Got stuck with your Outlook email? Unable to go back or click on the Red Cross button? Is your client freaking out because you are not sending him the update due to a Non-responding Outlook screen”?
If you can relate to the above-mentioned scenarios then, this article is surely a savior for you. Keep reading to know about one of the most common errors that MS Outlook users encounter with – The “Microsoft Outlook Not Responding” error. Know about its potential causes and methods to fix the same.
About MS Outlook Not Responding Error and its Effects on Users
MS Outlook is one of the widely used email clients which organizations of all sizes are using for internal as well as external communications. Whether it’s about inviting people to a meeting or sending the bill-payment reminders, Microsoft Outlook ensures that you do every business-related email effectively and efficiently. However, like other software, Outlook is also prone to bugs, which makes it a bit tricky to deal with. “Microsoft Outlook not responding” is one of the common errors that pops up when the Outlook gets hang or become overloaded with large data files.
While reasons to get a translucent Outlook screen are many, the solutions to the same are limited. Let’s focus on the solutions and see how to resolve this error without getting frustrated.
Five Effective Ways to Deal with “Microsoft Outlook Not Responding” Error
Below are the methods that will help you quit the non-working and non-responding MS Outlook screen. They will work well with Outlook 2007, 2010, Outlook 2013, and Outlook 2016.
1. Kill all “outlook.exe” processes with the help of Task Manager
Unable to close the Outlook tab? Switch to a fresh one with the help of Task Manager. Let it stop multiple ‘outlook.exe’ processes running back in the memory of your system which might be one of the reasons why you are getting this error.
Here are the steps to do the same:
- Right Click on the MS Outlook screen
- Go to “Task Manager”
- Click on the “Processes” tab to search all the processes running with name Outlook
- Once you find them all, simply select them and click on the “End Process” button.
This way, you are actually deleting multiple Outlook.exe files that were making the Outlook go hang. Isn’t it too basic? Just try it! Once done, restart your system to see if the issue is resolved.
2. Turn on the Safe Mode to remove the Faulty Outlook add-ins
If the Task Manager is unable to help you out, try removing the faulty-add ins that are installed into the Outlook with an aim of improving the user experience. You can scan and remove such add-ins by following the steps given below:
- Go to the “Safe Mode” by pressing down the Ctrl key followed by a click on “Outlook” icon.
- Once done, try sending/receiving emails or perform any other task just to ensure that add-ins are the problem.
- To identify the faulty add-in, go to File-> Options -> Add-ins -> Go
Here, you need to check out all the add-ins one by one against faulty ones. For accurate results, do not forget to restart Outlook with each check. While restarting, wherever Outlook shows a discrepancy, that add-in is the faulty one. Remove it and restart the Outlook.
3. Clean up Outlook folders by reducing data file size
While working on MS Outlook, you might miss the fact that how many emails you have sent and received so far and what amount of data your Outlook is carrying in its memory. Normally, Outlook stores all of your data in a Portable File Format (.PST). However, when used with Exchange mailboxes, the data is stored in OST files (.ost) as well.
The problem is not the file format but the size of your files which – when grow too large in size -may get damaged or corrupted. As a result, you might not be able to open the MS Outlook or get stuck with a non-responding Outlook screen. To avoid this, clean up your inbox and related folders from unnecessary emails. Also, perform a regular check to the “Deleted Items” folder to ensure it remains empty. Doing so, you will be reducing the size of Outlook data files and hence, helping it function normally.
4. Repair MS Outlook
If most of your Outlook files appear to be corrupted or none of the above methods are generating positive results, then there might be some issue with your Outlook installation. You have either skipped some essential steps or input incorrect data while installing MS Outlook into your system.
You can easily repair Outlook by finding the same in the “Control Panel”. Simply Right-click on it and select “Change”. Click on Repair -> Continue, and follow some more instructions to complete the process. Hopefully, you will get rid of the problem.
5. Put the Antivirus Program to Halt
The main role of any Antivirus program, installed in our systems, is to protect it against virus and other data breaching threats. However, sometimes, the same Antivirus program troubles the normal functioning of Outlook by scanning its content massively. When your Antivirus starts scanning every incoming as well outgoing Outlook email or flags some of the installed add-ins as threats, the MS Outlook begins to crash and stops working instantly.
To resolve this, you need to turn the Antivirus off and then restart your system to see if the changes have been done. However, if you want to use both the Antivirus and the Outlook together, add Outlook and its trustable add-ins to the list of “Trusted Applications” in the antivirus software.
Wrapping Up
If none of the above methods solves the problem, there might be an issue with the PST File. The Outlook PST file is corrupted or severely damaged, hence causing “MS Outlook Not Responding” error. Repair it with a trusted PST Repair Software and resolve the issue in minutes. You can consider Stellar PST Repair Software which is designed and developed to fix all sorts of issues generated due to a corrupted PST File. It extracts complete data from the corrupted file and stores the same in a fresh PST File, which you can later import into Outlook. The software also enables you to reduce the size of your oversized PST file either by splitting or compressing.