Starting Outlook in Safe Mode

Every so often, for no apparent reason, Microsoft Outlook doesn’t quite start the way it should. Or worse maybe it doesn’t start at all. This may be caused by an Outlook add-in that for some reason isn’t working. Thankfully there is a way to fix this. It’s called “Safe Mode”. To start Outlook in Safe Mode do the following:

1. Make sure Outlook is not running.

    

2. For Windows XP and Windows 7 users click Start, and choose Run.

   

    

3. Type outlook.exe /safe as shown below.

   

    

4. Click OK.

    

5. Wait a few moments and Outlook should start.

    

   You should notice that the title bar tells you outlook is in safe mode.

   

    

For more information about Safe Mode check out these articles.

• About Office Safe Mode
• Starting Outlook in Safe Mode
• How to respond when you receive an “Outlook failed to start correctly last time” error message.