Oct 22, 2018 Specifically, Outlook performs slowly when you open email messages, and mail sits for a long time in the Outbox after you send it. A resolution is provided. Outlook performance is slow in the Office 365 environment. It’s annoying enough to wait for Outlook to open for a few minutes. Because you may use Outlook often, delay may accumulate resulting in lost productivity. In this article let us explain some easy ways to fix Microsoft Outlook slow loading issues. Related: Fix Microsoft Word slow loading issues.
- Microsoft Outlook 2010 Slow To Open
- Microsoft Outlook Running Slow
- Microsoft Outlook 2010 Slow Response
- If the new profile allows Outlook to to perform normally, you can look at moving your data across to the new profile. This Microsoft Article has further information: Move Outlook information to another computer that has Outlook 2010 installed. If Outlook will still continues having issues move onto the nest section: Repair Outlook via the Installer.
- Microsoft Outlook 2010 is running too slow. Resolution By default, Outlook 2010 downloads both the emails and the attachments for every folder. As a result, users with mailboxes larger than 1 GB may find that Outlook takes a long time to download their messages. Previous versions of Outlook only downloaded the message headers by default.
What's Hot at TechRepublic
If you've used Microsoft Outlook for a while, you know that it can slow down... way down. In fact, when not looked after, Outlook can become nearly useless. Fortunately, there are several things you can do to make Outlook not only usable, but significantly improved. And none of these techniques requires a single configuration change to your Exchange server (IMAP or POP3).
Of course, some of these suggestions might seem to have a bit more 'duh' factor than others. But you never know what level of skills you're dealing with, so we'll cover all the bases. In the end, you should have a much faster Outlook experience.
LEARN MORE: Office 365 Consumer pricing and features
1: Update Windows
Many people don't realize that with Windows updates, the updates for Microsoft Office are also 'hidden.' But it's not just the Office updates that can help speed up Outlook. Make sure you allow the updates to happen. Why? There are times when Microsoft might update Exchange. In some cases, those updates can either break or cause problems with the communication between Outlook and Exchange. Or Microsoft might issue a patch to the application to resolve a speed issue or security hole.
2: Download complete items
When you connect Outlook with either IMAP or POP3, you should have Outlook set up to download the complete message (instead of just the header). If you do this, Outlook won't have to sync with the server every time you click on a new item (as it will already be in the data file.) How you do this will depend upon which version of Outlook you're using. But basically, you're looking for the setting Download Complete Item Including Attachments.
3: Archive your Inbox
I can't tell you how many times I see clients with thousands upon thousands (and in some cases tens of thousands) of emails in their Inbox. This can cause serious issues, especially when using PST files. Instead of just letting those Inbox folders grow to outrageous proportions, set up auto archiving so that your Inbox retains only a portion of those emails. I like to tell clients to keep the current and previous months' email in the Inbox and archive everything else. When you archive, you effectively create a new data file, so Outlook doesn't have to strain against the weight of an oversize PST or OST file
4: Use Cached Exchange Mode
If you use Cached Exchange Mode in Outlook, you effectively take the data file from the server (PST) and cache it on your local machine (OST). This can go a long way toward speeding up your Outlook experience because Outlook doesn't have to read its data file across a network. Instead, all it has to do is read the locally stored data file. This option (obviously) is available only when connecting Outlook with an Exchange server.
5: Compact your PST file
When the Outlook PST file gets out of hand, a built-in tool can keep the size of that file under control. One of the issues is that even when you delete email from your Inbox, the size of the PST file may remain the same. If you're using Outlook 2010, you can go to Account Settings | Data Files and select the data file to be compacted. Once you've selected the file click Settings | Advanced | Outlook Data File Settings and click Compact Now. Depending on the size of your data file, this process can take some time.
6: Repair your PST file
Scanpst is often my go-to tool when Outlook is acting off kilter. It will scan through your data file and look for data inconsistencies and errors. Here's the thing about Scanpst — it's not always the easiest tool to find. Do yourself a favor and search through your C drive to locate the Scanpst.exe file. Make note of its location (usually within the Office installation folder). But be forewarned: This tool can cause PST files to become unusable. Make sure you back up that data file before you start the repair tool. Fortunately, should Scanpst find errors, it will prompt you to make a backup before it attempts to fix the errors.
7: Cut down on the published and shared calendars
Yes, it's easy to publish and share your calendars with others. The problem is, the more you do it, the more drag you're putting on Outlook. The more data Outlook has to share and pull down from the Internet, the slower it will perform. Sure, it's fine to have one or two shared calendars (and even more if you have a lightning-fast data pipe). Just know that the more data you have to push and pull, the slower your connection will be.
8: Disable RSS
By default, Outlook will sync RSS feeds from Internet Explorer to the RSS reader in Outlook. If you have a lot of RSS feeds bookmarked in IE, that syncing could easily bring Outlook to a crawl. Disable this feature (if you don't use Outlook as an RSS reader) from within Outlook 2010 by going to Options | Advanced and then unchecking both options under RSS Feeds.
Microsoft Outlook 2010 Slow To Open
9: Disable add-ins
How many times have you installed some program only to find it installed something else behind your back? This can happen to Outlook as well as Internet Explorer. Sometimes those add-ins can cause major Outlook slowdowns. To find out what add-ins you have installed in Outlook 2010, go to Options | Add-ins. Select COM Add-ins from the drop-down and click the Go button. The resultant window will list all add-ins available to Outlook. Search through this list and uncheck any that might seem suspect.
10: Fix ShoreTel Windows 7 integration
If you use the ShoreTel Communicator, you might notice some issues when trying to open and use Outlook. The problem lies in an incompatibility issue between ShoreTel and Windows 7. The fix is simple. Open up the Task Manager and look for a process called Agent.exe. Right-click that entry and click Properties |Compatibility. Choose the Run This Program In Compatibility Mode For option and then select Windows XP (Service Pack 3).
Other tricks?
There's no reason why anyone should have to struggle with a bogged down Outlook that will have you pulling your hair out strand by strand. These tips should help you enjoy a much speedier and reliable Outlook experience.
What other methods have you found for improving Outlook performance? Share your suggestions with fellow TechRepublic members.
Top 10 Newsletter
Turn to these must-read primers to get the skinny on the hottest tech topics, strategies, and analyses. Delivered Fridays
Sign up today Sign up todayAlso see
- How to add a drop-down list to an Excel cell (TechRepublic)
- 30 things you should never do in Microsoft Office (free PDF) (TechRepublic)
- Microsoft to roll out new Outlook.com 'over the next few weeks' (ZDNet)
- 10 things you should never do in Outlook (TechRepublic)
- Microsoft to add ransomware protection tools, advanced Outlook.com encryption for consumers (ZDNet)
- 10 time-saving tips to speed your work in Outlook (TechRepublic)
Affiliate disclosure: TechRepublic may earn a commission from the products and services featured on this page.
My question is closely related to this question but for a much later version of Outlook.
Microsoft Outlook Running Slow
I have been using Outlook 2010 at work on Windows 7.
The system I have setup for the past 6+ months is using categories to allow quicker sorting, filing, and management, similar to the gmail system I have used before. I have a variety of shortcuts and macros setup (using AutoHotKey and VBA, for those interested) for quickly doing all these activities. I started this setup realizing how often I had to search for email even in folders once folders got to a certain size, so I stopped trying to file them when I had to search anyways.
Unfortunately, the built-in search within Outlook is inferior to either the Mail app for OS:X or Gmail's search and even with only about 6 months of emails is really slow.
I am looking for a way to make this search faster and more accurate.
4 Answers
First ensure that Windows Search is turned on (Control Panel / Programs and Features / Turn Windows features on or off).
Second, ensure that the outlook folder is used in Outlook Options / Search / Sources / Indexing Options. Check that there are not too many other folders listed, to minimizethe size of the index.
See also this article.
As another optimization, you can reduce the part of the index to search by using Advanced Find.
Another solution would be to use a search replacement for Outlook's search,for example Xobni, Copernic or Lookeen.
Another alternative used to be Lookout, which Microsoftbought and canned, but maybe these articles may help :
Lookout: a powerful search function for Outlook
How to Install Lookout on Outlook 2007
Search e-mail at lightspeed: using Lookout with Outlook 2007
Do you have instant search turned on? It uses Windows Search 4.0 to speed things up. By default Windows 7 has Windows Search 4.0 enabled so just need to turn using it on in Outlook.
- Click the File tab.
- Click Options.
- Click Search.
- Under Search Engine Upgrade, click Upgrade Search.
Ref: Enable or disable Instant Search
There is an Outlook plugin called Xobni. It does lots of stuff, but for me the main benefit of it is that is brings the Outlook search up to par with what you see in OS X Mail.app. It costs money, but it is worth it if you use Outlook a lot.
Exactly the same problem - search indexing of Outlook very slow (about 200 items per hour!) Also nearly got to zero and would jump back to 50,000 left... very frustrating.Best answer I found was here: http://www.msoutlook.info/question/47Much of which is suggested on this forum already.Final answer for me was checking Event Viewer (Start-->Run--> Eventvwr) for SearchIndexer. Found billions of warnings about 'The filter host process xxxx did not respond and is being forcibly terminated.'That led me to this:https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2925203And finally the solution was to uninstall my pdf software (PDF-XchangePro).Now indexes about 10,000 per hour!