How to fix Outlook 2013 crashing issues

Have you received an error message: "Outlook not responding" while you tried to open or send a mail? Or have you faced MS Outlook crashing issues? 

There are number of reasons of above error message or Outlook crashing:

• Outlook is in use. 
• Outlook mailbox may be too large.
• Outlook data files may have been corrupted.
• Need to repair your Office programs.
• User profiles may have been corrupted.
• Any Program conflicting with Outlook.
• Add-in may be interfering with Outlook. 

Outlook is in use:

If Outlook is in use by another process then it will hang or Outlook may not respond. There are many features available in Outlook which uses a large amount of resources such as the Outlook AutoArchive feature etc.  To get rid of Outlook crashing issues, don’t use such type of feature which makes Outlook lengthy. You can check Outlook task process in the horizontal status bar at bottom of the screen. So first check this bar & Let the finish its job before attempting other actions.

Check Outlook mailbox is get oversized

As your mailbox size gets oversized then you can face performance issues during various Outlook operations. To decrease the size of mailbox, move items to large folders.

First create a folder: 

• Click on Folder tab & then click New Folder.
• Now enter the name of the folder.
• Select the location for the new folder & then click OK.

Now all your items have been move to new folder. 
After that delete all items that you do not want to keep by using Deleted Items folder option. You can also compact your data files to reduce the size of Outlook mailbox. Use following steps: 

• Click on File tab >> Account Settings. 
• On the Data Files tab option, click the data file that you want to compact.
• Click Settings>> Compact Now.

Same options can be use for offline Outlook Data File (.ost) but this option does delete or compact items saved on the computer running Microsoft Exchange Server. 

Repair Outlook data files

One common reason of Outlook crashing is Outlook data files corruption. You can repair your corrupt Outlook data files by using Inbox Repair tool (scanpst.exe).  You can also use online pst repair tools to repair corrupt Outlook data file. 

Repair your Office programs

When your Outlook is not responding then this issue can also fix by repairing your Office programs. Here are all steps: 

1. First stop all running Microsoft Office programs.
2. Open Control Panel>>Add or Remove Programs. 
3. Then click Microsoft Office 2013 or Microsoft Office 2010, and then click Repair.

If your User profile get corrupted, Create new profile

One another reason of Outlook crashing is Outlook user file corruption. 

Use following steps to create new user profile:

1. Control Panel>>Programs>> User Accounts
2. Click Mail to open Mail items.
3. Click Show Profiles.
4. Select desired profile and then click Remove.
5. Now click Add. & type a name for the profile.
6. Add user name, the primary SMTP address, password, and then click next.
7. Then click to select the don’t ask me about this again checkbox, and then click Allow.

You have successfully created Outlook user file. 

Check if Any Program conflicting with Outlook

When we start Windows, many applications start automatically. These applications may interfere with Outlook performance. To resolve outlook issue, Start-up or "clean boot" will help to identify problems with conflicting programs. 

There is one another possibility that you are using Startup option in System Configuration. If you want to run startup program when you restart Windows just select a check box in System Configuration, otherwise startup program won't run.

Use following steps: 

1. Control Panel>>System and Security>>Administrative Tools>> System Configuration. 
2. General tab>> Selective startup, and then uncheck the Load system services and the Load startup items check boxes.
3. Select Load system services check box, click OK, and then click Restart.
4. If Outlook still hangs then you have Identify the system service that is causing the problem. To do so use following steps:

a. System Configuration>>Services tab>> Disable all
b. Choose the check box for the first service that is listed. 
c. Restart the computer

If the problem get resolve it means first service cause the problem. To fix the problem, eliminate the first service as the cause of the problem. If problem still occurs continue with the next step: 

d. Now select the second service check box, and then restart the computer.
e. Repeat this process until you fix the Outlook issue.  

If above all steps get failed to fix the issue then identify the startup item that is causing the problem:

f. System Configuration>>General tab>>Select Load startup items check box.
g. Startup tab>> Disable all
h. Choose the check box for the first service that is listed. 
i. Restart the computer

If the problem gets fixed then first service causes the problem. To fix the problem, eliminate the first service. If problem still occurs continue with the next step: 
j. Select the second startup item check box, and then restart the computer. 
k. Repeat these steps until you resolve the problem.

Check if any Add-in interfering with Outlook

Check if problem occurs due to add-ins. Please use following steps: 

1. Use following steps depending on the windows versions: 
If you are using Windows 8 click Search & then Type Run in the search box, and click Run.
If you are using Windows 7 or Windows Vista, click Start.
If you are using Windows XP, click Start, and then click Run.
2. Then Type Outlook /safe, and then click OK.
3. Now click Options, and then click Add-Ins.
4. Select COM Add-ins, and then click Go.
5. Clear all the check boxes in the list, and then click OK.
6. Restart Outlook.

These steps will help to find out which add-in is causing the problem.

Outlook crashes are caused by different reasons as I explained above. Above are the most common reasons of Outlook crashing. Hope the article will help you to fix Outlook crashing issues. 

Infographics – MS Outlook 2013 Apps

Outlook apps help users to speed up the way you access information on the web.  There are many apps available on MS Office Store that divided in to three categories that is featured, free, most downloaded apps.

You can find many exciting apps at the Office Store from here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-001/store/apps-for-outlook-FX102825292.aspx

How to add Apps:

1. In Outlook 2013, click File > Manage Apps.

2. Click on ‘Find more apps for Outlook at the Office Store’.

3. Now click on the app that you want to add, and then click Add.

How to Start app for MS Outlook 2013:

1. First open your email message where app is active.

2. Now click on app name to open it.

Featured Apps for Outlook

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is one of the important app for the users to search a new job or to search a candidate for best fit to the organization. For this users or recruiters have to maintain their LinkedIn profile to build networks and stay in touch with more & more contacts. By adding this app, you can integrate all the information available in your LinkedIn profile within your Outlook. For example you can check your Outlook contact list with information from your contact’s LinkedIn profile.  You can also add new contacts in a single click. You can also check your LinkedIn contacts information about where they work and what they are doing.

Yesware

This app is best for the salespeople and business owners. You can easily find information about your customers including location, social media presence, recent tweets & many more. You can also check that when your customer read your email. There are many features available in Yesware, you can check it by download it on your Outlook.

Insightly

This app helps users to create tasks, opportunities, projects, and events within your Outlook. You can also check Insightly contact information for email senders and recipients within Outlook.

Nimble

This app helps you to merge your email, social signals, activities and you can easily follow-ups all these activities in one place. This App is not fully supported on Firefox.

Sage One

Sage One is award-winning accounting, payroll and CRM software. This app connects directly with Sage One online and shows your customers or suppliers details directly into your Outlook. You can easily check your client information such as financial summary, Payroll summary, your clients’ last payroll run within your Outlook. For this, you only need a Sage One account. Visit uk.sageone.com to find out more and to sign up for your account.

New Apps for Outlook

Package Tracker

Now you can track your FedEx tracking number inside your Outlook mailbox with the help of this app. This app is available for Outlook and Outlook Web App both users.

Yammer Feed

You can integrate the Yammer User Feeds with their Outlook by using this app. You can check contacts from to: and cc: line and get information about their user feeds.

RedCritter Accolades

RedCritter Accolades use to send an accolade from your Outlook inbox. With the help of this app, you can view any email sender's RedCritter profile in your inbox. So first create your own RedCritter profile to share your profiles and rewards with your friends. This app is for Outlook 2013, Office 365 and even with the Microsoft OWA App for iPhone and iPad users.

SPHINXprojects

For using this app, first you need to sign up for a SPHINXprojects account.  After creating your account, you will receive an email with credentials. You can easily login to this app by using these credentials. After login, you can view SPHINXprojects information in the app that is presented in several tiles. These tiles contain contact information, the status, project completion, person responsible and delivery date of the project.

Agito Outlook Meeting Organizer

With the help of this app, you can easily create meeting, prepare meeting material, create task etc. You can create meetings in Outlook calendar simply with drag and drop. This app is available for Outlook 2013 and Office 365 users and can also be used on tablets and mobile phones.

Top Downloaded Apps for Outlook

LinkedIn: All information mentioned above.

Messageware TakeNote

This app helps user to add private, contextual notes to an email and also add its sender. You can easily view and edit your notes directly from your Outlook and also add ideas and comments.  These ideas & comments are easily accessible whenever or wherever you want to. Your data is store confidentially within your mailbox.

Message Header Analyzer

This app uses EWS to retrieve the transport message headers of an e-mail message and also shows message in easy to read format.

Messageware Utility Belt

This app is available for OWA and Outlook users. With the help of this app, you can check various information such as the time in overall world and country and regional dialing codes to help you connect easily with your business and personal contacts. You can also access calculator, interactive calendar, and stop watch timer by using this app.

URL Information

With the help of this app, you can check Url details without leaving your email client & can also open the Urls in a separate window. This app only works when your email message contains any Urls.

To running Apps for Outlook, you need Outlook 2013 or Outlook Web App connected to a mailbox running on Exchange Server 2013. Try & install some exciting apps and give us your feedback in blog comments!!  

How to use Gmail with Outlook 2013

Do you want to secure your Gmail messages? If yes then you can do it by configuring your Gmail in Outlook. If you use outlook with Gmail then it stores all your Gmail messages backup on your computer.  You can setup your Gmail in Outlook either using POP3 or IMAP. Let’s discuss about POP3 & IMAP one by one. 

If you setup your Gmail in Outlook 2013 using POP3 then when you view your mails, first it will be downloaded on your system. If in nay condition you lose access to your Gmail account then you will still have a copy of your mails inside Outlook. Either you read or delete an email in Outlook, it will be marked as unread or undelete on your Gmail account.  

If you setup your Gmail in Outlook 2013 using IMAP, it is just oppose to POP3. If you read any mail then will download anything on your computer. By using IMAP, you can access your e-mails through different devices like iPhone, tablet, laptop, PC & everywhere else. If you read or delete any message anywhere, it shows deleted & marked as read in your Gmail account also. It is also no matter from where you access your Gmail accounts; changes are same as your Outlook. 

Set up Gmail using POP3

To set up Microsoft Outlook, first you need to enable POP on your Gmail Account. First login on your Gmail account & then click on small gear-shaped icon at top right corner of your screen. From here, click on Settings from the drop down menu. 

Then click on ‘Forwarding and POP/IMAP’ option. 

In this section, under POP download, either select the option ‘Enable POP for all mail’ or Enable POP for mail that arrives from now on. So choose option according to your need. From here, you can also set the options with the Gmail messages that are accessed with POP3.  You can select one of the desired options from the list:  

1. Keep copies of messages on your Gmail inbox.
2. Mark mails as read.
3. Automatically move e-mails to the archive.
4. Delete the messages on G-mail.

After selecting all the options, click on save changes. 

Add your Gmail account to Outlook 2013: 

First open Outlook 2013 & then click on “File” tab.

Now click on Account Information & then click on “Add Account” option. 

Select “Manual setup or additional server types” option & then Click on “Next”.

In Choose Service window, click on “POP or IMAP” option and then click on “Next”

In the next window, Enter your name and email address Select POP3 as the account type. Enter the value of incoming mail server as pop.gmail.com and outgoing mail server as smtp.gmail.com. In Login information, enter your Gmail username and password & then click on more settings. 

Click on Outgoing server and click on checkbox enable ‘My Outgoing server requires authentication & then select the first option Use same settings as my incoming mail server. 

Now click on Advanced option tab and enter the incoming mail server port number as 995 and click on checkbox this server requires an encrypted connection. After that enter the outgoing mail server port number 465 and select SSL option from the drop down menu & then click on OK. 

Now Gmail first settings window will be open & then click on Next. 

Now you will get a test message on your Outlook 2013 inbox!!

Set up Gmail using IMAP

Follow step 1 just like POP3 option & then On ‘Forwarding and POP/IMAP’ window, click on Enable IMAP under IMAP Access option. 

Repeat all the steps just like POP3, only you need to select IMAP as the account type.

Now click on More Settings option & then click on Advanced tab. enter the incoming mail server port number as 993. After that enter the outgoing mail server port number 25 and select SSL & TLS option from the drop down menu & then click on OK.

Now it will navigate you to Add Account screen. Click on Next to complete the Gmail account set up. 

Here is the full screen of Gmail account in Outlook 2013.

From here you can easily send and receive messages. 

Google Calendar in Outlook 2013

If you want to share your appointments & schedules with your friends or others then you can easily do it by using Google Calendar with the Outlook. For this Google Apps sync use calendar data between Outlook and Gmail along with email, contacts, notes and tasks. In this process, a new Outlook profile created with a PST file which stores all your Google calendar data. This is compatible with Windows XP , Windows Vista & Windows 7. But it is  It is not compatible with Windows 8. 

How to configure Google Apps settings to permit calendar synchronization with Outlook

How to install Google App Sync:

Have you received this error message while staring installation of Google App:

"Unable to set up a Google Apps Sync account while Microsoft Outlook is runnings”

This message occurs when you are trying to install Google App when the Outlook is running so first Close Outlook & then proceed to the next step.

Now download Google App from this link: 

https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gappssync/

When you open this link, you will see below picture. Click on Download button to download Google App.

Next screen will come like this:

If the download process is not get completed then click on “click here” link as shown in above picture. 

After the successful installation of program, you will see this window:

After that Click on Close, and move to next step.

In next step, you will see below window which will prompt a sign in window of Google Apps account. Enter your maid id & password & then click to continue to move on next step.

After clicking on Continue button, Setup Google Apps window will open. In this step, create a Google Apps profile in Outlook which has an option to import data from an existing profile. You can import your existing Outlook calendar from your profile to new created Outlook profile. So click on “Import data from an existing profile” check box including “Calendars” check box & then click on create profile button. 

Here is status screen on your migration process:

After completing successful migration process, you will receive this message window:

After clicking on OK button, you will see this window:

Click on Done & you will see that migration has successfully completed!! Now click on "Start Microsoft Outlook". 

Now next window will open to choose the profile that you want to use. Click on Ok button. 

Now open Outlook & you can view the calendar same as in an Exchange account. 

New Look of Outlook: Outlook 2013

Microsoft added many new advanced features in MS Outlook 2013. You can install this new version of MS Outlook on your Windows 7 and Windows 8 systems. If you are a XP and Vista user then you have to upgrade your OS to install this latest version. Let’s have a look of its new interface.    

Outlook 2013 Interface: Here is the first look of Outlook 2013 Interface: 

File tab/Backstage: After clicking the File tab, you can open the backstage view where all your Account Information will display. You can easily print & manage your accounts & also set preferences with the help of this option. 

Quick Access Toolbar: Just like older versions, Send/Receive All Folders and Undo command are available in this option.

Message List: You can see list of all messages in this section. You can set it according to your requirements.

Instant Search Box: You can easily search a particular item in this section. 

Help Icon: All information about Outlook 2013 is available in this section. 

To-Do Bar: It displays the combination of Tasks, People and Calendar.  

You can check all other interface changes in the above picture. 

New Advanced Features of Outlook 2013: 

Exchange ActiveSync (EAS): 

 

With this feature, you can connect Outlook 2013 to services such as Hotmail, Outlook.com to access your emails, calendar, contacts and tasks.  You can add a new Hotmail or Outlook.com account by simply clicking on ‘add a new account’ option. After that in ‘Add Account dialog’ option, specify your name, Hotmail or Outlook.com email address and password.

SharePoint Integration:


 



Outlook 2013 has better SharePoint integration to connect your SharePoint content with Outlook. You can view all your SharePoint document files such as calendar, library, and contact lists etc within the Outlook.


People Card:

 

This feature is one of my favorite feature in MS Outlook 2013. In this section, you can find all information about your contacts. This feature collects all details about your contacts like their phone number, email address, company information, and social media updates. From their card, you can easily send instant messages, schedule meetings & also perform many other tasks.

Weather Bar:





Weather Bar provides the information about your local weather condition so you can plan for any meeting and appointments accordingly. In this section, by default it provides a three day forecast by default.  You can also check the weather report of multiple cities at one place by adding multiple locations. You can add as many cities as you want to by clicking ‘Add new locations’. 

Social Connector:

 

You can easily connect your social media accounts with Outlook 2013. So you can check all your contacts social media activities in your Outlook mail application.

To link a social media account first select File > Info > Account Settings >Social Network Accounts as clearly shown in the above image. After that connect your social media account such as LinkedIn, Facebook or any other desired service by typing your account details, and giving Outlook permission to access your account. 

New Improved IMAP: 

Microsoft improved IMAP support in MS Outlook 2013. It started to support many new features such as:

• In earlier version when Syncing is in process, you cannot use MS Outlook but in new version you can use both function side by side. 
• Supports New mail notifications 
• Choose as many mail as you want to sync 

Two features that are still not supported in Outlook 2013 for IMAP are:


• Does not support Download Headers Only mode  
• Categories is not supported  


Discontinued Features in Outlook 2013: 

Meeting Workspace Feature:

The Meeting workspace feature is discontinued in Outlook 2013. In this feature, workspace stores the information, such as attendees, date, time, and location. So if you need any information for meetings, you can add it to the Quick Access Toolbar but in this version, it is not possible.

Outlook Mobile Service (OMS):

In this feature, you can communicate mobile devices with Outlook. This feature is also discontinued in Outlook 2013.  

Calendar publishing:

In Outlook 2013, you can publish calendars to Office.com.  

Journal and Notes:

The Journal section is not available in Outlook 2013. Notes Section is still available, but all options are gone for both the sections.

Suggested contacts:

Suggested Contacts feature is not available in your Contacts list.
  
Import/Export from applications:

Import & Export options are discontinued in Outlook 2013.

Conclusion:

Overall, we are impressed by new polished version of MS Outlook. Features like People Card, Social Connectors are awesome but in my opinion some of the discontinued features are need to be added in this version.