MS Outlook shows error messages many times that leave us in the fear of losing data. There are different levels of errors which are divided into two categories- major and minor or common. Some common errors can resolve without putting much effort. If you are an Outlook user, you should aware of these common errors and how to fix them.

There is more than one way to be well confirmed that your Outlook settings have no error. You can do this by auto-detecting the setting and then setting up the email account by ISP settings. With the configuration of advanced settings, you can confirm the Outlook setting. Follow these procedures.

Open MS Outlook, go to the ‘File’ menu and from the drop-down go to ‘Info’ then ‘Account Setting’ option.

Double click on the existing account.

The Change Account window will open, click on ‘more settings’

A new window ‘Internet Email Settings’ will pop-up, from the menu click on ‘Advance’ which will give you SMTP and POP3 ports.

You may mark the checkbox reading the line ‘ This server requires an encrypted connection (SSL)’

Choose a suitable option for ‘Use the following type of encrypted connection’ from the drop down.

For Server Timeouts, set the time and appropriate conditions to delivery settings.

Finally hit the ‘OK’ tab

You will have to confirm the internet connection. For this, simply open any search engine and browse websites. If websites opening in no time, the connection is smooth or error-free. If there is an internet connection issue like the slow download of website pages, the internet connection is weak. It needs to be fixed. Follow these procedures to resolve the problem.

Run the built-in Network Diagnostic tool

Resolve the problem manually

Check out the network (hardware) components

In case, any of your email messages are stuck in the Outlook account, remove them earlier because they can cause errors. Follow these steps-

Press ‘send/receive’ tab and then ‘work offline’

Visit ‘Outbox’ to do any one of these options-

Moving the stuck messages to draft by right click on the folder or dragging

Delete these messages by right-clicking the mouse and then choose ‘delete’

If the problem is causing ‘time out’ error message, follow these procedures.

For MS Outlook Version 2007

Go to ‘Tool’ tab and from the drop-down choose ‘Account Settings’

Double click on a POP3 account

In Chane Email Account, double press ‘More Settings’

Now select ‘Advance’

Increase the time in the ‘Server Timeouts’

For MS Outlook Version 2010

Go to the File menu and from the drop-down select ‘Info’ then ‘Account Settings’

Double click POP3 account and in the Change Account window, click ‘More Settings’

Select the ‘Advanced’ tab and then set the ‘Server Timeouts’

If you feel that a particular email is not related to your business or you have doubts in it, removing the email from your Outlook is necessary. A suspicious email can cause errors. For removing emails, below are some procedures to follow.

Step 1- Select the doubtful email and right click to take the mouse to delete option to remove it.

Note- By doing so, the message will be deleted from the Inbox but it will be stored to Deleted Items. To remove the email permanently, follow the below steps.

Step 2-Visit ‘Deleted Item’ folder and then right click on the email that you want to delete.

Step 3- After that choose ‘Delete’ option and then a small window will pop-up with options Yes and No. Click on Yes.

In case, you are facing the problem of sending emails using your existed Outlook Account, the problem may be with Outgoing Server or SMTP. Fix the problem.

Visit Tool and then from the drop down, select ‘Account Settings’

The Account Setting window will open, choose the POP3 account by double click

From the new window of account setting, double press the ‘More Settings’ tab

In the ‘Internet Email Settings’ window, choose ‘Outgoing Server’ tab

Mark the option ‘My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication’

Finally, press ‘OK’ tab.

If Outlook has an error due to corrupted PST files, It can make data inaccessible. Fortunately, MS Outlook has an inbuilt repair solution which is known as ‘inbox repair tool’. You can run the feature with the help of SCANPST.exe. Here is the location of the file.

The Outlook Repair inbox tool will open-

Press ‘Browse’ tab to choose the file that you want to repair. After that hit the ‘Start’ button to perform the repair process.

The in-built feature will repair the error to some extent. If the corruption level is complex, you will have to use a third application.

Do you know you can deal with Outlook errors to some extent by running the application in ‘Safe Mode’. Below is the process to follow.

For “Windows 7” or “Vista”:

Go to Start button

Write “Outlook.exe/ safe” in the search box.

For Windows 8.1 or 8:

Take the cursor to the lower right side of the screen and click on “Search”.

Write “Outlook.exe” in the box.

Common errors of MS Outlook can be fixed if your existing Outlook profile is working properly. It can be done by creating a new profile and use it to send or receive emails to an existing profile. Later, configure the new account and set it as your default Outlook account. You can follow the trick for Outlook 2003 and rest versions of MS Outlook.

My Outlook 2010 is running absolutely fine. I am sending and receiving emails from everyone in my organization, but from a specific person of the office, I am not getting emails. What could be the problem? Can it be solved?

The problem is complex and technicians may suggest you contact the ISP provider. Before you make contact with the ISP provider, below are some key things you can do to troubleshoot the issue.

Check Your Junk Mail

It is seen that many times Outlook recognizes an email suspicious and send all emails from the particular email to the junk mail folder. So, the foremost step you have to take is to check the junk mail folder. If the particular sender emails are in the spam folder, you have to send them to your inbox.

Sometimes the problem may arise because of an anti-spam or a virus scanner. You can confirm whether the problem is associated with the scanner or not. For this, disabled the scanner for some time and ask the sender to send you emails. If you receive emails from the particular sender, it is an indication that the problem is associated with the virus scanner.

In case, you have installed a third party app, check its documentation to know how the scanner considers email spam. Disable the app for some time to evaluate whether the problem is associated with it.

If the same account is configured in more than one device, you will have to confirm the particular email messages are receiving by those devices. The access you account in these devices. If particular sender emails are received in other devices, the problem is associated with your profile. All you need to create a new profile. Moreover, if you are using a POP3 account, enable ‘leave a copy on the server’ option to collect emails in your all devices.

Check All the Sub-Folders

If you have set multiple rules, it may possible that emails from a particular sender are moving to a different folder or deleting. You can disable all the rules to confirm whether the problem is associated with these rules. If yes, you will have to be careful of setting rules next time.

Check Mailbox on Web

When you are all sure that nothing on the system interrupting Outlook to send and receive emails, it is time to evaluate the mailbox on the web. Those, using Exchange account, they can access Outlook on the web to check emails availability to the mailbox.

Those using a POP3 email account and receiving emails from a particular sender on the web-based mail account, the problem can be corrupted Outlook profile or synchronization issues. Check the spam folder. If the following emails are in a junk folder, it can restrict downloading of these emails in your desktop based Outlook. Fix the problem with the help of mail filter settings.

Check NDR Mail

This time, the sender will confirm the mail address. It is possible that the mail address entered by the sender is wrong. In this case, the email will bounce back and non-delivery report will be received by the sender. Check the email. It may give you clue of failed message delivery.

mailbox full clue indicates that the sender mailbox has no space to receive new messages.

The NDR can carry the message of the wrong recipient address.

It may possible that the sending mail server is in the blacklist. Your admin can help you.

A network error message can come.

Note- The NDR message can be received at your junk folder, inbox or deleted item folder.

Review Your Outbox

If a message is large in size, the server timeout can keep the message on hold in the outbox. Another reason could be any problem with SMTP authentication or outgoing mail server.

Contact ISP Server

If the above-mentioned solutions fail to help you out, the problem may be associated with the mail server. Contact your internet service provider to know the exact cause of the problem and how to fix it.

Are you using MS Outlook? It is one of the most widely used email clients. Sometimes, Outlook shows error message when you try to open it. The situation can fill you with fear of data loss. The problem can resolve. Below are some guidelines to fix the problem.

Like other applications, MS Outlook also needs an update from time to time to avoid compatibility issues. For example, Outlook 2003 and 2007 cannot run on Windows 7 and 8. Here the compatibility is an issue. So, updating MS Outlook is the only way to avoid compatibility issues. You can update the email client along with Office to install both  Office and Windows latest version.

In case you have not used MS Outlook for a long time or you are a new user, MS Outlook can deny opening because the mail account is not configured. Some users choose Exchange account for configuration which is a big mistake. Select IMAP, POP3 or Hotmail account for configuration. In this situation, you can recreate your email profile with the help of correct server settings which is provided by email administrator or ISP.

Installing Office Incorrectly

If you are sharing your system and your Outlook login shows errors while it is working fine for other users, it might be incorrect office installation. Faulty add-in or damaged Outlook/office installation settings can cause the problem. Set your Outlook and add-ins correctly at first.

If your work is highly depended on MS Outlook and you have previously worked with the email client incorrect settings, open MS Outlook in safe mode. It is the best way to identify errors in MS Outlook causing by add-ins. While in safe mode, MS Outlook doesn’t load unnecessary add-ins and other features. It also turns off the reading pane.

Start Outlook in safe mode on different OS-

Windows XP – Start > Run: Outlook.exe/safe

Windows Vista and Windows 7 – Start > Type: Outlook.exe/Safe

Windows 8 – Start > Type Outlook.exe/safe

Resetting Dat Files

Users of Outlook 2007 or previous versions may have to reset their.Dat files to resolve Outlook access errors. Whenever Outlook is opened, these Dat files load data to Outlook. If these files get corrupted, renaming them can solve the problem. Reset the name of outcmd.dat and extent.dat files.

Location of these files on Windows OS-

Windows XP – C:\Documents and Settings\User name\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

Windows Vista, 7 and 8 – C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

Location of Outcmd.dat file:

Windows XP – C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\

Windows Vista, 7 and 8 – C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook

Enable to Access Outlook Window

While running Outlook 2007, 2010 or 2013, if you are getting an error message “cannot open the Outlook Window”, the error may cause because of corruption in Navigation pane. Resetting both Outlook and Navigation pane can fix the issue.

For Windows XP- Go to Start, then Run and Outlook.exe/resetnavpane

For Windows Vista and 7- Go to Start and write Outlook.exe/resetnavpane

For Windows 8- go to Start and write Outlook.exe/resetnavpane

Disabled Add-Ins

If Outlook is not running smoothly in safe mode, it indicates the problem is in add-ins. Start your Outlook again in safe mode and enable the required add-ins one after another till Outlook fails to load again. The loading problem may arise at the last point usually. Below are the steps to enable or disable Outlook add-ins in different versions of MS Outlook-

For MS Outlook2003 and other lower versions- go to Tool > Options> other tab > advanced email options > add-in

Outlook 2007- go to Tools, then Trust Center and finally add-ins

Outlook 2010 and 2013- go to File, then Options and later Add-ins

Again Create Mail Profile

Corrupted mail profile can make your Outlook inaccessible. Recreate mail profile to fix the issue. For this, go to Control Panel and then Mail applet. Create a new mail profile at first without deleting your previous one. Now, check the current profile is configurated to resolved. If it has been resolved, you can transfer the existed profile data to a new profile.

Re-Installing MS Outlook

If the abovementioned methods don’t work, you can re-install MS Outlook. Before re-installing, make sure you have a backup of the data. Re-installation doesn’t make any change in the file, but the safety of the data is necessary.

The process of re-installation has varied the version of MS Outlook, Office and Windows. The simple process is given below.

Help > Detect and Repair

Help > Office Diagnostics

Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs

Control Panel > Uninstall a program

Insert Office CD/DVD and run Setup.exe > Repair or uninstall Office and reinstall it.

Note- If you are have installed and configured anti-virus with MS Outlook, it is better to remove it because Outlook has in-built anti-virus feature. Integrating MS Outlook with an anti-virus add-in can make MS Outlook inaccessible.

You can use a third application or take a technician help to re-install MS Outlook.

Duplicate emails are one of the most annoying conditions that Outlook users face. It makes PST files unnecessarily big and consumes data storage. Both senders and recipients face the problem. It all happens because multiple copies of emails are stored in the recipient’s inbox and sent item folder as well as Outbox.

The problem is annoying and is not acceptable. You can deal with the duplicate issue to some extent. Below are some common configuration issues leading to duplicate emails and how to deal with them.

When a virus scanner is integrated with MS Outlook and is also installed in the machine, the problem of duplicate emails can increase. It is because the scanner scans outgoing emails also.

So, it is recommended to disable the Virus scanner if it is causing duplicate email issue. It will allow Outlook to perform smoothly.

When send/receive of emails gap is for a short period of time, less than 5 minutes, the problem email duplicate can be faced. It happens because when Outlook is processing the first email to upload in the mail server to send or receive, the next email process is started before finishing the previous. Thus, it causes the accumulation of the send/receive process. The messages stored in the Outlook have submitted again. It is how a duplicate email problem is initiated.

To resolve the problem by checking the backlogs and increasing the time gap of send/receive files.

To Evaluate Backlogs

For Outlook 2007 and Below Version-

Go to Tool, then send/receive and setting window of send/receive and then evaluate the progress.

For Outlook  2010 to 2013

Under the ‘View’ tab, press ‘Show Progress’ tab

Change the Time Gap

In Outlook 2007 and Below Versions

Press ‘Tools’ and ‘Option’ tab

In the Options Window, hit the button Mail Setup and then send/receive to change the time gap.

In Outlook 2010 and 2013

First go to File tab, from the drop-down ‘Option’, ‘Advanced’ tab and later send/receive for alerting time gap

Note: Set the time period for more than 5 minutes. If you are handling more than one account, the time duration should be 10 minutes.

It can be the reason for duplicate emails. It is all because both IMAP and POP3 accounts function with server timeouts. When the server connection is poor, the server may time out. Thus, Outlook re-submits the Outbox message for the next schedule. It creates duplicate emails.

Increasing the server time-out can fix the problem of duplicate. It is all about increasing internet speed. Reset the internet time-out and increase the server timeout to 2-3 minutes.