Resolving Issue: Microsoft Outlook Not Responding When Opening Email

Ways to Solve Microsoft Outlook Not Responding Error

This section of the blog summarizes some common methods you can follow to troubleshoot "Outlook not responding when opening email".

1. Start Outlook in Safe Mode - As Microsoft itself recommends, users should Start Outlook in Safe Mode. When you do this, Outlook will open without add-ins or customization files. To do this, hold down the Ctrl key and click the icon, or type outlook.exe/safe on the command line. Then a message will appear on the screen asking if the user wants to start Outlook in safe mode when they need to click Yes. If the problem is resolved and Outlook starts working correctly, there may be a problem with the add-in that leads to the next step.

2. Disable Add-ins in Outlook - If you have not had the "Outlook is not responding when opening, sending and receiving email" problem in the past, but now, you must remove the recently installed add-in. We recommend disabling one at a time. This will help you identify the real cause of the problem. To do this in Outlook, go to the Tools menu, click Trust Center, select Add-Ins, and click Go. Next, you need to Uncheck the add-in you want to remove and close the dialog box.

3. Close All Opened Programs and Applications - MS Office Suite One of the most complex applications of all Outlook applications. As a result, the system requirements increase significantly, and if RAM, processor speed, etc. are not met, it will crash. Therefore, programs that are not currently in use but are running must be closed.

4. Repair Outlook Data Files with Built-in Tool - If you find a problem with your Outlook PST file, you can use Outlook's built-in repair utility called Microsoft Inbox Repair Tool (Scanpst.exe) to scan and fix it. To do this, you must close Outlook. Otherwise, the tool will not start. Then, you need to double-click Scanpst.exe and select the specific PST file with the Browse option provided. Open the Options dialog box, select a Scan option, and click Start. When the utility detects an error, it prompts you to Start the repair process and fix it.

5. Reduce Size of Mailbox and Outlook PST - Outlook may stop responding because the size of the PST file is larger than possible. Therefore, the size of PST files and mailboxes must be reduced within the defined size limit. The three ways users think the correct option is to keep your mail in multiple subfolders instead of one folder (usually your inbox) and compress your Outlook data files to archive old data items.

6. Outlook Auto-Archive or Synchronize without Interruption - Actions and other types of interruptions should be avoided during the archiving, automatic archiving, and synchronization processes. This is because Outlook uses a lot of resources during the email synchronization or archiving process, which can cause long response times or no response.

7. Turn Off the Antivirus Software - Older and overprotected antivirus / software programs can conflict with Outlook or its add-ins, causing the antivirus to block certain add-ins and Outlook not working properly. In such cases, make sure your antivirus is up to date with the latest updates and service packs, is compatible with MS Outlook, and that Outlook or its add-ins are added to the trusted list of spam protection applications, Software, etc. If any of the suggestions don't work, you need to disable your antivirus and see if Outlook starts working properly.

8. Repair Office Programs - If none of the above suggestions work, you must repair your Office program. To do this, you must close all Office applications and open the control panel. Find MS Office in the list of installed programs and right-click. It is found in "Programs and Features" in Windows Vista, 7 and 8, and in "Add or Remove Programs" in earlier versions. Then select Change, select Repair, and click the Continue tab.

Note - Without a doubt, you can use the above method to resolve the "Outlook 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019 is not responding when you open an email" problem. From my own experience with Outlook, User can almost always conclude that the problem has been resolved, but sometimes it fails. In some situations, User have found that all the methods described in this blog do not work well. Therefore, the question arises as to what will happen next?