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
    2023-07-20T17:32:55+00:00

    Edit the Outlook desktop icon Target field by adding /restore as follows "......./OUTLOOK.EXE" /restore

    No more "Outlook closed while you had messages open...." dialog box.

    Maybe not a true fix, but it stops the annoying message.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-07-21T12:16:05+00:00

    Yes, it worked for me as well. Thanks, Michael.

    Even if, now, the message does not appear even when it should, who cares ?

    It is matter of one extra click to open a previously left open mail.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-07-21T18:18:54+00:00

    Hi, Diane:

    As an FYI, there was a Microsoft 365 (Office) update pushed out via the Microsoft Store yesterday. The update was installed on my computer, and the "Outlook closed while you had items open" message disappeared for about 24 hours. Today, the message has REAPPEARED.

    Whew...this is annoying...

    John L.

    Note: Running fully licensed Microsoft Office Home and Business 2021.

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  4. lmacri 2,505 Reputation points
    2023-07-22T12:23:54+00:00

    My contact in support just let me know that he repro'd it in both Outlook 2019 and 2021 and submitted a bug report on it ...

    Hi Diane Poremsky:

    There's speculation in CSG-08's 04-Jul-2023 thread My Outlook 2016 "Start Up Options menu" has no drop down submenu that this problem could be connected to the appearance of the "Try the new Outlook" switch in perpetual editions of MS Outlook 2016 / 2019 / 2021 - see garrybock's 19-Jul-2023 post <here> on page 5 of that thread.

    I'm not sure how it happened but the experimental preview of the MS Outlook for Windows PWA (progressive web app) was installed on my system a few months ago - see the images I posted in my 07-May-2023 thread "New" Outlook for Windows UWP App (Preview) Installed Without Permission. I never launched the "new" Outlook app and tried to remove the last traces of it from my system with O&O AppBuster, but perhaps the installation was enough to do permanent damage to my MS Outlook 2019 registry entries and settings.

    According to the 04-Apr-2023 Microsoft 365 Insider blog entry Starting to Support Third-party Accounts in New Outlook for Windows if you turn on that "Try the new Outlook" switch to test the preview of the "new" Outlook PWA "You can switch back to your previous Outlook experience . Just slide the toggle off and it will automatically open your previous version with no data or email loss." That might be true for M365 but perhaps that isn't the case for perpetual editions of MS Outlook 2016 / 2019 / 2021 Click-to-Run.

    Just to recap, the section at File | Options | General | Start Up Options in my Outlook 2019 settings is now blank (i.e., there is a section header but no check boxes or dropdown lists), there is no section named Cloud Storage Options at File | Options | General, I have no registry entry for ReopenWindowsOption at HKEY_CURRENT_USER | SOFTWARE | Microsoft | Office | 16.0 | Outlook | Preferences (for now, I've decided not to re-create this registry entry manually), and I am still seeing the occasional "Outlook closed while you had items open. Reopen those items from your last session?” prompt when I start Outlook 2019.

    Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3208 * Firefox v115.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.5-1.1.23060.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.33.272-1.0.2069 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * Microsoft Office 2019 Home and Business 2019 Version 2306 / Build 16529.20182 C2R

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