Infopackets Reader Leona H. writes: Show
" Dear Dennis, I'm trying to upgrade from Outlook 2010 to Outlook 365 and I it takes a long time to start, stating that it 'cannot start outlook, cannot open window' or such. Actually, the full error message is: 'Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook Window. The set of folders cannot be opened. The attempt to logon to Microsoft Exchange has failed.' I don't understand how to get around this problem. I currently have Office 2010 and Office 365 installed. It only happens when I launch Outlook 365. Initially when I started Outlook 365, it wanted me to sign into another account with no option to sign into the account that I wanted. I managed to get past that and entered in the correct account, but I keep getting the 'cannot start outlook, cannot open window' error. Can you please help? " My response: I asked Leona if she wanted me to connect to her PC using my remote desktop support service in order to have a closer look, and she agreed. Below I will discuss my findings. How to Fix: Cannot Start Outlook, Cannot Open WindowMicrosoft has a support page that explains how to fix the "Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook Window" issue - though the solutions suggested were not complete, were in the wrong order, and did not work for me. I've therefore decided to write my own solution. The solutions below will work for Outlook 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Outlook 365. Option #1: Start Outlook in Safe Mode and Disable PluginsTo run Outlook in Safe Mode, you will need to use the "Run" dialogue. To do so:
If it still doesn't work, try the next option. Option #2: Reset The Outlook Navigation PaneIf the Outlook navigation pane is corrupt, resetting it will get passed the "Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook Window." error message. To do so:
If it doesn't work, try Option #3 below. Option #3: Use ScanPST to Repair your Outlook Data FilesIf your Outlook .PST / .OST data files are corrupt, it can prevent Outlook from loading. You can use ScanPST to repair Outlook PST and OST files (data files). To do so:
Caveats: I suggest you choose the option to make a backup of the original PST file in case the repair option ends up corrupting it further. Do not run the ScanPST on the same PST or OST file twice or it will overwrite your original backup with an already-repaired (and possibly further corrupted) PST / OST file. When I tried to test Leona's PST files (about 7 of them), they all reported corruption. What's interesting about this is that after I tried to repair the files, I ran the ScanPST again and the repaired file still reported corruption. This would be incredibly unlikely, since her Outlook 2010 works fine with the same .PST files. If repairing the .PST files don't work for you, try the Option #4 below. Option #4: Create a New Outlook User Profile and Set it as DefaultAnother reason why Outlook will fail to load may be due to a corrupt Outlook user profile. You can potentially get around this by creating a new user profile, then set is as default. To do so:
If it doesn't work, try Option #5 below. Option #5: Ensure Outlook isn't Running in Compatibility ModeCompatibility Mode may prevent Outlook from launching properly, if it is set as default - though this would be rare. To check if this is the case, you will need to locate the Outlook.exe executable depending on which version of MS Office is installed on the machine. To do so:
If that doesn't work, try the next option. Option #6: Create a New Windows User ProfileUnfortunately, none of the above options fixed the "Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook Window" error for Leona. The only solution that worked for me was to create a new user profile in Windows, then re-attach all of Leona's .PST and .OST files into Outlook. That said - please note that creating a new user profile starts a clean slate - meaning that your current your user data (docs, pics, videos, bookmarks, etc) will NOT appear in the new profile. The purpose of this is to simply test to see if creating a new Windows user profile will work. If it does, then you will need to move your old user profile data (docs, pics, videos, bookmarks, etc) onto the new profile to make Outlook work moving forward. Explaining this process is well beyond the scope of the article and is not for the faint of heart. If you don't know what you're doing, contact me for assistance and I can do it for you. Moving on! To create a temporary Windows user profile, do the following:
If you need help moving your user data over to a new profile, you are welcome to contact me - described next. Additional 1-on-1 Support: From DennisIf all of this is over your head, or if you need help getting your Outlook 365 (or any other version) to work, I can help using my remote desktop support service. Simply contact me, briefly describing the issue and I will get back to you as soon as possible. About the author: Dennis FaasDennis Faas is the owner and operator of Infopackets.com. With over 30 years of computing experience, Dennis' areas of expertise are a broad range and include PC hardware, Microsoft Windows, Linux, network administration, and virtualization. Dennis holds a Bachelors degree in Computer Science (1999) and has authored 6 books on the topics of MS Windows and PC Security. If you like the advice you received on this page, please up-vote / Like this page and share it with friends. For technical support inquiries, Dennis can be reached via Live chat online this site using the Zopim Chat service (currently located at the bottom left of the screen); optionally, you can contact Dennis through the website contact form. How do you fix Cannot open the Outlook window the set of folders Cannot be opened?Fix “The Set of Folders Cannot be Opened” Error in Outlook 2016,.... Start Outlook in Safe Mode. ... . Create a New Outlook Profile. ... . Start Outlook from the Taskbar. ... . Use an App Password for Outlook. ... . Install the 64-bit version of Office. ... . Remove your Account from the Mail App. ... . Remove . ... . Repair Outlook Data Files.. Why is my Outlook saying the set of folders Cannot be opened?According to users, The set of folders cannot be opened error can appear if you're using a 32-bit version of Microsoft Office. If you're using a 64-bit version of Windows, we strongly advise you to reinstall Office and install the 64-bit version instead.
Can't start Microsoft Outlook Cannot open the Outlook window the set of folders Cannot be opened the attempt to log on to Microsoft Exchange has failed?Microsoft Outlook may sometimes fail to launch with the “The set of folders cannot be opened” error. To fix it, launch Outlook in Safe Mode and disable your add-ins. Then repair Office and Outlook, create a new user profile and reinstall the email client.
How do you fix the set of folders Cannot be opened the attempt to log on to Microsoft Exchange has failed?Following are a few effective solutions to fix the error “Outlook the set of folders cannot be opened” are as follows:. Launch Outlook in Safe Mode.. Update the Outlook application.. Recreate your Outlook Profile.. Turn off Compatibility mode in Outlook.. Repair Office Installation.. Fix Outlook.. Repair PST Using ScanPST Tool.. |