5 Common Outlook Issues and Troubleshooting Tips

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2025-10-29T02:20:17Z

Optionally, you can try to recover additional repaired items from the backup personal folder. You can use the Inbox Repair Tool (scanpst.exe) to repair corrupted Personal Folders (.pst) and Outlook Data (.ost) files. This is useful when your OST file is relatively big (more than 5 GB) and it would take a long time to recreate it. Also, it can be useful when you are getting errors when importing data from a PST file.

Similar to our earlier suggestion of repairing Office (see #3 Repair Your Microsoft Office above), perform the same steps except choose to Uninstall. Be aware that you may need your product key if you received one. If you need to update your email's POP or IMAP account settings, please go to POP and IMAP account settings for more information.

A status message appears at the bottom of the message list while Outlook is syncing. For more information, please go to Sync to manually check for new mail and to send messages in Outlook. Outlook stores all your email messages, meetings and events, contacts, and tasks in data files. You can run the Inbox Repair Tool (scanpst.exe) to scan your Outlook data files and repair errors. Are you having trouble starting Outlook or receiving "Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window" error messages? We can fix the problem for you, or you can use the troubleshooting steps we're providing below to help resolve these startup issues.

These Outlook data (PST) files store user’s data, including email messages, calendars, tasks, journals, etc. By following these steps, you should be able to resolve the ‘Something is wrong with your data files’ error. Also, regain access to your email account and mailbox data. Once your task is done of locating the ScanPST.exe tool, kindly head to follow the below-given steps to fix Outlook data files (PST).

If you want to learn about printing, see Print attachments received in email messages. This is a lightweight app designed to handle multiple accounts and fairly moderate email use. If you Fix Outlook Support typically use an Outlook.com account for email, this issue can occur if there are multiple aliases on the account and the 3rd party email address is the primary alias.

If you see messages piling up in your Outlook outbox or people you're sending messages to aren't receiving them, try the following methods to fix the issue. Clear the cache or recreate the Outlook profile if performance is degraded or errors persist. If Outlook is NOT able to start in safe mode, then try the Fix Outlook Support next proposed solution below, entitled Create a new Outlook profile. Use the classic Outlook startup troubleshooter to diagnose and fix several common classic Outlook for Windows issues for you.

To keep up with new viruses as they're created, antivirus software vendors periodically provide updates that you can download from the Internet. Download the latest updates by visiting your antivirus software vendor's website. We recommend setting Windows Update to automatically download and install recommended updates. Bug fixes, new features, and performance enhancements are released regularly. Not something you want to take on lightly, but sometimes you have to.

It also offers a filter option; users can filter items using different criteria when they want to have only the desired items to process. So, learn how to fix corrupted Outlook data files (PST) without the ScanPST.exe tool. If you have encountered ‘Something is wrong with one of your data files and Outlook needs to close,’ this article will help. Well, repairing the PST file is the most preferred solution to this Outlook error. If PST corruption is minor, Inbox Repair Tool can fix it otherwise use a professional tool. Hopefully, you can resolve the error effortlessly with the help of this guide.

Or, if the error lasted in Safe mode also, moving to the next solution is a better option. Before trying any fixes for the mentioned Outlook error, try one of the quickest hacks. If not, move ahead to other solutions to troubleshoot Outlook error Something is wrong with your data files. Users now should be mindful of the common causes why users need to fix Outlook data files (PST).

I usually disable them one-by-one, closing Outlook with each change. This helps to pin down the culprit that causes Outlook to freeze. The first thing we need to do is kill all hanging Outlook processes.

Availability has recovered, and engineers are investigating the root cause and identifying problematic servers. The team is sweeping all remaining capacity to identify and address residual issues. While these Microsoft accounts work in other Microsoft products (e.g. OneDrive, Windows, Xbox), they are non-functional when visiting Outlook.com. Outlook.com (the web version of Outlook) and Outlook apps require a 1st party alias (Outlook/Hotmail/Live/MSN) to send and receive email, use calendar, etc. For more information, go to Reduce attachment size to send large files with Outlook.