9 Ways to Fix Microsoft Outlook Crashing on Windows

Are you tired of Outlook crashing and losing your important emails? Don’t worry, you are not alone.

Many people face this frustrating problem, but the good news is that solutions do exist!

In this blog , we’ll explore some common reasons why Outlook crashes, such as incompatible or faulty add-ins, hardware acceleration problems, and conflicts with other programs.

We’ll also provide easy steps to fix these problems and prevent Outlook from crashing in the future.

With our help, you’ll be back at work in no time, without the fear of losing your valuable data.

How do I fix Outlook from crashing?

Follow the below-mentioned steps to conduct a diagnostics check for crash issues, assess the PST file, and address corrupted emails to fix Outlook from crashing and secure your data in various email corruption scenarios.

Restart your computer

Sometimes, other programs on your computer can cause problems with Outlook and cause it to crash.

To check if this is the problem, restart your computer and then reopen Outlook to see if it works properly.

If the problem persists even after restarting, don’t worry. Below are eight additional troubleshooting steps.

Start Outlook in Safe mode

Outlook can experience various problems due to incompatible or faulty add-ins. To determine if an add-in is causing the problem, you can run Outlook in Safe Mode, which disables all add-ins and runs Outlook with limited features.

Here are the steps to start Outlook in safe mode:

• First, if Outlook is running, close it.

• Next, press ‘Windows + R’, type ‘Outlook.exe /safe’ and press the ‘Enter’ key.

• After that, select your profile to start Outlook in Safe Mode.

• Next, navigate to the ‘File’ menu, select ‘Options’, and then choose the ‘Add-ins’ section.

• Once there, click the ‘Go.’ button next to the ‘Manage COM Add-ins’ option.

• To disable all add-ins, uncheck them and click ‘OK’.

• Finally, close Outlook and start it normally.

If Outlook does not close, it means one or more add-ins are causing the Outlook 365 to close.

For removing add-ins from Outlook follow the next step.

Remove conflicting add-ins

Having too many add-ins may cause conflicts with each other and the Outlook application.

It is recommended to keep the number of add-ins as low as possible.

To detect a problematic add-in that may be causing Outlook corruption, including connectivity issues and sign-in issues, you can disable all the add-ins at once using your email address to perform a diagnostic check.

Then, enable them one by one to identify the common issue, which will assist in the repair of emails.

Use the following steps to detect and remove a problematic add-in:

• Firstly open Outlook and go to the File tab.

• Then go to the Options menu from the left panel.

• Go to the Add-ins and scroll down to the bottom. In the ‘manage’ option, select COM Add-ins and Click Go as shown in the below image.

• Unmark all the check boxes in the COM Add-ins window and click OK.

• Finally restart Outlook and see if the problem persists.

• Now keep enabling add-ins one by one from the same menu. If enabling an add-in crashes Outlook, leave it disabled or remove it.

Rebuild Outlook data files

Instead of changing the current Outlook data file, we recommend that you rebuild it.

Use the following steps to rebuild Outlook data files:

• Firstly open the Outlook app on your device and go to the File tab.

• Go to Account Settings > Account settings… as shown in the below image.

• Now select an account then select Open file location.

• Subsequently the file location will open in the file explorer. Rename the data file to change its extension to .old.

• Finally reopen the Outlook and it will create a new data file by itself.

Disable hardware acceleration

Hardware acceleration is a feature that allows Outlook to use your computer’s graphics card to render images and graphics.

This can improve performance, especially on older computers with slower CPUs.

However, hardware acceleration can also cause problems, such as Outlook crashing or freezing.

Here are the steps mentioned below to disable hardware acceleration in Outlook:

• Firstly, open Outlook.

• Secondly, click on the File tab and then go to Options.

• Thirdly, click on the Advanced tab.

• Then, in the Display section, uncheck the Disable hardware graphics acceleration check box.

• Finally, click OK.

After completing these steps, reopen the Outlook app and see if it still has problems.

Also Check: How to fix Microsoft outlook cannot send this item ?

Run Microsoft Office repair tool

Here are the steps to run Microsoft Office Repair Tool:

• Firstly, close all Office applications.

• Then, open Control Panel.

• In the Control Panel, select the ‘Programs’ option, followed by ‘Programs and Features’.

• Next, in the list of programs, right-click the Microsoft Office product you want to repair and select Replace.

• Then, in the Microsoft Office Setup dialog box, choose the Quick Repair or Online repair and click Repair.

• Finally, follow the instructions in the wizard to complete the repair process.

Here are the details of the two repair options:

• Quick Repair: This option repairs any corrupted or missing Office files. This is the fastest repair option, but it may not fix all problems.

• Online Repair: This option downloads and installs a fresh copy of the Office files from Microsoft. This is the most comprehensive repair option, but it can take longer to complete.

Reinstall Office 365

If you have installed Office from a corrupt installation file downloaded from a third-party website, you should reinstall MS Office or Outlook from the official website.

Use the following steps to reinstall Outlook from Office 365:

• Firstly go to Office.com and sign in to your account with the account you have purchased Office365.

• After logging in. click on Install office.

• If you haven’t purchased Office 365 with an email account, select I have a product key and follow the on-screen instructions to download office 365.

• After reinstalling Microsoft 365, log in to Outlook and check if the issue has been resolved.

If the problem still persists, we recommend creating a new Outlook profile. To do so, follow the steps mentioned below:

Create a new Outlook profile

Follow the below mentioned steps to create a new Outlook profile.

• Firstly open the Control panel.

• Make sure that Category view is enabled and click User Accounts as shown in the below image.

• Subsequently click on Mail.

• A new window will open, click Show Profiles.

• Select the Outlook profile then click the Remove button to remove that profile.

• Subsequently click Add and Type the profile name for new profile in the text box and click Ok.

• Follow the on screen instructions afterwards to set up the new profile.

Also check: How to set reminders in Outlook ?

Contact Support (Run SaRA Advanced diagnostics)

If none of the above methods works for you, you will have to contact customer support.

But before that, you should use SaRA (Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant), accessible through the File option, to report problems along with details of your Outlook configuration.

This diagnostic tool helps identify issues related to outdated versions, trial versions, and ID verification, and initiates the recovery process for bad sectors and disk crashes.

Here are the steps on how to run the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant:

• Go to Microsoft’s website and download the Support and Recovery Assistant.

• Click on the Download button.

• When the download is complete, run the SaraSetup.exe file.

• Follow the instructions in the wizard to install the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant.

• Once the installation is complete, open the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant.

• Click on the Start button to run the diagnostics.

• The Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant will run a series of tests to identify any problems with your computer.

• Select the issue you are facing and click on the Next button.

• The Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant suggest solutions for that problem.

You can follow the suggestions or contact Microsoft Support for assistance.

Also Check: How to fix Outlook not responding ?

How to fix Outlook app crashing on mobile?

The most effective way to fix the Outlook app crashing on iPhone and Android is to reinstall the app.

Press and hold the app icon, then tap the cross ‘x’ icon or ‘uninstall’ option to uninstall the app.

Next, install the app from the App Store on iPhone or the Play Store on Android.

If this doesn’t solve the problem, try closing apps running in the background to free up memory and reduce load on the processor.

You can also try uninstalling unnecessary apps.

How to recover draft Email when Outlook Crashes ?

Here are some ways to recover draft and permanently deleted emails when Outlook crashes:

Check the Deleted Items folder: Sometimes, when Outlook crashes, it may move draft emails to the Deleted Items folder. In order to check this, open the Deleted Items folder and view the draft email. If you find it, you can restore it by right-clicking on it and selecting “Restore”.

Use the Recover Deleted Items feature: If you don’t find a draft email in the Deleted Items folder, you can use the Recover Deleted Items feature to find it. To do this, go to File > Open and Export > Recover Deleted Items.

In the Recover Deleted Items dialog box, select the folder that contains the draft email and click OK.

Outlook will search for the draft email and display it in the Recovered Items folder. After that, you can restore the draft email by right-clicking on it and selecting “Restore”.

Use third-party recovery tools: If you are unable to recover draft emails using the above methods, you can try using third-party recovery tools. There are many different recovery tools available, so you can choose the one that best suits your needs.

Here, we have mentioned a few of the many third-party apps that are available for recovering draft emails in Outlook.

Stellar Repair for Outlook

This app is a popular choice for recovering lost or deleted Outlook data. It can recover draft emails, as well as other Outlook items, such as messages, contacts, and calendars.

DataNumen Outlook Repair

This app is a powerful tool to recover lost or deleted Outlook data. It can recover draft emails, as well as other Outlook items, such as messages, contacts, and calendars.

Outlook PST Recovery

This app is a simple and easy-to-use tool to recover lost or deleted Outlook data. It can recover draft emails, as well as other Outlook items, such as messages, contacts, and calendars.

Here are some tips to help you avoid losing draft email message in the future:

• Save your draft emails regularly: This will help reduce the risk of losing them if Outlook crashes.

• Use the Auto-save feature: The Auto-save feature will automatically save your draft emails at regular intervals. This can help protect your draft emails in case Outlook crashes unexpectedly.

• Back up your Outlook data regularly: This will create a copy of your Outlook data, including your draft emails. If you lose your draft emails, you can restore them from a backup.

Why does Outlook keep crashing?

There can be several reasons behind Outlook crashing. Some of them are mentioned below:

Corrupt Outlook profile

To use Outlook, you need to create a profile. However, things like invalid login attempts, faulty add-ons, and sudden system shutdowns can damage the Outlook profile.

Creating a new profile can replace a damaged Outlook profile and fix the problem.

Conflicting add-ins

When add-ins’ processes clash, it can cause Outlook to crash. This can also happen when there is incompatibility between the default processes of operations and those of the add-ins.

Conflicting operations can cause Outlook to crash repeatedly while performing certain tasks, such as starting up or printing in Windows 7 for Outlook 2013, or printing for Outlook 2016.

To detect conflicting add-ins, you can try disabling all add-ins and then enabling them one by one.

Damaged or corrupt data files

Outlook data files can get damaged or corrupted when they are very large. Third-party applications and add-ins can also change data files and cause them to get corrupted.

Luckily, if the current data file is damaged, you can create a new Outlook data file.

Corrupt Outlook installation files

Corrupt installation files can cause Outlook to crash randomly. Instead of downloading Outlook or other Microsoft apps from third-party websites, it is better to download them from the official website.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Outlook crashing can be a frustrating problem, but solutions are available.

By following the steps outlined in this blog post, you can identify and fix common problems that can cause Outlook to crash, such as incompatible or faulty add-ins, hardware acceleration problems, and conflicts with other programs.

By taking these steps, you can prevent Outlook from crashing in the future and ensure that your valuable data is safe.

Remember to always keep your software up to date and back up your data regularly to avoid losing important information.

We hope this blog post was helpful in solving your Outlook crashing problem!

Reference:

Frequently Asked Question’s (FAQ’s)