Outlook 2019 - Cannot start Microsoft outlook. Cannot open the outlook window. The set of folders cannot be opened.

Question

Hello,

I have a user running Office 2019 (retail) using 365 mailbox. When she tries to open Outlook, she gets the message "Cannot start Microsoft outlook. Cannot open the outlook window. The set of folders cannot be opened."

The general fix for this is to create a new profile. I've done this 3 times now, and Outlook will work until the machine is shut down. When it comes back up, this happens. I'm making new profiles for her on a daily basis now. None of the other users have this problem. I have also tried the /resetnavpane switch which I have seen in a lot of replies, but it doesn't help.

Any help will be appreciated.

Many thanks,
Tim

Answer 1

Hi @Tim Toles ,

Did this issue occurred only recently? If so, have you performed any specific operations before it(such as install any add-ins, change the data file settings or others)?
Due to this issue only occurred on this specific user, have you checked if there are any differences between her client and other users' (such as client version and if she has installed any other add-ins or programs).

I've done this 3 times now, and Outlook will work until the machine is shut down.

Could it work normally if you don't shut down your machine and just close and restart your Outlook client? If it would only be affected when you shut down the machine, I think the issue may be related to your machine instead of Outlook client, there may be any programs or errors that affect your Outlook profile or data files, which causes you couldn't open Outlook normally. It's suggested to switch to other Windows profile to check if the issue has any difference.

If the issue would also occur when you restart the Outlook, it may be related to your Outlook client. In order to avoid the interference of Outlook add-ins, it's suggested to restart your Outlook client in safe mode to check if the issue has any difference(Windows +R> type "Outlook.exe /safe">enter).

Also, for Microsoft 365 users, we actually supply SaRA tool that works by running tests to figure out what's wrong and offers the best solution for the identified problem, please kindly download and check if it could fix your issue.

If your issue has any update, please feel free to post back.

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Answer 2

Well, I posted a reply to the original response, but it seems to have disappeared, so I'll try again.

Tried safe mode and SaRA, safe mode yielded the same results and SaRA didn't come up with anything meaningful. There are no add-is. As I mentioned in the original question, I have created new profiles about 5 times. As I also mentioned, there are 2 user accounts on the original laptop, and they both have 3 mailboxes. Once user has no problem at all with Outlook, using the same client application and same machine. That pretty much rules out Outlook or the machine being the cause. I set this user up on a brand new machine yesterday. Fresh download of Office 2019. Configured the mailboxes and let it download the content from Exchange. Once all folders were current, I closed Outlook waited a minute or so and fired it up again. Same problem, again. New machine, new Outlook client.

Pretty much has to be an Exchange issue.