Outlook Crashing [Solved!]

Outlook crashing is a significant problem as the whole work might go in vain in an instant.

If your Outlook keeps crashing or crashes frequently, there can be multiple reasons behind it. However, we are sure that we can help you fix this crashing issue with this article.

Make sure to read the article till the end. You can use the following quick links to jump to a specific section.

Before moving to the troubleshooting methods, we must first understand why Outlook crashes to find efficient solutions.

Why does Outlook keep crashing?

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

Corruption of Outlook profile

You must create an Outlook profile to use it. However, invalid login attempts, faulty add-ons, sudden system shutdowns, etc. can corrupt the Outlook profile.

A new profile can replace a corrupt Outlook profile and fix the issue.

Conflicting add-ins

Clashing of add-ins’ processes can crash the Outlook. The incompatibility might also happen with the default processes of operations and that of add-ins.

Conflicting operations will lead to Outlook crashing again and again while performing certain tasks. Such as Outlook 2013 crashing on startup or printing in Windows 7 and Outlook 2016 crashing on printing.

Disabling all add-ins and enabling them one by one can help detect conflicting add-ins.

Damaged or corrupted data files

Outlook data files are prone to damage and corruption when they are of large size. Third-party applications and add-ins can also alter data files causing them to get corrupted.

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

Corrupted Outlook installation files

Corrupt installation files can lead to random crashes on Outlook.

Rather than downloading Outlook or other Microsoft apps from third-party websites, download them from the official website.

How do I fix Outlook from crashing?

Use the following methods to fix the crashing issues in Outlook:

Remove conflicting add-ins

Too many add-ins may conflict with each other and the Outlook application. Keep the number of add-ins as low as possible.

To detect a problematic add-in, disable all the add-ins at once and enable them one by one.

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

1. Firstly open Outlook and go to the File tab.
   
   
   
2. Then go to the Options menu from the left panel.
   
   
   
3. 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.
   
   
   
4. Unmark all the checkboxes in the COM Add-ins window and click Ok.
   
   
   
5. Finally restart Outlook and see if the problem persists.
   
   
6. 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.

Repair Outlook or the whole office suite

You can repair Outlook or the whole office suite from the control panel.

We have already covered how to repair Outlook in our previous article, Outlook not responding.

Create a new Outlook profile

Creating a new Outlook profile will fix corrupt Outlook profiles.

There is no way to affirm that Outlook is crashing due to a corrupt Outlook profile. So, we recommend you to create a new Outlook profile.

Use the following steps to create a new Outlook profile:

1. Firstly open the Control panel.
   
   
2. Make sure that Category view is enabled and click User Accounts as shown in the below image.
   
   
   
3. Subsequently click on Mail.
   
   
   
4. A new window will open, click Show Profiles.
   
   
   
5. Select the Outlook profile then click the Remove button to remove that profile.
   
   
   
6. Subsequently click Add and Type the profile name for new profile in the text box and click Ok.
   
   
   
7. Follow the on screen instructions afterwards to set up the new profile.

Rebuild Outlook data files

Rather than altering the current Outlook data file, we suggest you to rebuild the Outlook data file.

Use the following steps to rebuild Outlook data files:

1. Firstly open the Outlook app on your laptop or desktop and go to the File tab.
   
   
   
2. Go to Account Settings > Account settings… as shown in the below image.
   
   
   
3. Now click to select an account then select Open file location.
   
   
   
4. Subsequently the file location will open in the file explorer. Rename the data file to change its extension to .old.
   
   
   
5. Finally reopen the Outlook and it will create a new data file by itself.

Reinstall Office 365

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

Use the following steps to reinstall Outlook from Office 365:

1. Firstly go to Office.com and sign in to your account with the account you have purchased Office365.
   
   
   
2. After logging in. click on Install office and select Outlook.
   
   
   
3. 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 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). It is a diagnostic tool used to report problems along with details of Outlook configuration.

Use the following steps to use SaRa diagnostic tool:

1. Firstly open SaRA (Support and Recovery Assistant), select Advanced Diagnostics and click Next.
2. Select Outlook and click Next.
3. Afterwards select whether it is the affected machine and click next.
4. Then it will start the scan.
5. Once the scan is finished it will report all the issues that you can fix using the on-screen instructions.
6. If you are unable to fix anyone of them, note down the error code(s) and tell them to the customer support.
   

How to fix Outlook app crashing on mobile?

The foremost and most efficient way to fix Outlook app crashing is to re-install the Outlook app on iPhone and Android.

Press and hold the app icon and tap the cross ‘x’ icon or ‘uninstall’ option to uninstall the app.
Now install the app from the App store on iPhone and Play store on Android mobile.

If this doesn’t solve the problem, remove the apps running in the background to free up memory and load on the processor. You can also try uninstalling unnecessary apps.

Conclusion

The Outlook may be crashing for various reasons we attempted to fix in this article.

After reading this article, we hope you won’t have to lose any work due to Outlook crashing.

FAQs

How do you reset Outlook?
You can reset Outlook by removing an old profile and creating a new one.
To remove an Outlook profile, o to File > Account Settings > Manage Profiles. Select the profile, then click Remove.
Open the Outlook app and follow the on-screen instructions to create a new profile.