My Outlook 2016 "Start Up Options menu" has no drop down submenu

.... Clearly, going by feedback from multiple users, there is a bug in the last update (2306 build 16529.20154) that needs rectifying at a higher level, unless someone can do some wizardry in the meantime...

Affected users might find some helpful information in Michael Chesley Johnson's 05-Jul-2023 Keep Getting "Outlook closed while you had items open. Reopen items from last session?" Even Though It's Not True.

Diane Poremsky [ M365 MVP] (who manages the excellent Outlook and Exchange Solutions Center at https://www.slipstick.com/) has posted in that thread that the registry entry that controls the appearance of the “Outlook closed while you had items open. Reopen those items from your last session?” prompt should be located located at :

   HKEY\_CURRENT\_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Preferences

   DWORD: ReopenWindowsOption

I can confirm that this ReopenWindowsOption registry entry is missing from my Windows registry ...

... and the current assumption is that the Version 2306 / Build 16529.20154 (rel. 26-Jun-2023) update incorrectly deleted that registry entry for many users with a perpetual version of MS Office 2016 / 2019 / 2021 C2R (Current Channel).

Affected users who have manually re-created that registry entry and/or set the value to 1 (Never reopen previous items) have confirmed they stop seeing this prompt. Other permitted values for this registry entry are 0 [Ask me if I want to reopen previous items (i.e, the default that displays the prompt)] and 2 (Always reopen previous items).

Diane Poremsky also noted in that thread that she emailed her contacts at Microsoft and they have been able reproduce this bug, so there should be a bug fix coming in a future MS Office update. I'd advise subscribing to Michael Chesley Johnson's thread so you are notified when a bug fix is released.

Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3086 * Firefox v115.0.1 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.5-1.1.23050.3 * Malwarebytes Premium 4.5.32.271-1.0.2051 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * Microsoft Office 2019 Home and Business 2019 Version 2306 / Build 16529.20154 C2R

Hello CSG-08

Hope you are doing well today!

My apology for the late response. I consulted this thread to our internal team to further isolate the issue. They are still investigating the issue. Once I have all the information needed. I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Regards 

Jason Guer 

Microsoft Community Moderator

Hello Great White North and thank you for your reply.

I will look forward to a fix coming out or detailed instructions from someone as to how to reconfigure the registry to fix this problem.

Pete

... I will look forward to a fix coming out or detailed instructions from someone as to how to reconfigure the registry to fix this problem.

Hi Pete James1:

The MSOutlook.info tutorial at https://www.msoutlook.info/question/290 has instructions on how to add a registry entry called "ShowBcc" at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Preferences (value type = REG_DWORD, value =1). If you follow those instructions just substitute the value name "ShowBcc" used in that example with "ReopenWindowsOption".

If you decide to edit your registry you do so at your own risk, and I strongly advise that you back up your registry (File | Export) before starting in case something goes wrong and you need to restore your registry.

In my case this "Outlook closed while you had items open. Reopen those items from your last session?” prompt only appears occasionally at startup and is an annoying glitch but my MS Outlook 2019 functions normally otherwise (i.e., I can still send and receive emails as usual) so I'm going to wait for a bug fix instead of editing my registry for now.

Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3086 * Firefox v115.0.1 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.23050.5-1.1.23050.3 * Malwarebytes Premium 4.5.32.271-1.0.2051 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7279 * Microsoft Office 2019 Home and Business 2019 Version 2306 / Build 16529.20154 C2R

Hi Great White North,

Thank you so much for your further feedback. I have had a shot at creating a new registry value and have put the screenshot of the result below.

My Outlook is performing as it should now, with no messages appearing when Outlook is opened. The start option under file>options>general>start up is still not showing a drop-down box though.

We both look forward to a more permanent bug fix soon.

Best regards from New Zealand.

Pete