Keep Getting "Outlook closed while you had items open. Reopen items from last session?" Even Though It's Not True

Anonymous
2023-07-05T13:34:20+00:00

This just started happening. Whenever I open Outlook, I get the message "Outlook closed while you had items open. Reopen items from last session?" even though this is not true -- I did not have items open when I closed Outlook. Using Windows 11. Screenshot of what version of Outlook I have:

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For business

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Anonymous
2023-07-07T17:46:51+00:00

I'm on build 2306. Is this the reg key in question?

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Preferences
DWORD: ReopenWindowsOption
Value: 1

Yes.

Some users that updated to 2306 have reported that the key was not already in the Registry and had to add it and the value.

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-08-07T18:44:34+00:00

    I noticed last night when closing down my pc, about 10 or so minutes after I closed Outlook, I checked Task Manager and Outlook was still running in the background so manually closed it, and of course this morning I got that "Reopen..." message again upon restart.

    I'm not trying to sound like an expert since I'm not, but perhaps a part of the problem is in Outlook's shutdown process in that it isn't fully shutting down, or at least there's some value somewhere that isn't getting updated when Outlook does close so it defaults to the "Reopen items.." message.

    Yes, I did add that ' /restore' to my shortcut so I shouldn't get those messages again - hoooray, something will consistently work correctly for a change!!!!

    And yet again, thanks to all who figured this out AND publicized it. Hopefully the next update will go like most of the rest, i.e., smoothly since I really don't want to resort to those big hammers I have out in the garage!

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-08-07T12:36:47+00:00

    Thank you. Its maddening that users are left to seek the advice of other users in the community. Thank goodness that people like you exist; if it were left to Microsoft we would all be stuffed!

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-08-07T04:11:56+00:00

    Thats it. The ‘ /restore’ comes after the target closing quotation mark

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-08-06T21:47:58+00:00

    Obviously I am doing something incorrectly because when I follow your instructions, whether with my existing Outlook shortcut icon or by creating a new Outlook desktop icon, I revise the "target" to add in that ' /restore' (yes, with that leading space) and get the message "The name 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\Outlook.exe /restore' specified in the Target box is not valid. Make sure the path and file name are correct."

    Well, since I didn't get that "Reopen Closed Items?" message this morning when I cranked up Outlook, I'm just going to call it a day and let things lay the way they are. If I get that message again (sporadically I hope) I know it's bogus and will just ignore/work around it.

    Thanks to all who responded to my initial comments and continue to have a nice day.

    Update: DOH!!! Put the ' /restore' AFTER the single quote mark in the 'target' field....

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