How to Fix Outlook hangs when switching to calendar

Authored by: Support.com Tech Pro Team

1. Introduction

If your Outlook freezes and an Outlook (Not Responding) error message appears, you are not alone. In this guide, we present several fixes for this error.

2. How to Fix

1. Turn 0ff Outlook Add-ins

1. Open the Outlook application.
2. Click File and Options to open the Outlook Options window.
3. Click Add-Ins on the left of the window.

1. Select COM Add-ins from the Manage drop-down menu.
2. Press the Go button to open the COM Add-ins window.
3. Then deselect all the selected add-ins.
4. Press the OK button.

Outlook users have confirmed that turning off the application’s add-ins fixes the calendar hanging. To be more specific, turning the iCloud Outlook add-in off has fixed the Outlook (Not Responding) error for some users.

2. Open Outlook in Safe Mode

Alternatively, you can open Outlook in Safe Mode, which also turns off the application’s add-ins. To open the email software in Safe Mode, press the Windows key + R hotkey. Then enter ‘outlook /safe’ in the Open text box and click OK.

3. Set up a new User Profile

Outlook hangs for users utilizing the application within a corrupted user profile. So setting up a new Outlook user profile is another potential resolution. You can remove your corrupted profile and set up a new one as follows.

1. Open the Run accessory with the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut.
2. Input Control Panel in Run’s open text box, and click the OK button.
3. Click Mail in the Control Panel.
4. Press the Show Profiles button on the Mail Setup window.
5. Select your current profile, and click the Remove button.
6. Click the Yes button to confirm.
7. Press the OK button.
8. Open the Outlook application.
9. Click File > Add Account to open an Add Account window.

1. Then enter the required details in the text boxes.
2. Press the Next button.
3. Press the OK and Finish buttons to set up the new profile.

4. Repair the Microsoft Office Suite

The MS Office suite includes a Repair option you can select to fix its applications. That option might come in handy for repairing Outlook when it hangs and freezes. This is how you can select the MS Office Repair option.

1. Open the Run accessory.
2. Enter appwiz.cpl in Run’s text box
3. Press Return to open the Programs and Features Control Panel applet below.

1. Select the MS Office suite on the program list.
2. Press the Change button to open the repair Office dialog.
3. The Office 2016 repair dialog includes Quick Repair and Online Repair options.
4. Select Online Repair for the most rigorous repair.

1. Press the Repair button.

5. Fix Outlook data

Outlook Not Responding errors can be due to corrupted PST file data. So repairing the PST file might also fix Outlook’s calendar hanging. This is how you can fix PST files with the Inbox Repair Tool (scanpst) utility.

1. First, open Cortana’s search box by clicking the Type here to search button on the Windows 10 taskbar.
2. Enter the keyword scanpst.exe in Cortana, and then select to open SCANPST. Alternatively, you can open the Inbox Repair Tool by opening your Office folder in File Explorer and double-clicking scanpst.exe.

1. Click the Browse button to select your Outlook PST file.
2. If you’re not sure what folder includes your PST file, open Outlook and click File, Account and Account Settings. Then you can select the Data Files tab that lists your PST file paths.
3. Press the Repair button on the Outlook Inbox Repair Tool window.