Use this article if Outlook on your computer freezes, stops responding, keeps closing, or shows a "Microsoft Outlook Inbox Repair" message.
Try these steps in order
- Close Outlook and reopen it. If it will not close, right-click the taskbar, open Task Manager, select Microsoft Outlook, and choose End task.
- Restart your computer. Choose Start, Power, Restart rather than Shut down so pending updates finish installing.
- Check whether you are using new or classic Outlook. Look for the "New Outlook" switch in the top-right corner of the window. If problems started after switching to new Outlook, turn the switch off to go back to classic Outlook and tell IT which version was having problems.
- Check that you are only signed in on one computer. If you use Outlook on more than one computer (for example, at two buildings), close it on the computer you are not using. Being signed in at another location has caused Outlook to stop working.
When to contact IT
Open a ticket if any of these are true:
- You see the "Inbox Repair" message. IT will usually rebuild your Outlook profile, which fixes it without losing email.
- Outlook still freezes after a restart. IT may reinstall Outlook or free up space on your computer.
- A recurring meeting behaves strangely when you edit it (for example, sending many updates). Include the meeting name and what you changed.
In your ticket, include your computer or CPU number, when the problem started, and a screenshot of any error.
Common questions
My Outlook calendar stopped syncing to my phone's calendar app. Open the Outlook app on your phone, go to Settings, select your work account, and make sure "Sync calendars" is turned on. If it already is, turn it off and back on. If it still does not sync, open a ticket and include your phone model.
Emails I send from a shared mailbox only appear in my own Sent Items. This is a mailbox setting that IT changes for the whole shared mailbox. Open a ticket with the shared mailbox name.
I received a Teams meeting invite I did not expect. If you do not recognize it, do not click links inside it. You can decline or delete it, or forward it to the help desk if it looks suspicious.