How to Resolve the “Cannot Display the Folder. Microsoft Outlook cannot Access the Specified Folder Location” Error?

While accessing Microsoft Outlook, users sometimes encounter an error message saying, “Cannot display the folder. Microsoft Outlook cannot access the specified folder location. The operation failed. An object cannot be found.”  

This error can prevent the users from accessing their mailbox. There might various reasons behind this Outlook error. Below, we will look into the causes of this error and see how to troubleshoot and resolve it.

Reasons behind the “Cannot display the folder. Microsoft Outlook cannot access the specified folder location” Error

There could be many reasons that might lead to such an error in Outlook. Here are some possible reasons for the error:

1. Poor, slow, or no internet connectivity
2. Incorrect account settings
3. Faulty or incompatible third-party add-ins in Outlook
4. Incorrect configuration of Outlook account
5. Synchronization issues between Outlook and mailbox server
6. Corrupted or damaged installation files of Outlook program
7. Corrupted Outlook profile
8. Damaged or corrupted Outlook data file

Solutions to Fix “Cannot display the folder. Microsoft Outlook cannot access the specified folder location” Error

Sometimes, rebooting the system can resolve minor glitches in all the applications, including Microsoft Outlook. You can reboot your system and then launch Outlook to see if helps. Further, you can also check if your internet connection is stable and working properly. If the connection is slow or inconsistent, restart your router or contact your internet service provider to resolve the issue. If Outlook still shows the error, then follow the below methods.

Solution 1: Start Outlook with Administrative Privileges

This error can also pop-up if the user account used to access Outlook doesn’t have the necessary permissions for the folder containing the Outlook data file. You need to launch Outlook with administrative privileges. Here are the steps:

• Type Outlook in the Search tab of your system.
• Right-click on the Outlook icon and select Run as Administrator.

If the error persists, move to the next method.

Solution 2: Disable Problematic Add-Ins

Sometimes, third-party add-ins (if faulty or incompatible) can also interfere with the normal functioning of Outlook and cause this error. To check this, you can start Outlook in Safe Mode by following the steps given below:

• Close Outlook and then press Windows + R to open the Run dialog.
• Type Outlook /safe and click Enter.

If Outlook starts without any error in Safe Mode, this means that some problematic add-in was responsible for the issue. So, disable the add-ins by following these steps:

• Click File > Options. This will open the ‘Outlook Options’ window.
• Click ‘Add-Ins.’

• Go to the ‘Manage’ option at the bottom of the screen, select ‘COM Add-ins,’ and click ‘Go.’ This will open the list of all add-ins.

• Uncheck all the add-ins and click ‘OK’ to disable them.
• Now, restart Outlook normally.

Now, enable one add-in at a time and restart Outlook. This will help you find the one that was causing the error. After identifying the problematic add-in, remove it permanently.

Solution 3: Check Account Settings

If the Outlook settings, such as port number or DNS, are incorrect, it may disrupt the connectivity between Outlook and mail server, leading to this error. So, you can check and change your Outlook settings using the steps given below:

• Open the Outlook application. Navigate to File > Account Settings > Account Settings.

• Now, select the email account and click ‘Change.’ It will open the ‘Server Settings’ window.

• Here, select ‘More Settings’ and choose ‘Advanced’.

• Now, check the account settings. If required, change them. You can find the default Outlook account settings on the Microsoft website.

Note: If you are using Outlook account in an organization, contact your administrator.

Solution 4: Repair or Reinstall Outlook

Corrupt or damaged installation files of Outlook programs can also lead to such errors. Since Outlook is a part of the Microsoft Office suite, you can repair or reinstall Microsoft Office to resolve the issue. Here’s how to repair MS Office program:

• Open Control Panel on your system (press Windows + R, type control, and then hit Enter).
• On the Control Panel window, select Programs > Programs and Features.
• From the list of programs, find your Microsoft Office version and right-click it. Then, click Change.

• After that, select the Repair option and follow the prompts to complete the repairing process.

If repairing the Microsoft Office program doesn’t resolve the issue, you can reinstall the program. To safely perform the process, you can take the help of the Office Deployment Tool.

What if the Error is Still not Resolved?

If the above solutions fail to resolve the error, then it indicates problem with the Outlook data file. In such a case, follow the below solutions, depending on the type of account you’re using.

Solution 1: Recreate the OST File (For IMAP/Exchange/Outlook.com Account)

If you are using an IMAP, Exchange, or Outlook.com account, then you can recreate the Outlook data file (OST). To do this, follow the instructions given below:

• First,close your Outlook application. Then, go to the OST file location, which is by default located at C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook.

• Rename the existing OST file by adding .bak in its name or move the file to another location to create a backup of the file.

• Aftercreating the OST file backup, delete the file and start your Outlook application. As soon as you start Outlook, it will create a new OST and start synchronizing all the mailbox items from the server.

After the synchronization process is finished, check the new OST file for any missing emails or other mail items. If you find any missing items, then you can use a reliable OST to PST converter tool, such as Stellar Converter for OST to extract the missing items from the backup OST file and  save the extracted items to a PST file. You can then import this PST file into your Outlook profile to restore the missing items. This tool can also export OST items directly to an existing Outlook profile, Exchange, or Microsoft 365 account.

Solution 2: Repair the PST File (For POP3 Account)

If you’re using a POP3 account in Outlook, then you can repair the PST file to resolve the issues. For this, you can use Inbox Repair Tool or SCANPST.exe. This tool, which comes pre-installed with Microsoft Outlook, is designed to fix corruption and consistency issues in PST files. To use the Inbox Repair Tool, follow the instructions given below:

• Close Outlook and locate SCANPST.exe on your system. The location of the tool varies depending on the version of Outlook.

• Double-click SCANPST.exe to open it.

• Click Browse to select the PST file that you want to repair. The default location of PST file is: drive:\Users\<username>\Documents\Outlook Files or drive:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook.

• After selecting the PST file, click Start to initiate the scan. The Inbox Repair Tool may take some time to scan and detect the issues, depending on the size of PST file.

• After the scan is complete, it will show the number of inconsistencies found in the file. Now, click Repair. Before performing the repair, ensure that you select the option to create the PST file backup.

• After the completion of repair, restart Outlook.

Although the Inbox Repair Tool can fix corruption issues in PST file, it has certain limitations. It may become unresponsive while repairing a large PST file or fail to repair it altogether. Furthermore, it might also remove the unreadable items from the file, resulting in loss of important data. To repair the PST file with precision and integrity, you can use a specialized Outlook PST repair tool, such as Stellar Repair for Outlook. This tool can repair PST file, even with higher levels of corruption and without any file size limitation. After repairing, it saves the recovered mailbox items in a new PST file with absolute precision and integrity. Its instinctive user interface allows users, even with limited technical expertise, to perform repairing process with ease.

Conclusion

Microsoft Outlook can display “Cannot display the folder …” error due to several reasons as highlighted in this post. To resolve this error, you can follow the solutions depending on the cause behind the error. If you are using a POP3 account and the Outlook data file (PST) is corrupted, you can repair the file using the Inbox Repair Tool. However, if the Inbox Repair tool freezes or fails to repair your file, you can use a professional PST repair tool, such as Stellar Repair for Outlook. This tool can repair the corrupt PST file and restore all the mailbox items to a new PST file.

If you are using an IMAP, Exchange, or Outlook.com account, you can recreate or rebuild the Outlook data (OST) file. To do so, take the backup of the OST file and then delete it. When the OST file is recreated, remember to check for any missing items. If there are any, you can use a reliable OST to PST converter tool, like Stellar Converter for OST, to extract the missing items from the backup OST file.

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About The Author

Shivom Sharma

Translating tech talk into everyday language—because everyone deserves to understand their software.