microsoft, windows

Cannot open the Outlook window – what sort of error message is that?

404 Comments

I’m actually enjoying Outlook 2007 on my desktop, especially since applying the February patch. It opens in a couple of seconds even from cold. I’m running on Vista 64-bit, and not using cached Exchange mode.

Until today, that is. Started Outlook and got this bewildering message:

This Microsoft article suggested I might not have a default gateway. That was nonsense; so I opened Mail setup (I can get to this through the Properties of the Outlook shortcut), clicked Show Profiles, added a new profile and set the new one as default.

Outlook works fine now. I’m not impressed with the error message though.

Update

While using a new profile works, there is an easier fix as noted in many of the comments to this post. You can run Outlook with the /resetnavpane argument. Here’s the step by step:

1. Press Windows key and R together to open the Run dialog.

2. In the Open field, type:

outlook.exe /resetnavpane

image

Note: there is a space between outlook.exe and /resetnavpane. There are no other spaces in what you have to type.

3. Click OK. Outlook should open.

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404 thoughts on “Cannot open the Outlook window – what sort of error message is that?”

  1. Thank you for the tidbid about putting the space after outlook.exe! It worked! Who knew?

  2. thanks so much to all of you smart users who exchange solutions that the so-called support staffs don’t know about. i used the outlook.exe /resetnavpane in the program search box for windows 7, clicked on the found file and it worked like a charm. muchos muchos gracias. i am so thankful – this is my first post!

  3. I did the outlook.exe /resetnavpane HOWEVER, it started again today when I opened my computer up. How do I fix this so I don’t have to run this command each time I shut down?

  4. Brilliant, just Brilliant!!!! Thanks so much for your help. It worked like magic!!

  5. Thanks so much for your help, had to go to the DOS screen and then the resetnavpane worked!

  6. Thanks for the help. However; I do have a question. Probably too tired to figure this out right now; but I am getting a message saying cannot open default email folders. Do you know what I’m doing wrong here? Thanks

  8. I have the same problem on Win xp with outlook 2010
    reset navpane runs but does not fix the errors
    ive done a repair from the add remove programs but still i get Cannot open the outlook window
    Im stumped
    anyone got an idea?

  9. ok, nevermind Im a dolt…
    removed recently added exchange server and outlook loads right up, go figure

  11. Thank you so much for the info on including the space for the resetnavpane command! it finally worked!

  12. Chris, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
    I couldnt get this to work until i read your breakdown of what to do, where to go, and what to type!

    and, as you said, BINGO!
    Outlook opens like magic!!!

  13. What IS it with Microsoft? Why is it such misery? Thank you all of you, here I was tearing my hair out as I live in remote France and rely on e-mails then I put in the outlook.exe/resetnavpane: clicked on the file like you said and all is well. I beging to believe it is a ploy to make us buy Office 2010

  14. Worked for me.

    Opened cmd windows.
    Navigated to d:program filesmicrosoft officeoffice12.
    Ran “outlook.exe /resetnavpane”.
    Opened Outlook.
    Voila!

    Thank you!!

  15. Note for Vista 64-bit users: – Chris’s step-by-step instructions are perfect except we need to specify Program Files (x86).

  16. I just did this on a Windows 7 machine and it worked, thank God! But make sure you run it from the command prompt–it will not work from the Run box, even if you navigate to outlook.exe.

    Thanks everyone!

  17. Thank you very much Chris. Although it took several attempts, it finally worked when I did it first running outlook.exe then adding the /resetnavpane while the error comment was still open.

    Many thanks!
    ChrisM

  18. Thanks for resetnavpane info – I used it a few weeks ago and it worked. However, Windows Vista decided to update itself on my computer, and the error message showed again. Resetnavpane has come to the rescue again and it works, but how can I stop this happening every time we get updates down the line?

  19. THANKS so much, Chris! Your step by step saved my emails and my sanity. This worked. My laptop took 20 minutes to boot (I thought it was a goner), then Outlook 2007 wouldn’t open. I followed your directions and Outlook opened fine, and no lost emails! Yay!! 🙂

  21. Thanks from me too. Couldn’t get it to work because I was reading the “_” in the instructions as an underscore when it is meant to be a space. All fixed. Ta

  22. Running outlook.exe /resetnavpane works well. I have ad to do this thr5ee times in the last thirty days. What is the cause of this and how do we prevent it happening in the future?

  23. I can kiss everyone. I was pulling out my hair. What worked for me was OUTLOOK.EXE /resetnavpane . You have to search for the run function in accessories in Win7. It was fixed instantly.

  24. The “outlook.exe /resetnavpane”. worked but it comes back when I turn my computer on! How do I stop this happening every time I turn on the computer?

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