How to Start Outlook as a Fresh New Install
When problems are encountered, many people resort to uninstalling/re-installing Microsoft Office/Outlook in hopes that the problem will be eliminated.
If the problem being encountered is related to the Outlook profile in any way, or more specifically related to email account issues, uninstalling/re-installing Outlook serves absolutely no purposes and is a complete waste of time. Outlook profiles do not get deleted when Outlook is uninstalled/re-installed. These profiles persist from one Outlook installation to another so whatever issues may exist, will remain. It is this behaviour that allows for the seamless “in place” upgrade from one Outlook version to another on the same machine.
To start Outlook cleanly avoiding any issues that may exist in a given profile, the simplest solution is to create a new profile using the Control panel <Mail applet>. Outlook should be closed before this is done. After the Outlook profile is created, be sure to set the new Outlook profile as the new default for Outlook to use the next time it’s opened.
Another good practice to follow when upgrading from one version of Outlook to another is to make a “copy” of the existing default Outlook profile using the Control Panel <Mail applet> prior to upgrading and make this copy the new default. The reason for taking this step is in the event of ever uninstalling the new version and re-installing the previous version avoiding potential issues that may occur if changes are made to the profile by the newer Outlook version. In this way, you can revert to the actual Outlook profile that was in use for the Outlook version being installed.
The location of the Control Panel <Mail Applet> depends on the operating system in use:
- Win ‘XP –> Control Panel –> User Accounts
- Win ‘Vista 32bit –> Control Panel –> Additional Options-> View 32-bit Control Panel Items
- Win ‘Vista 64bit –> Control Panel –> User Accounts
- Win ‘7/8 –> Control Panel — User Accounts and Family Safety
Information on how to create an Outlook profile
How to create profile and set up an e-mail account in Outlook
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/829918
Important things to remember
With the introduction of Outlook ‘2013, it is now possible to have to versions of Outlook installed on your system which is the default result when doing an in place upgrade of Outlook on the same machine using the <Click-2-Run> version of Outlook (which would applicable to anyone who does not have an MSDN subscription or otherwise have corporate access to the stand-alone Office .msi installer).
If there are two versions of Outlook installed on the system, two different <Mail> applets will be available in the Control Panel. The one related to Outlook ‘2013 will be clearly identified as such and the other will be for the original Outlook version. Making a change or creating a new profile only applies to the profile data of the Mail app you selected.
Category: Outlook - How To
