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
    2023-07-12T20:09:28+00:00

    That won't fix it, it might for a day or two, then it comes back and just ignores what you have ReopenWindowsOption set to (0, 1, 2) or even removing it.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-07-13T16:07:49+00:00

    I have office 2016 build 2306 and I have the same problem. I don't have the "startup options" feature and I didn't mess with the registry.

    Under File menu --> Options --> General --> Cloud Storage Options --> I unchecked the "Store my Outlook Settings in the Cloud" checkbox. The issue has gone away for now. I don't know if it has been fixed, but I am not getting that message when starting Outlook for the last few times.

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  3. lmacri 2,505 Reputation points
    2023-07-13T17:42:47+00:00

    I have office 2016 build 2306 and I have the same problem. I don't have the "startup options" feature and I didn't mess with the registry.

    Under File menu --> Options --> General --> Cloud Storage Options --> I unchecked the "Store my Outlook Settings in the Cloud" checkbox. The issue has gone away for now. ...

    Unlike Kevin Emmrich, I do not have a section at File | Options | General | Cloud Storage Options where I can enable / disable a check box labeled "Store my Outlook settings in the cloud" in my MS Office Home and Business 2019 C2R Version 2306 (Build 16529.20154, rel, 26-Jun-2023). According to the image in Diane Poremsky's Outlook Is Not Saving Preferenceson slipstik.com this Cloud Storage Options section should appear at the top of the File | Options | General window (i.e., just above the User Interface Options section).

    Image

    I also do not have a registry entry for EnableCloudSettings at HKEY_CURRENT_USER | SOFTWARE | Microsoft | Office | 16.0 | Outlook | Preferences.

    Image

    I already posted images in CSG-08's 04-Jul-2023 My Outlook 2016 "Start Up Options menu" has no drop down submenu showing that the section at File | Options | General | Start Up Options in my Outlook 2019 settings is blank (i.e., there is a section header but no check boxes or dropdown lists) and that I have no registry entry for ReopenWindowsOption at HKEY_CURRENT_USER | SOFTWARE | Microsoft | Office | 16.0 | Outlook | Preferences.

    I have not made any manual edits to my registry to see if adding REG_DWORD registry entries for ReopenWindowsOption and/or EnableCloudSettings can be used to control the “Outlook closed while you had items open. Reopen those items from your last session?” prompt that occasionally appears when I start Outlook 2019. I'll post back if anything changes after the latest Version 2306 / Build 16529.20182 (rel. 11-Jul-2023) is installed, but the release notes <here> don't list any changes for Outlook in the latest build.

    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 v4.5.32.271-1.0.2051 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * MS Office Home and Business 2019 C2R Version 2306 / Build 16529.20154

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-07-13T21:43:54+00:00

    *** update July 18, 2023 ***
    Just updating to say its still working fine.

    *** update July 16, 2023 ***
    Just updating to say its still working fine.

    *** update on July 15, 2023 ***

    I was hoping that running the once as an elevated process would resolve the issues just in case it was trying to create / save a value in a system location (outside User storage) sadly while that worked for about 5 hours it came back, BUT, I tried disabling the saving the setting to the cloud and so far its been fine for 2 days.

    But will come back and update if anything changes.

    *** posted on July 13, 2023 *** I tried everything said above all worked for about 2 hours up to 2 days to then once again start showing that popup message. What I did try the day before yesterday was to run Outlook elevated (i.e. as Administrator) where it popped up that message, I clicked on the No Option and then closed Outlook.

    Now even today I have not seen that message pop up and I use Outlook throughout the day. I will update if it comes back.

    But if this "has" fixed it then it might be due to a setting that needed to be updated required an elevated process to update it.

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