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I have Outlook 2016 on my home computer. Within the last few weeks, on reopening Outlook, I have received the message "Outlook closed while you had items open . Reopen these items from your last session ?".
I have tried to remove this function via File; Options; General; Start up options, but my Start up options title does not have a drop down menu !
I have opened and reopened the Options menu, but to no avail. Nor is there an option to press on the heading "Start up options" which is located between Privacy Settings and Attachment options
I'm sure that I must have closed Outlook in the past without closing all items, but this message has only begun appearing within the last week.
Is there a fix?
Using classic Outlook for Windows in business environments
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.
Hi Jason,
My problem had gone away until this morning, when I changed the setting File>Options>General>store my Outlook settings in the cloud to off. The message re-appeared and went away when I rechecked the option. It's working fine now, though the three options for the startup menu are still missing.
Pete
I feel comfortable saying that most of us do not want to take a risk by manually going in and changing the registry. Since the bug introduced with 2306 is not limited to Outlook 2016 I would hope MS resolves quickly. I'm trying to avoid the aggravation by simply not closing Outlook, but out of habit click on the X. Also when any of my software, not just Microsoft, installs an automatic update the system reboots and I'm back to square one with the message and start up option not available.
.... 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).
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
.... Just an FYI that other MS Outlook users with a perpetual (non-subscription) license are reporting the same problem in the 04-Jul-2023 thread Outlook MS Pro+ 2021 Start-up Options Disappeared in the AskWoody forum but no one posting there has found a solution yet ...
Hi CSG-08:
User Drcard:)) just reported in post # 2571671 of that AskWoody thread that they were able to restore the dropdown list at File | Options | General | Start Up Options | When Outlook Opens: (i.e., the dropdown list that controls the appearance of the “Outlook closed while you had items open. Reopen those items from your last session?” prompt at startup) when they rolled their MS Office Home and Business 2019 C2R back to Version 2305 / Build 16501.20210.
Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.3086 * Firefox v115.0.0 * 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