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.

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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
    2023-08-07T11:17:52+00:00

    FYI about the quotes marks...

    Quotation marks for a Path address are no longer needed.

    You can still use quotation marks, but they must be entered correctly.

    Therefore, to prevent mistakes of what gets quotation marks and what doesn't; don't use quotation marks at all.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-08-06T16:32:31+00:00

    Michael; I'm getting credit for your fix which appears to be working. I am telling everyone i can that it was your idea and not mine. So thank goodness geniuses like you are about because its still working for me .

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-08-04T11:24:14+00:00

    That did not work for me (build 2307). This did ;

    If you open Outlook directly from the app menu make a shortcut on your desktop and use that. 

    Right click on the Outlook desktop icon, Select Properties and edit the" Target" field by adding a command switch as follows. 

    .......\OUTLOOK.EXE" /restore

    Adding the command switch /restore will...

    And users shouldn’t be expected to fix MS’s problem by tinkering with the registry.. its like Ford asking you to tweak the carbs on a new car!!

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  4. lmacri 2,505 Reputation points
    2023-08-04T11:09:49+00:00

    To all affected users:

    Microsoft has publicly acknowledged the problem - see the 03-Aug-2023 Microsoft support article Outlook Unexpectedly Prompts to Reopen Items From Your Last Session, which states in part:

    STATUS: WORKAROUND

    The Outlook Team is investigating this issue. We will update this topic when the fix status is available.

    If the option does not appear in the Outlook Options and you want to disable it, you can set a registry key for the setting. Since the feature recurrently appears and disappears this may not be a comprehensive solution so it may or may not stop all occurrences of the issue.

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Preferences

    DWORD: ReopenWindowsOption

    Value: 1

    Kudos to b for posting about this support article today in the AskWoody thread Outlook MS Pro+ 2021 Start-up Options Disappeared.

    Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3208 * Firefox v116.0.0 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.9-1.1.23060.1005 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.34.275-1.0.2089 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * Microsoft Office 2019 Home and Business 2019 Version 2307 / Build 16626.20134 Click-to-Run

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