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 No 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 No comments

178 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
  1. Anonymous
    2023-07-30T19:59:58+00:00

    I also get the annoying pop up most times I open Outlook

    I do not have a "Start up option " to chose. Blank. No "Ask me if I want to reopen previous items."

    Also, periodically it does not open when picked, like it locked up closing a session.

    Windows 10 Pro, 22H2

    Microsoft Office Home and Business 2019

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  2. Anonymous
    2023-07-30T17:33:57+00:00

    I updated to the latest build, it worked for a while and then the dialog box "Outlook Closed while Items Open..." reappeared persistently again. I don't have an elegant fix to something MS could do easily. As I posted a couple of weeks back, if you edit the Target field in the Outlook desktop icon to add the switch /restore as follows ["..../outlook.exe" /restore] it stops the dialog box aggravation but does of course open any items that were actually open the last time.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  3. Anonymous
    2023-07-30T00:49:19+00:00

    I’ve tried every fix on the internet. Nothing works. It goes away sometimes but always comes back with new last open windows. Sometimes a reboot works. But then comes back. Also there is no available setting for startup switch in outlook 2019. Thanks

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  4. Anonymous
    2023-07-29T15:14:11+00:00

    Something in the updates was changed. Why?

    Originally on version 2305 which had the startup options and the registry key for the option selected.

    Updated to version 2306 - startup options gone and registry key gone

    Stopped updates

    Reverted back to version 2305 - startup options are there and registry key is there

    I did not manually add the registry key - the revert to version 2305 added the key

    Started updates

    Updated to version 2307 -(which includes updating updates missed) - startup options gone BUT registry key set to Never value still there. This update did not remove the registry key as when it was updated to version 2306. This not deleting the registry key is different than the prior update.

    Since updating I have not seen the "Outlook closed while you had items open. Reopen those items from your last session?” prompt at all and I have purposely left multiple items open upon closing Outlook. Outlook appears to be honoring the registry key settings and never prompting or opening left open items.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments