Advanced Troubleshooting for Outlook for Windows

The instructions below will show one how to resolve specific problems with Outlook for Windows, when simply removing and re-adding an Office 365 account profile from Outlook for Windows doesn't work.

Problem

Problems these instructions address:

Unable to print from Outlook; 'Cannot print unless an item is selected'.
'The path specified for the file is not valid'
Other odd issues with Outlook for which here are no other solutions.

Environment

Outlook for Windows.
Windows operating systems.

Solution

NOTE:

Using these steps will remove cached email addresses. Email addresses that were used in the recent past will not automatically appear as you type them in the receipt fields of new messages. However, you can easily search the global address list for Pomona College community members by typing part of the person's name in a contact field of a new message and then pressing the 'Ctrl' and 'K' keys at the same time.

WARNING:

Using these steps will remove any PST folder archives. Please note the location of any PST folder archives that are mapped to the existing account profile before proceeding to the steps below. However, PST folder archives are rarely used.

The steps:

Remove the existing Office 365 account profile in Outlook for Windows. Then, use Windows Task Manager to make sure Outlook is not listed as running (If listed, click on 'Outlook' and select 'End Task').
I renamed the 'Outlook' settings folders at the following locations to 'BACKUP-Outlook':
- C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft
- C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\
- H:\Application Data\Microsoft\
Open Outlook and completed the setup of the new Office 365 account profile in Outlook (click here for instructions).