How to Fix if Outlook Not Responding?

Outlook not responding

Are you having trouble with your Outlook program’s functionality like Outlook getting hanged at “Processing” screen, it has stopped functioning suddenly, or it is frequently hanging or freezing? These issues could be occurring due to different reasons. In order to help you overcome such problems in your Outlook account, you can follow the information provided below in this guide.

Ways to Overcome Outlook Errors

Clear “Processing” Error by Booting Outlook Program in Safe Mode

1.) Exit from your Outlook program on your computer and open it in Safe Mode by choosing any of the following options:

  • On your Windows 10 computer, you will need to go to the “Start” option and enter “exe/safe”. Then press the “Enter”. Key on your keyboard.
  • On your Windows 7 computer, you will need to go to the “Start” option. Enter “Outlook/safe” in the “Search programs and files” section and press the “Enter” key on your keyboard.
  • On your Windows 8 computer, you will need to go to the “Run” program. Enter “Outlook/safe” in the prompted space and press the OK
  • Next, you will need to close the Outlook program and then launch it normally. If the problem persists even after following the above-given steps, you will need to follow the next method provided below.

2.) Look for a Dialog Box Open

When you perform certain actions in your Outlook program, they may prompt for confirmation. For example, if you are trying to Dismiss All reminders’ list in your Outlook, it may prompt a notification to you that whether or not you are sure that you want to perform the action. If you do not choose an option from the dialog box at that time, you might not be able to do anything else. Therefore, it is important to make sure that there is no such dialog box running in the background. You can find such windows and boxes by pressing the Alt+Tab key on your keyboard. Pressing these keys will help you in switching from one window to another window, allowing you to locate the dialog box.

However, if you do not locate any dialog box, you can continue to the next step.

3.) Check if Outlook is Working on a Long or Large Process

If you are trying to remove or move a huge number of emails or files at once, this may make the Outlook appear frozen or stuck. In such a situation, it is best to wait for a while to allow the heavy operations to get completed. If the problem persists, you can move on to the next step.

4.) Install the Latest Windows and Office Updates

Every application including Outlook functions best when it is running the latest updates. In such a case, it is suggested to set the settings of Windows Update to automatic download and install updates. These updates are important as they help in fixing bugs, installing new features, and enhancing the performance of the application. In case your computer is already running with the latest version, but still, you are experiencing the problem, you can follow the next method.

5.) Repair Office Programs

Repairing your Office programs in your computer can also help in overcoming the issues like Outlook not responding, or hanging, or freezing. You can follow these steps to repair Office programs.

  • Exit any Office programs running on your system.
  • Next, you will need to go to the Control Panel section and choose Programs and Features.
  • Then, you will need to right-click on the Microsoft Office [Year] located in the list of installed programs. After that, click on the Change

In case this workaround also doesn’t fix the issue with your Outlook program, you can go to the next step.

6.) Repair Outlook Data Files

When you install an Office program on your computer, an “Inbox Repair Tool” by the name “SCANSPST.EXE” also gets installed with it. This Inbox repair tool helps in fixing the issue by scanning your Outlook data files and clearing the errors.

  • In order to get to the access Inbox Repair Tool, you will need to quit the Outlook and go to Repair Outlook Data Files (.pst and.ost).
  • On this page, you will need to follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process of repairing Outlook data files.

7.) Create a New User Profile

If these steps don’t clear the issue with your Outlook program, it is best to create a new user profile. As a profile on Outlook stores a variety of settings that are necessary for controlling how Outlook appears and functions, any sort of error in it can cause a problem with Outlook. Therefore, it is suggested to create a new profile if you are not able to identify the reason causing the issue. Here are the steps to create a new user profile.

  • Exit from Outlook program and follow one of the following steps:
  • For Windows 10, go to Control Panel > User Accounts > Mail > Show Profiles.
  • For Windows 8, you will need to go to Control Panel > Mail > Show > Profiles.
  • In Windows 7, you will need to select Start > Control Panel > Mail > Show Profiles.

2.) Next, you will need to click on the Add option and enter a profile name in the Profile Name field and select the OK option.

3.) Then, you will need to provide an email address and password for the primary email account and then go through the on-screen prompts to complete the new Outlook profile process.

4.) After you are done creating your profile, you will need to select “Prompt for a profile to be used” in the “Show Profiles” dialog.

5.) Then, you will need to start “Outlook” and select your new Outlook profile.

NOTE: if the problem clears after creating the new profile, remove your old profile in Show Profiles dialog.

So, these are the workarounds that you can follow to fix the “Outlook not responding” issue in your Outlook program.

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