Outlook not responding can be the first of many issues to come, not only does it prevent the user from completing important tasks, but also creates a backlog. While it may be hard to pinpoint the exact cause behind it, it is fairly safe to take a trial-and-error approach and try out as many troubleshooting options as possible.
Troubleshooting Methods to Fix Outlook Not Responding Error
Here, I have highlighted the most prominent “Outlook not responding” solutions in this article do try them all!
- Close Outlook Safely
- Opening Outlook in Safe Mode
- Disable Outlook Add-ins
- Close all other memory-intensive programs
- Repair Microsoft Outlook
- Repair Outlook data files
- Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc To Open Task Manager.
- Right-click on Outlook and select End Task.
- Open the Outlook File Menu.
- Click on Options.
- From the right column, and select add-ins.
- Click on Go.
- A pop-up Window shall open, uncheck all the add-ins, and click on OK.
- Open your Windows settings and select Apps from the right-hand side column.
- Click on Installed apps.
- Locate the Microsoft suite, click on the three dots, and select Modify.
- Select the Quick Repair option and click on Repair to confirm.
- Locate ScanPST using the given addresses-
- Open ScanPST, then use the Browse option to locate and select your damaged or corrupt PST file for scanning. Click on Start to confirm.
- After the Inbox Repair tool has scanned your corrupt PST file, it will then offer a choice of repairing it. Check the box to make a backup of the scanned file before repairing, select a save location, and click on Repair.
- Download install and launch Yodot Outlook PST Repair.
- Click on Find PST File, the software will scan your system and then list out all the available PST files for you to choose from. If you are unable to locate your Outlook data file, you can use the other 2 options to import it.
- Open PST File – manually search and enter the PST file location.
- Select Outlook profile – allows you to select a particular Outlook profile in case you have multiple.
- Select the appropriate scan type-
- Normal Scan- It is a fairly quick scan that targets and repairs minor issues in your PST file.
- Smart Scan- A smart scan will take a while, but it is used to repair PST files with extreme levels of corruption or recover deleted emails, notes, etc.
- Browse and select a save location for the repaired PST file. Click on Repair.
1. Close Outlook Safely
When Outlook does not respond, avoid abruptly shutting down your system as it could only cause more damage. Instead, you can use the Task Manager to safely close Outlook and open it again. Follow the steps below to close your unresponsive Outlook.
2. Opening Outlook in Safe Mode
If you are not able to Open Outlook or if Outlook is not responding, It could be due to the presence of conflicting add-ons. In such scenarios, it is recommended to open Outlook in safe mode.
Note: Safe mode will disable all add-ins, so if your Outlook seems to work in Safe Mode, there is a chance that conflicting add-ins could be the reason behind that.
To Open Outlook in Safe Mode, simply hold the Ctrl Key and click on the Outlook icon. When presented with a pop window asking if you would like to open Outlook in safe mode, click on Yes.
3. Disable Outlook Add-ins
After you have successfully managed to reopen Outlook in Safe Mode, would want to disable your add-ins as conflicting Outlook add-ins could cause Outlook to stop working.
To disable Outlook add-ins, follow the steps below-
Now, open Outlook normally to verify if your issue has been rectified. If it has, proceed to add each add-in back one at a time to catch the one that has been causing the problems.
4. Close all other memory-intensive programs
Outlook can use up a lot of RAM. If you work with several heavy applications or use outdated hardware, try closing all the unused programs or heavy software before using Outlook.
5. Repair Microsoft Outlook
We can use Windows settings to repair Office programs (Outlook included). This is a quick and effective method that can troubleshoot and fix your Outlook not responding error. You can test it out by following the instructions provided.
After the repair process is complete, make sure to open Outlook to verify the results.
6. Repair Outlook data files
If nothing seems to work, the problem would lie with the Outlook data file by elimination. However, there are several tools that you could use to repair your Outlook PST or OST file.
A. Repair Outlook PST file using ScanPST
ScanPST is a free inbuilt inbox repair tool that comes with Outlook. And is able to repair PST files in a jiffy! You can try it on your Windows PC now by following the steps below-
32 bit- C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15\
64 bit- C:\Program Files (x86) \Microsoft Office\Office15\
After the repairs are completed rename the fixed PST file to indicate the same and open it with Outlook to verify the results.
B. Repair Outlook Data File using Yodot PST Repair
ScanPST is only capable of repairing minor inconsistencies or lightly corrupted files. If ScanPST was unsuccessful then you would need to use a professional PST repair tool like Yodot Outlook PST Repair.
Yodot Outlook PST Repair is designed using an advanced algorithm that not only repairs severely corrupted Outlook data files, but also recovers lost mail, calendars, and other Outlook attributes that were lost to file corruption.
You can try it out for yourself by following the given steps-
After the repairs, you will find the repaired PST file in the selected save location. Open it with Outlook to verify the results.
To Conclude
It’s hard to pinpoint what’s the cause behind an unresponsive outlook. When Outlook is not working I would encourage my readers to take a trial-and-error approach and test out as many troubleshooting settings as possible. If you have any queries or feedback, feel free to reach out to me. I hope that this article was able to help you to restore your Outlook back to its former glory.
