How to Fix Microsoft Outlook Not Responding – Error Solved

Written By Edwin Stark
Updated on December 12th, 2024

Summary: If your Outlook freezes or hangs, at some point while using it and showing up error messages like Microsoft Outlook stops responding, Outlook stuck at processing, Outlook not responding, or Outlook stops working” then this post is for you. Therefore read it till the end to know the best effective solutions to fix this Outlook error using manual method and professional Outlook PST Repair. Sometimes it is extremely frustrating for some users and can also affect organizations enormously. In this article, we will consider the causes and solutions to resolve these issues. According to Microsoft, outlook keeps closing itself occur due to one or more of the afterward reasons. Let’s have a look at the list of reasons or causes for why MS Outlook Not Responding.

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Why Microsoft Outlook 2010 Stops Responding?

The user hasn’t installed the latest updates.
When Outlook is adding an attachment to a user’s mail.
Microsoft Outlook is in use by some other process or a program.
A newly installed add-in is interfering with Outlook (see below image).
Your mailbox has reached its maximum capacity.
Some Outlook data files are either broken or have become corrupt.
Interference due to an antivirus program.
Your user profile has become corrupt.
A conflict between Outlook and another program.

How to Fix Outlook Not Responding Window 10 Manually

This blog will discuss the two approaches to fix Microsoft Outlook’s not responding error. Firstly, the Manual Method is quite difficult for non-technical users. At the same time, the second method is highly recommended by professionals that can fix this error with the help of an automated tool. So apply the mentioned methods to fix outlook not responding without any trouble.

1. Opening Outlook in Safe Mode

There is a powerful chance that the Add-ins are making Outlook run abnormally. It is then suggested to run Outlook in safe mode. To enter safe mode, hold the CTRL key and left-click the Outlook icon. When you open Outlook in safe mode, you will see the safe mode mentioned in the title bar in parenthesis (see below).

2. Disable your Outlook Add-ins

In the previous method, operating Outlook in the safe mode might solve the hang issue, but it also disables all the Add-ins at the same time. In this way, you can pinpoint the Add-in which is liable for these issues. Click File > Options. This will open the Outlook Options Dialog box. In Manage, click Add-ins > Go. Doing this will open another dialog box, which has a record of all the add-ins. You can check/ uncheck the Add-ins one by one to find which add-in is creating the difficulty.

3. Safely End Outlook in Case of Software Hang

Seldom when you try to terminate Outlook it doesn’t end on the first try; therefore you continuously try to close the program diverse times which produces the hang. In this situation, you can run the ‘Task Manager’ and select Outlook, and hit ‘End process.’

4. Close all Other Memory-Intensive Programs

As compared to other applications, Outlook is the most complicated and memory-intensive program. Due to this confinement, it sometimes hangs or freezes. Therefore it is suggested to stop or end all the memory-intensive programs before operating Outlook on your machine. You can appropriately terminate the expected program by ending it via Task Manager, as described earlier.

5. Repair Outlook Data Files

Outlook comes with an inbuilt repair tool called Scanpst.exe to repair your Outlook data files (.PST or .OST) if damaged. In order to run this repair tool, you need to close Outlook first. For Outlook, 2019, 2016 and Office 356 Scanpst.exe can be discovered here-

(Any version) C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\office16\

For MS Outlook 2016 and 2019, it can be found here-

(32 bit) C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15\
(64 bit) C:\Program Files (x86) \Microsoft Office\Office15\

After starting the Scanpst.exe, choose the Outlook data file which you want to repair.

Shortly, a popup box will show you the status of the repair process.

6. Disable your Anti-Virus Program

Most of the time, it is the struggle between the anti-virus program and add-ins, which makes Outlook stops responding, freeze, or hang. You can try updating your anti-virus program. If doing this doesn’t solve this problem, then try disabling the anti-virus program and check whether Outlook runs without any delays.

7. Repair your MS Office Suite

Now if you attempted all the overhead methods with no luck, then you should check out this method.

In the Control panel, click Programs and Features -> MS Office suite -> hit Change.

Clicking on Change will open a Dialog box. Choose the appropriate option accordingly.

Professional Methods to Resolve Microsoft Outlook Not Responding

If you tried all the above methods with no luck, as a last resort, you should consider using a reliable third-party software such as SysInfoTools Outlook PST Repair. It can fix & repair PST files of any size as it not limited by file size. You can later save the retrieved PST files in various formats such as PST to MSG, PDF, MBOX, CSV, etc. Users can also Export the recovered PST files to Office 365, web-enabled email services, and Exchange Server.

Conclusion

We have discussed various methods to resolve the ‘Outlook Not Responding’ issue associated with Outlook. Common methods might not work in this case; hence, it is advised to try using PST repair tools such as Microsoft’s Scanpst.exe or a reliable third-party tool such as SysInfoTools Outlook PST Repair.

About The Author:

Edwin Stark

Edwin Stark is a Technical Content Writer who specializes in writing about databases, e-mail recovery, and e-mail migration solutions. He loves researching and developing content that helps database administrators, organizations and novices to fix multiple problems.