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

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
Answer accepted by question author
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.

Was this answer helpful?

40+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

178 additional answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2023-09-15T03:03:33+00:00

    Even after Editing the Registry, that annoying problem still exist

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2023-08-31T23:15:58+00:00

    I've mentioned this before in a couple posts - Outlook Is Not Stable, at least mine is not. I'm running MS Office Home and Business 2021, Outlook Version 2308, Build 16731.20170 Click to Run.

    What do I mean by 'not stable'? Let me count the ways...

    1. When I open Outlook in the morning, I get one of three distinct experiences, sometimes a), ditto b) and c):

    a) Outlook opens 'normally' into a window and everything is fine;

    b) Outlook opens but remains minimized on the Taskbar and has to be clicked again to open into a window;

    c) Outlook opens into a window, opens the last email that was read the previous day and is still in local storage (if the last email read had been deleted it goes to the next in line that is still hanging around), and gives that irritating "Reopen..." popup message.

    1. I noticed after the last update on 8/22/23, KB5029351, that little circular badge at the top right hand of the Outlook window with my initial in it - well, it keeps changing colors. Tuesday it was dark red, yesterday it was dull orange, and now today it is a slightly purplish blue that almost blends in with my color scheme. Now maybe there's some hidden personalization setting that I've missed but even so, I don't believe I've ever seen the option for 'random' for any such setting.
    2. For the past 2-3 weeks, ever since KB5029263 and KB5028948 got installed on 8/8, emails being received are randomly sent to the junk folder, even if the sender is in my address book. For instance, I receive(d) notices of people posting to this discussion, the latest notice received today went to my junk folder whereas the notices I received yesterday stayed in my inbox - now why would that be? Emails sent by relatives that I regularly correspond with have done the same thing - one day into the inbox, the next day into the junk folder.

    I have edited my Outlook taskbar icon to point to "... /restore" and I still get item 1 above happening - literally at random. I cannot edit "Startup Options" because there are no options listed. I've always had "save settings in cloud' unchecked. These are all initial workarounds discussed in this thread and if the above are the results I'm getting, you can believe I'm not going to go editing registry values and really screw things up.

    Let me make this clear - since changing the Outlook icon target about 3 weeks ago, I have done absolutely nothing with any Outlook settings or other settings since, and am still experiencing 'random' behavior. The only changes to my system have been updates from MS, therefore I must conclude that MS has not fixed the initial problem (I think that's a given), and also that further updates may have added 'a little something' to the initial problem.

    If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.... then use a bigger hammer!!!!!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2023-08-31T21:25:01+00:00

    Good day,

    I do not have this option available to me, it shows a line " Start up Options' in Options - General but thee is no dropdown where I can make a choice. Also the Regedit option does not work either. I have Version 2307 Build 16626.201 Click-to-Run)

    not sure where to from here

    Rgds

    Michael

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. lmacri 2,505 Reputation points
    2023-08-30T03:10:53+00:00

    Just an FYI that Version 2308 / Build 16731.20170 was released on 28-Aug-2023 for Microsoft Office C2R users on the Current Channel. However the release notes at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/current-channel#version-2308-august-28 do not mention anything about a fix for the "Outlook closed while you had items open. Reopen those items from your last session?” prompt or the missing setting at File | Options | General | Start Up Options.

    Microsoft's background article Outlook Unexpectedly Prompts to Reopen Items From Your Last Session also hasn't been updated since 03-Aug-2023 and still states "The Outlook Team is investigating this issue. We will update this topic when the fix status is available" so it looks like the bug fix isn't ready yet.

    Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3324 * Firefox v117.0.0 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23070.1004-1.1.23070.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.1.280-1.0.2117 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * Microsoft Office 2019 Home and Business 2019 Version 2307 / Build 16626.20170 Click-to-Run

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments