A recent post on the Microsoft Outlook forum caught my eye, about Outlook not opening. It happens to the user regularly and the application won't open from the desktop shortcut, the Start Menu, or the pinned location. The user had to restart to get Outlook going again, but the problem would re-occur. They wanted to know if there was a patch or hot fix for the problem.
Actually, the problem is usually pretty easy to troubleshoot and doesn't require a fix or patch.
First, make sure that Outlook is actually closed before you try to open it. Check by opening your Task Manager and then clicking on the Processes tab. Look for OUTLOOK.EXE. If it's running while Outlook is closed, this is why you can't open it.
Usually, if you have to restart the whole PC in order to open Outlook it's because it hasn't closed properly when you exited the program. Something is holding it open.
Shutdown issues are not always readily apparent and will show with sometimes confusing symptoms. You have to restart the PC in order to open Outlook, your nickname (often called auto complete or auto suggest) cache is corrupted and comes up empty, you may see data files issues or messages stating that Outlook did not close down properly and may have errors, you may notice a "gears" icon in the bottom right corner of Outlook, you may be unable to back up your data file. You may also notice Navigation Pane resets or corruption, or the Outlook icon in the system tray/notification area may have an X through it. There are a host of funky little behaviours that result from Outlook being unable to close properly.
So what do you do? First, ensure Outlook is closed. If it isn't, end the process in the Task Manager. Then instead of opening Outlook as you usually would, you would follow these instructions:
Vista, Windows 7: Start > Start Search > outlook.exe /safe
(note the space between outlook.exe and /safe)
Then hit enter.
Windows XP and earlier: Start > Run > outlook.exe /safe
(note the space between outlook.exe and /safe)
Then hit enter.
What this does is to disable all Add Ins that integrate with Outlook; FAX software, sync software that works with your smart phone, anti virus (don't worry, you are not left unprotected - more on that later), anti spam software, etc. This disables all of them all at once. If Outlook performs normally and as desired, then you know an Add In is the culprit and it's a matter of finding it, and usually that's the case.
Close Outlook and open it normally. Find your Add Ins (where they're located depends on the version you're using). Disable them all manually and restart Outlook. Enable one Add In at a time, and test Outlook by sending/receiving, and closing/opening. Test each Add In the same way until you find the one that broke Outlook's functionality.
Anti virus is a common culprit. You don't need to have it integrate with Outlook at all. Your real time AV scanner will catch everything it's updated for. Scanning your mail with anti virus causes more headaches than it prevents.
From an old post of mine:
Turning off your anti virus integration with Outlook is not a security
issue
or it wouldn't be recommended. If your anti virus engine is updated
regularly
and kept current, your real time scanner will catch anything it's
updated
for since any attachment will be saved to the HD first before opening
and
scanned. When you integrate anti virus with Outlook it also acts as a
proxy
between Outlook and your mail server, hence the frequent
problems
*especially* if your polling frequency is short.
