 so it did not take everything off.
Diane Poremsky says
That fixit should have scrubbed the profiles. did you have an older version of outlook previously installed? 2016 might have found that profile- it's stored in a different location in the registry. (2013/2016 store the profile under the Outlook folder, which gets deleted by the clean script.)
viviana says
HI Diane - Does this help address an issue like the following? I am running Office with outlook 2010. I purchased Office 365 with Office 2016 and installed it. It looks like all programs updated, but now I've both Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2016. It's so weird to me that it wouldn't detect an existing Outlook version and just update it. But now I'm petrified that if I do anything I'll loose all the data in my Outlook 2010. Any suggestions? TIA!
Diane Poremsky says
You shouldn't lose your Outlook profile, data, or settings. The first time you run outlook 2016, it should migrate the accounts and settings over.
Office 2013 or 2016 won't remove 2010 or older versions automatically as you can now have two Outlook's installed (if one is 2010 or older). you'll need to uninstall it yourself in Programs and Features or at least delete the shortcuts so you can't accidently use it. If you accidently opened the older office apps, you should repair office 2016 install to fix file associations.
Glenn says
Great fix - I have Outlook 2016 and Windows 10 Pro, 32 bit - ran both and Online Repair fixed Outlook hanging in Processing screen on launch...Thank you!!!!
Perplexed says
I upgraded to Windows 10 last week. First, MS Word 2013 kept crashing so I ran the quick repair on MS Office and then the reinstall, which seemed to fix it. Now my Outlook keeps crashing!! I just reinstalled again. What do you recommend?
Diane Poremsky says
does it crash if you start in Safe mode? To open Outlook in Safe mode: Close Outlook then hold Ctrl as you click on the Outlook icon. You'll get a message asking if you want to start in Safe mode. Click Ok.
Michael says
I'm using Outlook 2016 on my desk top and recently I lost all incoming mail display but I'm able to write and email and send. Also, the email folders I use have have disappeared from the left side of my layout.
BUT, my laptop, tablet all using the same Outlook 2016 are working OK.
Please help
Diane Poremsky says
Sorry I missed this early. :(
Does Alt+F1 ring the missing folders back?
https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/outlooks-navigation-pane-disappears/
Jim says
My internet service provider was bought out by another firm. The new firm installed all new equipment on the towers. My original email account was set up as an IMAP account. The new equipment would not work with an IMAP account - it required a POP3 account. Under change account settings in Outlook 16 - I could not change the account type - the selection window was frozen. Subsequently I created a new email address set up as a POP3 account - the new account works fine. To clean up my Inbox in Outlook 2016 I wanted to deleted the old email address - when I attempt this the message appears " Careful if you remove this account the offline cache content will be deleted" - I don't understand this message - will any of my emails in folders in Outlook 2016 be deleted?
Diane Poremsky says
sorry i missed the question earlier - I'm trying to get caught up after taking a vacation. :(
If you delete an imap account, the data file containing the email on the old server will be deleted. you need to export the mail in the imap account to a pst before removing the account if you want to keep that old mail.
Simon says
New to MS Office 2016 and intimidated by all the building blocks in Word that made my autotexts difficult to find, I manually deleted them. I now regret doing this. What is the easiest way to get them back without losing my file locations, VBA scripts and macros and autotexts?
Diane Poremsky says
Repair should bring them back... i'd back up the normal template as insurance though. Or, if you have a second install, find the building block template and copy it over. The predefined built-in building blocks entries that ship with Word are stored in a template named Built-in Building Blocks.dotx. The template is located under the folder where word is installed - here it's at C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\Document Parts\1033\16 (i can upload it later tonight.)
Judy says
My laptop received a Windows 10 update today and now Outlook will not launch. It just says Processing with the Outlook icon on the screen. It will not load. I ran Repair and that did not help. Any suggestions?
Diane Poremsky says
What version of Outlook? Try making a new profile. if you have a lot of accounts, there are other things you can try, but for most people a new profile will help.
Shawn Skellon says
Hi I am running Microsoft outlook 2007 and have had what looks like a corruptive file issue in .pst file.
When I follow the instructions outlook doesn't seem to exist and won't open.
If I uninstall Office and reinstall will that solve the .pst file issue or is this something more problematic?
Diane Poremsky says
Uninstalling/reinstalling should fix it if the problem is with the installation.
Any error messages on the pst? Did you try using scanpst?
denise says
Bonjour / Hello
New problem! With Office2016 (Outlook), no one can "see" my messages. They have to click on "answer / respond" or transfer" to see the initial message I sent.
Mystery! I work with MAC OSX Yosemite. Any hints would be much appreciated.
Merci / thanks!
Diane Poremsky says
What email account do you use? This sounds like an old problem where mail sent from a mac using certain mail servers didn't display until the recipient hit Reply. It was an issue with certain imap mail servers.
Luc says
Hi, I'm using Outlook 2013 in french so I dont' know the exact terms about the folders. We use an Exchange server and my PC is on Win7. In the folder "Search folders" is a "Unreaded mails" folder. It show an incorrect number of unreaded mails, as some unreaded mails in certain folders are not shown here. I cheched the properties, I made a new profile, new .ost... It worked well few days and again the problem appears.
Ann Y. says
can i cancel my office 2016 online repair as it is taking forever. How long does it normally take? if i cancel, is it possible to reinstall the program since my license is only for 1 device.
Diane Poremsky says
Online repair is an uninstall then reinstall - so yes, you can cancel it then reinstall. It should take about as long to online repair as it did to install it - definitely not 'forever' or even more than a couple of hours unless you have dial-up internet.
Christoph says
Hi Diane,
I have a general question about the Office Repair function:
What's about Hotfixes and Updates - are they all considered with the Repair?
Can you describe in an example what exactly happens with a corrupt file which became a Hotfixe since the original installation?
BR,
Christoph
Diane Poremsky says
In click to run, when you use online repair, it uninstalls office and re-installs using a fresh download. Click to run installation files are always up-to-date. On MSI installations, the repair gets the files from the local install cache. This should be updated as you install cumulative updates but may not have the most recent hotfixes. (After a hotfix is released, it's usually built into a cumulative update.)
Christoph says
Hi Diane,
I have a general question to the Repair function in Office 2003/2010/2013:
Are Hotfixes and Updates lost if I do a Repair (and so I have to reinstall them all again somehow or are they considered and I'm fine after a successful repair)?
BR, Christoph
Diane Poremsky says
The full Online Repair in Office 2013/2016 is a reinstall. All updates are built into the image that gets reinstalled. Hotfixes won't be until they are included in a update. The quick repair checks and replaces files, it's not a full reinstall.
Mompati Tshukudu says
Guys help me repair corrupted ms office files (documents)
Diane Poremsky says
Which version of Office? Did the problem just start?
Richard says
My word 2016 crashes when I try to cut and paste
Diane Poremsky says
Did the problem recently start? If so, it's a bug. It appears to affect the Keep Source Formatting option as the other options, including the Ctrl + V keyboard shortcut will usually paste the image fine.
David says
Diane,
Thanks for this article and for still responding to comments. Perhaps I can entice you to offer your insights with my situation.
First, I'm running Outlook 2007 on 64-bit Windows 7, and I am not connected to an Exchange Server. I'm simply a home-based user not on a network (well, at least as far as Outlook is concerned).
Now, I realize that my version of Outlook (2007) is somewhat dated...to say the least. But I am so used to Outlook 2007, and I just think that newer versions of Outlook really provide nothing of substantial value (well, except perhaps stability) so I have no desire to upgrade. However, I'm open to opinions from others who know more than I.
Anyway, I've made multiple attempts to "Repair" Outlook, all without success. I've tried running it from local drives (a full copy of the original Outlook 2007 disk was on these drives), both of which are USB-connected. I've also tried multiple times from a CD player.
The messages from the installer varied, from being unable to find a particular file (even though I could see it fine through a separate Explorer window) to how it can't find the Product Key. (My Outlook 2007 disk IS original and is properly activated.
So, I am making no progress in getting Outlook 2007 to repair itself, all the while it continues to crash and lock up.
Any insights and help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Diane Poremsky says
>>Now, I realize that my version of Outlook (2007) is somewhat dated...to say the least.
>>I just think that newer versions of Outlook really provide nothing of substantial value
Correct, it's old but not that old yet and while there are some neat features in the new versions, you may not need them as a single user. My usual recommendation is to only upgrade with a new new computer.
What file does it say is missing? can you repro the crashes?
Richard says
Thanks for your help. Perfect fix
Walter Green says
I have 2 problems with outlook 2010. All attempts to send emails returns and error 452 4.7.1, This occurs now after my email was hijacked & used to send phishing messages. Also hyperlinks have not worked for 3 months. Any solutions?
Thank you
Diane Poremsky says
What OS? If Windows 10, see https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/links-wont-open-in-windows-10/ for the links problem.
Did you change your password after the account was hijacked? What antivirus/security software do you use?
Suresh Jaswaney says
I HAD UNINSTALLED OFFICE 365 BUT I LOST MY OUTLOOK ALSO THAT CAME WITH WINDOWS 8.1
Diane Poremsky says
Outlook doesn't come with Windows, it is only included with an Office suite. Windows includes the Mail app. Uninstalling Office would not remove the Mail app.
RLS NYC says
How long should the in-depth repair take? After some automatic update, my outlook won't load and open. The other parts of the office suite seem to be working fine. I ran the quick repair, still couldn't open outlook. IT's been about 3 hours now since I started the on-line repair. I'm on 5g internet and I know it's on and working. When I try to close it and restart, I'm getting a message to wait for it to finish. Any ideas on how to fix this?
Diane Poremsky says
Definitely not that long - at most, 2x as long as the initial install. No dialogs in the background waiting for input? I'd probably force it closed and reboot - most likely, will need to just reinstall office.
brian says
i have office 365 outlook 2016 i cant log into my outlook 2016 tried safe mode and it says repair .i tried quick repair i tried online repair i uninstalled and reinstalled still will not start even in safe mode. Help please
T. Cohen says
I have Office 365 and clicked quick repair. It did nothing to fix the problem (which at the time was not not being able to enter a return address in the Word's mailing feature). So I tried online repair. After a minute it said it could not complete the repair because my version of Visio 2010 (which I had no problem with) was not 64 bit and like the Office 365 products. I then found out it had hidden or possibly removed all of Office 365! Word files are opening in Notepad. Outlook is gone. What do I do now? PLEASE HELP!!
Diane Poremsky says
You need to reinstall office 365 - the online repair basically uninstalls and reinstalls. If it won't install with Visio installed, uninstall Visio then reinstall office, then reinstall Visio. As long as you don't use the fix from Microsoft that completely removes office, your settings won't disappear.
Liz Schneider says
Repair did not help, not sure what the problem is. Due to disabling of old Win Vista/Office 2007 computer, had to purchase new computer with Win 7.1/Office 2016. I have access to old hard drive. Copied outlook.pst from appdata on old hard drive to new computer but cannot get Outlook 2016 to use that file as default, Tried making new profile but the "use this old file" spot does not allow browse to folder with my existing outlook file (13gb of years of messaging, cannot lose it). Ideas?? Help!
Laura Wagner says
Hello! I just loaded MS Outlook 2016 and migrated all data from old Mac. The search doesn't seem to be working. I can't look up emails and people i know for sure have received emails from me or to whom i have sent emails. Any idea of a fix or do i need to start over?
Stephen Childe says
No updates needed. I think it may be having trouble connecting to a license server somewhere. When it asks me to Activate Office there is an option to Enter Product Key Instead of logging in , it says Hold On, it will take a few moments to prepare Office for me. But that fails. I don't have a Microsoft account or login, AFAIK, just a product key in the purchase document. Very frustrating because it worked fine when the Support person was on line and not just before or since. Although it worked from August to the end of September.
Diane Poremsky says
It could be blocked by a firewall - or, if it's just happening the last 3 days, it's a problem with license server.
Paul Meshanko says
I am having a problem with Office 2010 (specifically Outlook) now that I've upgraded to to Windows 10. Ever since I changed my email (Microsoft exchange account) password recently, my inbox is completely empty on this machine and I get a send/receive error. My gmail accoun works fine, but not the primary account. Any suggestions?
Diane Poremsky says
does it bring up the login dialog? Try deleting the email account's credentials in Control panel, Credential manager.
Stephen Childe says
I have Office 2013 Professional Plus bought under Home-use program, with Win10. Worked fine for weeks, but now it asks me to Activate Office when I try to use Powerpoint, Excel and Word 2013 . I cannot, it won't let me enter my product key. I spent some time with MS support taking control of my PC remotely, it worked fine when when she was on line, and for the rest of yesterday. It doesn't work today. Any ideas what is wrong? Not sure if this needs repair as it is sometimes working? Many thanks
Diane Poremsky says
Was this after a reboot? Are updates waiting to be installed? Right click on the shortcut to load one of the office apps and choose run as administrator - try activating it that way.
Was it asking for the key? Normally it just needs to talk to the server and uses the key you entered when you installed.
scott willoughby says
just tried running repair and it did not complete successfully. trying again
Diane Poremsky says
Did it work? if not, any error messages?
scott willoughby says
When creating a new email, I click the To: button and there are no contacts available, even though I have over 600. It shows blanks on all the pull down menus. How do i get outlook 2007 to recognize my address book
Diane Poremsky says
Is More Columns selected under the search field?
See https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/contacts/contacts-are-missing-when-you-click-the-to-button/ for screenshots and other possible causes.
Mike Kozlik says
I have had serious issues with Outlook 2013 for about three weeks now and cannot seem to get it fixed (even after hours and hours on line with MS-Helpdesk personnel.
I want to uninstall just Outlook 2013 then reinstall it but it doesn't show on the list of programs.
How can I do this?"
Diane Poremsky says
You'll need to uninstall all of Office and reinstall it - Online Repair is essentially the same.
Fernand Olendé says
I can't use my outlook because of Microsoft exchanger and server can you help me?.
Diane Poremsky says
I'm not sure I understand the problem but if it says it can't find the Exchange server and you aren't using exchange, go to control panel and find Mail. Edit the profile - remove the account and add it back, choosing the correct account type.
user1 says
well...after doing this I cannot access outlook account setting any more, it says upgrade in progress nothing else can be click...
Diane Poremsky says
Which version of Office? Can you make a new profile in Control panel, mail?
the red head says
I can't remember my old Microsoft acct and password.. And I can't remember my Outlook user name or password...And when I try to type those letters and words I can't make them darker. I tried to do it by voices, but that didn't work either...Thank you if someone can please help me...
Diane Poremsky says
Unfortunately, there is no way for Microsoft to look it your Microsoft account (aka passport or LiveID) without knowing the email address that you used. Outlook.com user name will be the Microsoft account, Outlook desktop username will be the email address from your provider.
Pavel says
Thenk You! Now I lost all my mails!
Diane Poremsky says
They should still be there - repair doesn't touch personal data. Which version of Outlook and what type of email account do you use?