If you’ve received the error seen above when opening Microsoft Outlook (Cannot start microsoft outlook. Cannot open the outlook window. The set of folders cannot be opened. The information store could not be opened.), there are a few things you can try to resolve the issue and get Microsoft Outlook working again. This error could be caused by an Outlook plugin or extension, a corrupted navigation pane, or a corrupted profile.
Corrupted Navigation Pane
If you suspect your navigation pane is corrupted, you can try this command to reset it. Right-click on your Start Menu, then go to Run (or press the Windows key + R). In the box, type outlook.exe /resetnavpane and click OK and see if Outlook will open.
Quit Lync or Skype for Business
If you’re a Lync or Skype for Business user, odds are that you have it setup to login when you start Windows. Unfortunately, quite a few users report this Outlook error when Skype for Business starts before Outlook does. You can right-click Skype for Business in the taskbar and select Exit to shut it down. Then try to open Outlook. If Outlook opens successfully, you can then restart Skype for Business. I would also suggest going into your Skype for Business settings and turning off the option to “automatically start the app when I log into Windows” and instead manually start Skype for Business after starting Outlook.
Create A New Outlook Profile
- Open control panel, search for ‘Mail’ in search bar in the control panel.
- When opened, click on Mail (Outlook 2016 32 bit) – It will show you settings of account, data files and Profile
- Click on ‘Show Profiles’ Button
- You can click on Add to add a new profile, then change the radio button to ‘Prompt for a profile to be used’
- Restart Outlook and select the new profile
- If this works, then setup your email accounts in your new profile and you can delete the old one later
Start Outlook in Safe Mode and Disable Add-Ins
- Right-click on Start and select Run (or press the Windows key + R)
- Type
outlook.exe /safeand click OK - If Outlook opens, click File > Options > Add-Ins (in the left pane) and under Manage at the bottom select COM Add-Ins and click Go
- Uncheck any add-ins you think might be causing an issue
Final Thoughts
If you were experiencing the “How To Fix Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window. The set of folders cannot be opened.” error in Microsoft Outlook, did one of these options resolve the issue for you? If so, please leave a comment below to help other users that find this article.
