Fix: Outlook Intermittently Crashes While Composing Email or Replying to Certain Senders

Outlook may freeze, stop responding, or crash intermittently while composing emails or sending replies due to several reasons. This may occur in the middle of writing an e-mail or while adding attachment(s).

The problem could occur due to one or more of the following reasons:

• Problematic add-in(s)
• Outlook not updated
• Outlook is in use by another process
• Too large mailboxes
• Damaged MS Office installation
• Outlook data file corruption or damage
• Antivirus or antimalware conflicts with Outlook
• User profile is corrupt

How to Resolve Intermittent Outlook Crash

Before you troubleshoot the problem, make sure that your computer meets the minimum system requirement of Microsoft Outlook. There are several methods to resolve this issue, which are as follows:

Method 1: Switch to Safe Mode

To investigate possible add-in issues, try opening Outlook in safe mode.

Follow these steps:

• Press Windows+Rand type Outlook /safe
• Click ‘OK’ 

If Outlook works and doesn’t crash while composing or sending emails, follow these steps to disable add-ins.

• Go to File and click Manage Add-ins

• Disable the add-ins

Once add-ins removed, open Outlook and check if it works fine.

Method 2: Install Latest Windows Updates

Windows updates also bring fixes and security patches for other Microsoft applications such as MS Office. You may also manually check and update Outlook on your PC.

• Go to Settings>Update & Security and check for the latest updates. Install any pending updates, if available

After updating Windows, restart Outlook software and try to access the email folder.

Method 3: Create a New Outlook User Profile

If the above steps do not resolve the issue, try creating a new user profile in Outlook. Then check if it is working fine.

• Open Control Panel, click drop-down icon beside ‘View by:’ at the top left and choose ‘Small icons’

• Click on Mail and then click ‘Show Profiles…’

• Click ‘Add’

• Then type a name for the new profile and click ‘OK’

Set up your email account and check if Outlook works without crashing.

Method 4: Repair Office Programs

There could be a problem with the MS Outlook installation. You can fix this by repairing the MS Office.

• Open Settings>Apps and search office
• Click Microsoft Office… and click ‘Modify’

• Select ‘Repair’ and click ‘Continue’

• After the repair is complete, open Outlook and check if the problem persists

Method 5: Check If Antivirus Software Conflicts with Outlook

If you use antivirus software that includes Outlook integration, you may experience a few performance issues. This may sometimes cause Outlook to crash or stop responding.

Open your antivirus program and disable Outlook integration. Alternatively, you may also disable antivirus temporarily to check if the problem is resolved.

Method 6: Repair Outlook Data Files

Corrupt or damaged Outlook data files may also cause Outlook crash. To repair a damaged Outlook data file, you can follow these two ways:

1. Via SCANPST.EXE

SCANPST.EXE can help fix damaged or corrupt Outlook Data Files, i.e. offline Personal Storage Table (.PST) and Outlook Storage Table (.OST).

IMPORTANT NOTE: SCANPST.EXE can’t repair a PST file larger than 2GB. It also doesn’t support encrypted PST file.

Follow these steps to fix corrupt Outlook data file and resolve the Outlook crash error:

1. Right-click on Taskbar and select ‘Task Manager’
   1. Under the ‘Processes’ tab, right-click on Microsoft Outlook
   1. Choose ‘Open file location’
   1. Search and double-click on SCANPST.EXE to open it

• Click on the ‘Browse’ button and select the corrupt PST file

• Click ‘Start’

• After the scan, if SCANPST.EXE finds errors, click ‘Repair’

After successful repair, following message is displayed. Click ‘OK’ to close.

Restart Outlook to check if it still crashes while sending mails. In case the tool fails to fix the error, skip to next PST repair method.

• Using Outlook Repair Tool

A software such as Stellar Repair for Outlook can fix severely corrupt Outlook data files without any size limitation and with 100% precision. You can also repair encrypted PSTs and export them to existing PSTs or save as new Outlook PST file.

Follow these steps:

• Download and install Stellar Repair for Outlook software on your Windows PC
• Close MS Outlook and run the software
• Click on the ‘Browse’ button to choose the corrupt Outlook data file (.pst)

• Click on the ‘Repair’ button

• After the repair is complete, click ‘OK’
• Select all the mail items that you want to export and click ‘Save Repaired File’

• Choose the PST file format and choose a destination location on the PC or external media

• Click ‘Save’

You can now replace the corrupt or damaged Outlook data file (.PST) file with the repaired PST file. Alternatively, you may also import the new exported PST file to your MS Outlook account.

Conclusion

MS Outlook may crash or stop responding due to several reasons. However, the problem can be resolved by following a few manual troubleshooting methods discussed in the post. But if Outlook crashes intermittently while composing or sending emails, it indicates a severe issue with the user profile or Outlook data file that can be resolved by advanced repair solution.

The advanced repair solution involves Outlook data file repair with the help of an Outlook repair tool. The Stellar Repair for Outlook software extracts and restores mailbox data from corrupt PST file, with 100% precision and integrity.

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About The Author

Ravi Singh

Ravi Singh is a Senior Writer at Stellar®. He is an expert Tech Explainer, IoT enthusiast, and a passionate nerd with over 7 years of experience in technical writing. He writes about Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft 365, Email Migration, Linux, Windows, Mac, DIY Tech, and Smart Home. Ravi spends most of his weekends working with IoT (DIY Smart Home) devices and playing Overwatch. He is also a solo traveler who loves hiking and exploring new trails.