HOW DO I FIX OUTLOOK NOT WORKING?

Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager web app developed by Microsoft. Outlook includes webmail, calendaring, contacts, and task services. Outlook is widely used all over the world. There are many ways for Outlook not to work. Sometimes, outlook may stop responding, or outlook may get stuck on a screen that says “Processing,” or Outlook window may freeze or stop working when the user is trying to open a file or send an email message. There are multiple reasons why this may be happening. We will look into a few solutions to resolve Outlook not working or outlook not opening in this blog.

SAFE MODE OUTLOOK

To solve Outlook mail not working, open Outlook in safe mode to put the “Processing” screen to rest. You can close Outlook first, then open it in Safe mode, close it again, and finally open it in normal mode. Start by closing outlook, then relaunch it in Safe Mode by choosing Start, typing Outlook.exe/safe, and enter. This will open Outlook in safe mode. Now close Outlook in safe mode, wait for a minute, and then open Outlook normally.

DIALOG BOX

Sometimes, Outlook asks you if you are sure that you want to close anything. For that, a dialog box opens. So you need to check if there is a dialog box open anywhere on the screen. It may be hidden under other processes, and it may be causing hindrance in the functionality of Outlook. Press Alt and Tab buttons simultaneously to switch from window to window to help you see what dialog boxes might be the reason for Outlook email not working.

LONG OR LARGE TASK

If you try to delete a long chain of messages at once, Outlook can freeze because it works at the back. This can appear as Outlook not working. So, check the status bar at the bottom of the screen to ensure that there is no such task at the ongoing. If it is there, waits for some time and let Outlook complete its task. Once the task is completed, you can work on Outlook smoothly.

UPDATE WINDOWS AND OFFICE

Another reason forOutlook email not workingmay be outdated windows or outdated Office. The best way to operate Outlook smoothly is by updating both.

REPAIR OFFICE PROGRAMS

Another solution to Outlook mail not working is Repairing the office programs altogether. By repairing the office programs, any corrupted item will repair on its own. To repair all programs, first, close any office programs currently running on your device. Then open the control panel of your computer and choose Programs and Features. A list of installed programs shall appear, right-click on the Microsoft Office 2016 or Microsoft Office 2013, and then choose Change.

OUTLOOK NOT WORKING ON MAC

If Outlook not working on Mac, follow these steps and try again.

UPDATE YOUR MAC AND OUTLOOK

If you face problems like Outlook not opening, you need to update your Mac and Outlook. To update your mac, open system preferences and click Software update. To update Outlook, open any application from Office programs, then click Help to Check for updates. Auto-update will check for updates. Update if there are any updates available. After the update completes, restart your Mac.

DISABLE PREVIEW FEATURE

Follow the following steps carefully to disable the preview feature, which may be the reason for Outlook not working on mac.

• Quit Outlook
• Open Terminal(Use spotlight to open Terminal App)

• Type – “defaults write com.microsoft.Outlook DisablePreviewForSMIME 1” and hit enter
• Now type “killall cfprefsd”
• Close terminal and restart your mac

Then try to open Outlook and check if it is working now.

The solutions mentioned in this article should serve to resolve all problems related to the malfunction of Outlook where it freezes, stops, or does not work. If the problem persists even after you have tried all solutions, you may need professional experts to solve it for you. Or, you can check out our other blogs to find out more about the problem and how you can solve it.