Outlook Keeps Crashing? Here Is How To Fix It!

Many users have reported that their Outlook keeps crashing when they try to access/read their emails, open attachments, or send new messages. Although Microsoft Outlook is a robust and reliable email client, some underlying issues with the email client, your Outlook profile, or the Outlook data file (.pst) that stores the mailbox items can lead to serious problems. 

Also, the Outlook crashing issue is not limited to any particular Outlook version or email account type. Users may encounter the problem in Outlook 2010, 2013, 2016, or 2019 irrespective of which email account they use.

When Outlook keeps crashing, users can't access their emails or send/receive new messages that can halt the daily activities or lead to other work-related problems. Thus, it's critical to resolve this issue asap.

In this article, we have shared some simple methods and tips to help you effectively troubleshoot and resolve the Outlook keeps crashing issue without any hiccups.

Methods to Fix Outlook Keeps Crashing Issue

If your Outlook has crashed and keeps crashing after the relaunch, try restarting your system. Sometimes Outlook crashing issues are temporarily caused by system-related problems. A quick restart might help you fix the issue without much trouble.

However, if the restart doesn't work and Outlook is still crashing repeatedly, follow these methods to troubleshoot and fix the issue.

Method 1: Disable/Remove Faulty or Incompatible Add-Ins

To check if faulty add-ins are causing the Outlook crash and fix it, follow these steps,

• Press Windows + R and type Outlook.exe /safe.

• Press the Enter key or click OK to run Outlook in safe mode.
• In Outlook safe mode, navigate to File> Options> Add-Ins.
• Look for the Manage Com-in Add text and click the Go button.

• Disable all the Add-ins and restart Outlook normally.
• Enable each add-in and then restart Outlook.
• If Outlook doesn't crash, enable another add-in and restart Outlook to check if it crashes.
• Repeat these steps and enable all add-ins until you find the faulty add-in causing an Outlook crash.
• Remove the add-in to fix the issue.

Method 2: Repair Microsoft Office

Damaged Outlook client program files may also cause issues in Outlook and lead to a crash. To fix any damaged or missing Outlook (Office) program files, you can repair the MS Office by following these steps,

• Press Windows + S, type ‘Control Panel’ and open it.

• Click Uninstall a program.

• Choose the Microsoft Office program and click the Change option.

• From the options, choose Repair and then click the Continue button.

Continue with the repair wizard to fix any issues with the Outlook client. After the Repair, restart the system and then re-open Outlook.

If the issue recurs, follow the next method.

Method 3: Create Outlook Profile

Outlook may crash if your profile is corrupt or damaged. To fix this, you may create a new Outlook profile and replace the damaged profile by following these steps,

• Open Control Panel and go to User Accounts > Mail.

• Click Show Profiles.

• Click Add…

• Enter a name

• Enter your username, email, and password and click Next.

• If prompted, enter your user credentials and click OK.
• Click Finish to complete the process.

Alternatively, you may also remove the corrupt profile. However, removing the profile will also remove the associated PST file. Thus, backup PST before removing the damaged or corrupt Outlook profile.

Method 4: Use MSRA

You may also use Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant or MSRA to find and fix issues causing Outlook to keep crashing. The steps are as follow,

• Download and launch MSRA for Outlook. Then, follow the instructions and install the application. 

• Follow the on-screen instructions to troubleshoot and fix the issue with Outlook.

If it finds any issues, it will display some possible solutions that you may apply.

Method 5: Repair the Outlook Data File (.PST)

When an Outlook data file is large or oversized, it can adversely impact Outlook performance, leading to an Outlook crash. However, you can find and fix errors in PST files using SCANPST.EXE or the Inbox repair tool. The steps are as follow,

• Go to Program Files or Program Files (x86)> Microsoft Office> Office16 or Office15 (based on your Outlook version and Windows build).

• Launch SCANPST.EXE and click Browse to select your PST file.

TIP: To locate the PST file, press Windows+R, type %localappdata%/Microsoft/Outlook, and press Enter.

• After selecting the PST file, click Start.
• If errors are found, click Repair.
• Wait for the tool to repair the PST file errors and inconsistencies. The tool may stop responding, which is normal. Wait for it to respond and complete the Repair.
• After the Repair, restart Outlook. The issue should be fixed if occurred due to a large PST file.

To avoid issues due to large PST files, you may backup and delete old emails or save attachments in a folder and delete them from email to keep the PST size under recommended limits.

To Wrap Up

The methods discussed in this article can help you troubleshoot and fix Outlook that keeps crashing even after the initial system reboot. However, if these methods do not resolve the Outlook crash issue or SCANPST.EXE fails to repair the PST file, you may use a third-party Outlook repair tool, such as Stellar Repair for Outlook to fix the Outlook data file (PST) corruption and fix the crash issue. Unlike SCANPST.EXE, the software does not have any file size limit and can efficiently repair large or severely corrupt PST files with complete integrity and precision.