Outlook Crashes When Opening Attachments – How to Fix?

MS Outlook is a desktop-based application that provides multiple advanced feature regarding personal information manager. But sometimes Outlook crashes when opening attachments. It can happen to several reasons i.e. corrupted MS Outlook profile, corrupted PST file, Large PST file crashes Outlook, etc. If you want to encounter such issues then, go through this blog to know the causes and solutions to open the Outlook PST file in a healthy manner.

Outlook, no doubt, is one of the most advanced email clients available in the market these days. It provides users an easy way to manage their emails, contacts, and other mailbox items. Although Outlook is considered to be an efficient email client, many users face crashing of the application quite often. This states that just like other software applications Outlook also faces issues while dealing with potential threats.

Common Causes of Outlook Crashes When Opening Attachments

Outlook crashing situations are really annoying. These problems occurs randomly, so it is very difficult to find out the causes behind such situations. However, the oversized PST file is one of the main courses that lead to Outlook data files corruption. A large size attachments in Outlook emails increases the size of Outlook PST file leads to Outlook crashes when opening attachments.

Therefore, in order to prevent Outlook profile from such kind of issues, Outlook users must maintain data files in Outlook mailbox. For this, split large size PST files into smaller parts with the help of trustworthy third-party software.

 How to Fix Outlook Crashing when Open Attachments Manually

There are several manual methods available that fix the crashing of the Outlook programs. Thus, in this section we covering some of the effective manual procedures.  

Method #1: Check Antivirus Program

Having a genuine antivirus is mandatory to protect your device from any kind of viruses, cyber-attack, and malware attack. But sometimes an antivirus can be the culprit for program crashing, especially when you try to open Outlook.

Moreover, we know that it is an annoying problem but antivirus just doing its work and stop the attachments to open which causes Outlook crashes. Therefore, in order to fix it be sure to check your antivirus and disable the email security option. However, if you still getting the issue then uninstall the antivirus. But remember that once the work is done re-install it back to protect your system.

Method #2: Update the Outlook Program

Sometimes due to file compatibility, Outlook crashes when opening attachments. So to fix this error simply check the latest update and if the Outlook update is available, then install the latest version. Follow the steps mentioned below to update Outlook.

• Firstly you have to open Outlook.
• Now, navigate to the file option.
• Choose the file option and then select Office account.
• Click on the Office updates.
• At last click on the Update now.
• If the update is available then your Outlook will automatically start the updating process.

Method #3: Remove Add-ins

If Outlook crashes when opening the attachments, then may Outlook add-ins are the problems. The add-ins are the problems. The add-ins features in Outlook provides extra functionality. Also allows Outlook to exchange information with other applications.

Although add-ins are very useful sometimes it causes issues in Outlook. So in order to resolve this issue, you have to disable all the add-ins from Outlook and check the problems is still there. If not, then enable the add-ins one by one until you are not able to find the right one which creating an issue. Once you find the problematic add-ins simply disable it to fix the issue. Follow the steps to disable the add-ins.

• Open Microsoft Outlook and go to File option.
• Click on the Option >> Add-ins.
• Now, navigate to the manage section.
• In the manage, section click on the Go

Method #4: 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 the control panel, click drop-down icon beside view by at the top left, and select small icons.
• Click on mail and then select Show profiles.
• After this, click Add.
• Then, type a name for a profile and click OK

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

Method #5: Check and Fix PST File Corruption

A corrupt or damaged Outlook file can also cause error Outlook crashes when opening attachments. To repair a damaged Outlook data file using 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).

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

• Right-click on Taskbar and select Task Manager
• Under the Process tab, right-click on Microsoft Outlook
• Choose Open file location
• Search and double-click on 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

Restart the Outlook to check if it still showing an error Outlook crashes when opening. In case the tool fails to fix the error, skip to the next PST repair method.

So, after trying every method the still you getting the error message where Outlook still showing an error. We bring you the best third part tool, SysTools PST Repair Software is one of the best proficient tool to repair corrupted files. This tool is capable to repair your PST files in a few second, doesn’t matter the PST file level of corruption are Minor or major it can work in both situations.

Let’s Wrap Up

In this technical write-up, we have discussed what to do when Outlook crashes when opening attachments. In the above section, we talk about the manual and automated procedure to fix this Outlook error. But manual method contains some drawbacks but the automated procedure overcomes all the drawbacks. So, we recommend you go with the automated procedure for hassle-free and quick solutions.