Occasionally the Outlook application may seem to hang up or take a lot of time to complete certain actions. In this article, we will offer you 12 effective solutions to improve its performance.
The MS Outlook application is often the default desktop platform for business communication for most companies. Its wide range of collaborative features, intelligent message alerts, and overall ease of use makes it an indispensable tool for office users. Yet, this versatile platform has its share of flaws. Occasionally it can become sluggish and may even tend to freeze up while you are working on it. To address such situations when Outlook is slow, we have offered below 12 effective solutions that can improve the performance of the application.
#1. Disable Add-ins in Outlook by Launching Outlook in Safe Mode
At times, add-ins in Outlook can severely impact its performance. To figure out the specific add-in which may be causing the issue, you need to open Outlook in Safe Mode by holding down the CTRL key and launching the application. If the application works flawlessly in Safe Mode, you need to iteratively disable one specific add-in at a time and then open the Outlook application in normal mode and check its performance.
#2. Archive Old Emails
Over course of time, your Inbox may end up containing thousands of emails. Hence it is an absolute must that you regularly Archive old emails. You may choose to enable the AutoArchive feature to ensure Outlook automatically archives old emails after a pre-set period of time. Or you can archive old emails manually.
#3. Apply all Window Updates
It is critical to apply all Windows updates and service packs that have been released for your operating system version. To do so, just type Check for Updates in the Run box and follow the onscreen instructions to install all applicable updates.
#4. Tweak Junk Email Options
While Junk Email Options in Outlook are designed to help you combat spam emails; in some cases, stringent settings can harm the performance of the application. To isolate this cause, change the level of protection in Junk Email Options to Low.
#5. Disable Hardware Acceleration
The hardware acceleration feature may at times impact the performance of MS Outlook. Try turning off the hardware acceleration feature and check if it helps in improving the performance of the application.
#6. Compact the Outlook Data File
The Outlook PST Data file needs to be periodically compacted to improve its efficiency. To do so, perform the steps listed below
- Open the Outlook Application and head to the File tab
- Under Info, Click on Account Settings and then click on Account Settings
- Head to the Data Files tab and double click the PST data file and then click on Settings
- Next click on Compact Now
#7. Delete Emails in Spam and Deleted Item Folders
When we normally delete emails from the Inbox in Outlook, they typically get moved to Deleted Items folder. Over time, you can end up storing numerous emails in it which you do not need. Similarly, your Spam folder may contain a whole bunch of junk emails. Such unnecessary emails tend to clog up the memory and can hamper the performance of the Outlook application. Hence make it a point to delete all emails present in the Spam and Deleted Items folders.
#8. Disable any Antivirus Program Running on Your System
In some scenarios, the antivirus application running on your system may come into conflict with the Outlook application and hamper its performance. It’s especially true when you have enabled email scanning by default. To isolate this possibility, try disabling the antivirus program.
#9. Repair the Outlook Application Files
In rare cases, some of the Outlook application files or related program files of MS Office may develop some errors. In such a scenario, you should consider repairing the program files of the Outlook application which are a part of the MS Office suite. Try out the steps listed below
- From the Start Menu in Windows, just launch Apps and Features
- Next, choose Microsoft Office and click on Modify button
- Just choose the Repair option from the displayed options to repair the Office application suite.
#10. Consider Building a New Outlook Profile
At times you may need to create a new Outlook profile to speed up the performance of the Outlook application. To do so, perform the steps listed below.
- Head to the Windows Search Box or Run Box from your desktop screen, type in Control Panel
- Next, open up the Control Panel App
- Head to the Search Box located towards the top right corner of the Control Panel screen, and just key in Mail
- When the Mail option is showcased, just click on it
- Next, in the Mail Setup – Outlook display screen, just click on Show Profiles
- Next, just click on Add and apply the onscreen instructions to build a New Profile and eventually associate your current Mail account with it.
#11. Repair the PST Data File Using a Specialized Tool
If the PST data file containing the email data in Outlook has developed some errors, it may impact the functioning of the Outlook application. Hence it is recommended that you run a top-of-the-line recovery application like DataNumen Outlook Repair to recover the contents of the compromised PST file. Once the new output file has been generated, just replace the original PST file with it.
#12. Use a Backup to Revert the System to a Previous State
In some cases, despite attempting all the solutions listed above, the Outlook application still may remain sluggish. In such a scenario, you should run the System Restore feature available in your Windows operating system and bring back the system to a previous date when Outlook was working in the desired manner.
