Unable to Launch Your Outlook? Here Are Some Working Solutions That Can Help You Get Your Email App Running Again Without Any Errors. These Fixes Work Across All Versions of Outlook 365 Through 2013 and on Every System.

A couple of articles back, we looked into what you can do when Outlook freezes and doesn’t respond. Now, let’s explore how you can fix and prevent an even more severe situation—when your Outlook simply refuses to launch.

The primary symptom of this issue is quite apparent and easy to recognize: you click the Outlook icon, an hourglass appears and lingers for a bit, and then you encounter the “Cannot Start Microsoft Office Outlook” error.

According to Microsoft, the main cause of this issue is a corrupted Navigation Pane settings file—profilename.xml, where "profilename" refers to your Outlook profile. A strong indicator that the file is corrupted is when its size is 0 KB. While no one knows exactly why this happens, all versions of Microsoft Outlook from 2003 to the latest Outlook 2019 can be affected.

Other potential reasons include running Outlook in compatibility mode, using a profile created in an older version of Outlook, or having the Outlook data file (.pst or .ost) deleted or damaged due to incorrect uninstallation or reinstallation of Outlook.

Regardless of the cause, the outcome remains the same—you cannot open the Outlook window because of this error: "Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window. The set of folders cannot be opened."

Depending on which version of Outlook you’re using, there may be slight variations in the message.

Outlook 2010: "Microsoft Outlook has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

Outlook 2007: "Cannot open your default e-mail folders. The information store could not be opened."

Outlook 2003: "Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Unable to open the Outlook window. Invalid XML, the view cannot be loaded."

How to Fix the “Cannot Start Microsoft Outlook” Issue—Universal Solutions

Now that you understand what causes problems when launching Outlook, let’s look at how we can resolve them. Below are troubleshooting steps for four of the most common issues preventing Outlook from starting correctly, listed in order of frequency and effectiveness:

• Restore Navigation Pane Configuration File
• Repair Your Outlook PST File Using Inbox Repair Tool
• Create a New Outlook Profile and Import Data from the Old PST File
• Disable Compatibility Mode
• Start Outlook in Safe Mode
• Resolve Outlook Hanging on Loading Profile

Restore the Navigation Pane Configuration File

In most cases, it’s the corrupted Navigation Pane settings file that stops Outlook from launching successfully, so the first thing you should do is fix it. Here’s how you can do this on different operating systems:

1. If you’re using Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8, click the Start button. On Windows XP, click Start > Run.

2. Type the following command in the search field: outlook.exe /resetnavpane

   Note: Make sure to include a space between outlook.exe and /resetnavpane.

3. Press Enter or click on the file to reset the Navigation Pane settings and then open Outlook.

If you prefer to use the Run dialog on Windows 7 or Windows 8, follow this method.

1. On the Start menu, click All Programs > Accessories > Run.

2. Type the outlook.exe /resetnavpane command and click OK.

   Note: An automatic fix for the “Outlook unable to start” problem is available on Microsoft’s site for Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP. Simply click the "Fix this problem" link on this page.

Delete the Navigation Pane Settings FileIf for some reason you couldn’t restore the Navigation Pane configuration file, and Microsoft’s automatic fix didn’t work either, try deleting the XML file storing the navigation pane settings. Follow these steps to do so:

1. Enter the below command in the Start > Search field on Windows 7 and Windows 8 (or Start > Run on Windows XP) and press Enter: %appdata%\Microsoft\Outlook

2. This will open the folder where Microsoft Outlook configuration files are stored. Locate and delete the Outlook.xml file.

   Warning! Always attempt to recover the Navigation Pane settings file first. Only delete it as a last resort if nothing else works.

Repair Your Outlook Data Files (.pst and .ost) Using the Inbox Repair Tool

If you recently reinstalled Outlook and something went awry during the uninstallation of the previous version, the default Outlook data file (.pst / .ost) might have been deleted or damaged, which is why Outlook won’t open. In this case, you’re likely to receive this error: "Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. The file Outlook.pst is not a personal folders file."

Let’s try to repair your outlook.pst file using Scanpst.exe, also known as Inbox Repair Tool.

1. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\{Office version}. If you have 64-bit Windows with 32-bit Office installed, go to C:\Program Files x86\Microsoft Office\{Office version}.

2. Find Scanpst.exe in the list and double-click on it. Alternatively, you can click Start and type scanpst.exe in the Search box.

   

3. Click the Browse button to select your default Outlook.pst file. In Outlook 2010 - 2019, the PST file resides in the Documents\Outlook Files folder. If you upgraded to Outlook 2010 on a computer that already had data files created in previous versions, you’ll find the outlook.pst file in a hidden folder in these locations:

   • On Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8" - C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook
   • On Windows XP, you’ll find it here C:\ Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

   

For more details about repairing the Outlook PST file, visit Microsoft’s website: Repair Outlook Data Files (.pst and .ost).

Try opening Outlook, and if it starts without errors, congratulations! You don’t need the rest of this article : ) Or perhaps it’s worth bookmarking it for future reference.

Disable Compatibility Mode in Outlook

When it comes to using compatibility mode in Outlook, let me quote a piece of wisdom shared by Outlook’s expert Diane Poremsky on her blog: “If you enabled compatibility mode, disable it. If you haven’t, don’t even think about it.”

You can disable compatibility mode in the following way:

1. Click the Start button (or Start > Run on Windows XP) and type outlook.exe in the search field.

   Alternatively, you can locate outlook.exe in the default installation folder: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\{Office version}. Where {Office version} is Office15 if you’re using Office 2013, Office14 for Office 2010, and so on.

2. Right-click on OUTLOOK.EXE, and then click Properties.

3. Switch to the Compatibility tab and ensure the "Run this program in compatibility mode for" check box is unchecked. ![](/uploads/20250528

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