Outlook - set of folders cannot be opened - unable to fix this error via any method

Anonymous
2021-11-14T11:31:50+00:00

Hello,

i have an issue i've been unable to resolve for a few weeks, maybe even months now.

I was setting up a new All-in-One PC for an employee at a company we do IT support for. The setup went without a problem, he has Windows 10 OS and a Microsoft 365 Business Standard license.
A week or two go by and he informs me hes getting the known error when opening Outlook - The set of folders cannot be opened. To simplify, I decided to create another mail profile. This seemingly resolved the issue but I get another call from him a few days later saying the same problem has occured. We repeat the process and create a 3rd email profile. The same error pops up again, even sooner (maybe a day or two). The most peculiar thing is (he has 3 or 4 profiles at this point) that if I keep swapping between the profiles randomly and trying to start Outlook, lets say 1 in 20 times it actually starts up.
So I start troubleshooting the issue with everything I could find on google.

A list of possible solutions I've tried to far:

  1. Starting outlook in safe mode - still does not start
  2. Disabling add-ins - did not help
  3. Reinstalling Office365 - did not help
  4. Repaired Office365 - did not help
  5. I believe i've tried some other repair/scan tools but nothing ammounted to anything

At this point I figured it might have to be something on his domain profile, so we delete the local profile and recreate it, the error still appears.

We replace his new PC with his older one on which everything works without any problems. We try creating a local account on his co-workers account, Outlook works fine there.

So a few days ago I decide to just reinstall the windows again hoping it would solve the issue (I did the reset with keeping the personal files). I install Outlook, it opens up. To test it out I close it down and try to re-open it - im hit with the error. I create a new profile again and manage to open Outlook exactly once, when i close it down and reopen the error hits me again. Just to make sure i repeat the process a 3rd time, same result - so in short whenever i create a new profile i manage to start up Outlook exactly once before the error appears.

At this point I'm out of ideas on what to try, I plan to bring another machine, domain join it and create his profile on it to see if the problem repeats - so far this only happens on 1 machine, on 2 others in the same domain it works fine.

Is there any reason this could be a hardware issue? Because thats the only thing that somewhat makes sense to me altho on the other hand I can't imagine it being hardware related. The OS and O365 are all updated.

Thanks for any advice or input in advance

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For home

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments No comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2022-02-21T18:49:57+00:00

Had the same problem

These steps fixed it.

If updating the Outlook application was not able to fix the error in Outlook “the set of folders cannot be opened” then you have to recreate the Outlook email profile. This method has helped many users to fix the error. 

  1. Go to the Windows search bar and type regedit. This will launch the Registry Editor.
  2. Then, navigate to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Profiles (Outlook 2019,2016)
  3. Now delete all the folders listed under Profiles.

Note: If you are using a different version of Outlook this will change as follows. Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\15.

  4. Restart the computer.

  5. Relaunch Outlook and recreate your email profile.

Was this answer helpful?

700+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments No comments

75 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
  1. Anonymous
    2024-08-21T23:31:31+00:00

    Hi, BS Admin

    According to your description, thanks for your attempts for narrowing down the issue for us.

    Could you please allow us to confirm that if you have tried for Repair Outlook Data Files (.pst and .ost)?

    Also, please be kindly to have a check on the OWA - Outlook Web App to see if it works fine via the website.

    In addition, please turn-off the VPN or firewalls temporarily and have a check if have you have these.

    What's more, please capture the screenshot of the error and detailed version to us for further troubleshooting.

    Please feel free to contact us if there's an update.

    Regards,

    Zed

    I tried to repair the .pst and .ost with the SCAN.exe repair tool and it did not work. However, the suggestion above yours, the one that says to erase all files in the profile in the registry using regedit.exe did work.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  2. Anonymous
    2024-07-24T07:27:27+00:00

    gr8, it worked for me as well on Win11Pro, MSO 2019 Home & Business and User account MSO 365 E3 setup.

    Thanks.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  3. Anonymous
    2024-07-05T10:35:37+00:00

    Unchecking Cached mode in for Outlook profile fixed as I assume Uncached mode doesn't store outlook data locally.

    You can uncheck cache mode by

    1. On Control Panel\User Accounts go to Mail (Microsoft Outlook)
    2. Show profiles , Choose a Profile and click on properties
    3. **** Click on Email accounts , 2 clicks on your name
    4. Under Offline settings, Uncheck 'Use Cached Exchange Mode' , Next and Finish.
    5. Opened Outlook and it is Online with Microsoft Exchange

    Note: If you've got Multiple profiles make sure Outlook use the profile that is unchecked with Cached Mode.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  4. Anonymous
    2024-06-19T16:24:54+00:00

    Microsoft being Microsoft. As usual : POS.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments