Tip for when Outlook freezes while composing messages











up vote
0
down vote

favorite












My copy of Outlook 2013 (32-bit on Win10 Enterprise 64-bit, connected to Exchange Server 2010 SP3) fairly often freezes while composing messages. If you look at Task Manager, Outlook is using about 30% of CPU while frozen.



I have waited up to 30 minutes to see if it would thaw, but it never has. As a result, I have lost unsaved drafts of messages. Even if the save interval is just a couple of minutes, it can be a lot of lost work.



My answer is provided below.










share|improve this question


























    up vote
    0
    down vote

    favorite












    My copy of Outlook 2013 (32-bit on Win10 Enterprise 64-bit, connected to Exchange Server 2010 SP3) fairly often freezes while composing messages. If you look at Task Manager, Outlook is using about 30% of CPU while frozen.



    I have waited up to 30 minutes to see if it would thaw, but it never has. As a result, I have lost unsaved drafts of messages. Even if the save interval is just a couple of minutes, it can be a lot of lost work.



    My answer is provided below.










    share|improve this question
























      up vote
      0
      down vote

      favorite









      up vote
      0
      down vote

      favorite











      My copy of Outlook 2013 (32-bit on Win10 Enterprise 64-bit, connected to Exchange Server 2010 SP3) fairly often freezes while composing messages. If you look at Task Manager, Outlook is using about 30% of CPU while frozen.



      I have waited up to 30 minutes to see if it would thaw, but it never has. As a result, I have lost unsaved drafts of messages. Even if the save interval is just a couple of minutes, it can be a lot of lost work.



      My answer is provided below.










      share|improve this question













      My copy of Outlook 2013 (32-bit on Win10 Enterprise 64-bit, connected to Exchange Server 2010 SP3) fairly often freezes while composing messages. If you look at Task Manager, Outlook is using about 30% of CPU while frozen.



      I have waited up to 30 minutes to see if it would thaw, but it never has. As a result, I have lost unsaved drafts of messages. Even if the save interval is just a couple of minutes, it can be a lot of lost work.



      My answer is provided below.







      microsoft-outlook freeze






      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question











      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question










      asked Nov 19 at 16:16









      vknowles

      1012




      1012






















          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes

















          up vote
          0
          down vote













          So far, I have found a couple of suggestions for fixing the problem, which I will outline at the end.



          My tip, though, is this: If Outlook freezes while composing, go to the task bar and right-click on each icon that represents a draft message. Click on "Close window" ...



          Close email draft window



          ... and Outlook will display the dialog asking whether you want to save your changes ...



          enter image description here



          If you then click "Yes," your changes will be saved in your Drafts folder. Repeat for each message you're composing.



          Unfortunately, it does not cause Outlook to wake up. You still have to close Outlook via the Task Manager and restart it. But you haven't lost your work.



          Other possible solutions:





          1. Freeze caused by nickname cache: I have been playing with this,
            and so far I have reduced my cache size from 1,000 to 600, and the
            freezes continue. I'll continue decreasing the size for a while to
            see if that helps.


          2. Freeze caused by damaged user profile: Try
            and see if it helps. I did not bother with this because my
            experience is that changing user profiles has not helped with
            anything else.


          3. Freeze caused by corrupt local files: This is
            said to apply only in cached Exchange mode, but I'm not using that
            mode. Try it if you are.






          share|improve this answer




























            up vote
            0
            down vote













            A common cause of Outlook freeze when using an Exchange mailbox is the Online Exchange mode. You may first check whether you are using online Exchange mode, try switching to cached Exchange mode to see whether this issue persists.



            Also have a look at this article: How to troubleshoot performance issues in Outlook. It listed several possible causes for this issue.






            share|improve this answer





















            • I went through the article's list briefly. The performance issues did not seem to apply. My folders have fewer items than the problematic levels mentioned. I noticed also that both cached and online modes can have problems. I also have some offline PST folders, but even though some of them are large, they are less than 1GB (the article says <5GB should be okay). The article focused on performance improvement and did not mention actual freezing of the program.
              – vknowles
              Nov 21 at 14:06













            Your Answer








            StackExchange.ready(function() {
            var channelOptions = {
            tags: "".split(" "),
            id: "3"
            };
            initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

            StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
            // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
            if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
            StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
            createEditor();
            });
            }
            else {
            createEditor();
            }
            });

            function createEditor() {
            StackExchange.prepareEditor({
            heartbeatType: 'answer',
            convertImagesToLinks: true,
            noModals: true,
            showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
            reputationToPostImages: 10,
            bindNavPrevention: true,
            postfix: "",
            imageUploader: {
            brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
            contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
            allowUrls: true
            },
            onDemand: true,
            discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
            ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
            });


            }
            });














             

            draft saved


            draft discarded


















            StackExchange.ready(
            function () {
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fsuperuser.com%2fquestions%2f1376733%2ftip-for-when-outlook-freezes-while-composing-messages%23new-answer', 'question_page');
            }
            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown

























            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes








            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes








            up vote
            0
            down vote













            So far, I have found a couple of suggestions for fixing the problem, which I will outline at the end.



            My tip, though, is this: If Outlook freezes while composing, go to the task bar and right-click on each icon that represents a draft message. Click on "Close window" ...



            Close email draft window



            ... and Outlook will display the dialog asking whether you want to save your changes ...



            enter image description here



            If you then click "Yes," your changes will be saved in your Drafts folder. Repeat for each message you're composing.



            Unfortunately, it does not cause Outlook to wake up. You still have to close Outlook via the Task Manager and restart it. But you haven't lost your work.



            Other possible solutions:





            1. Freeze caused by nickname cache: I have been playing with this,
              and so far I have reduced my cache size from 1,000 to 600, and the
              freezes continue. I'll continue decreasing the size for a while to
              see if that helps.


            2. Freeze caused by damaged user profile: Try
              and see if it helps. I did not bother with this because my
              experience is that changing user profiles has not helped with
              anything else.


            3. Freeze caused by corrupt local files: This is
              said to apply only in cached Exchange mode, but I'm not using that
              mode. Try it if you are.






            share|improve this answer

























              up vote
              0
              down vote













              So far, I have found a couple of suggestions for fixing the problem, which I will outline at the end.



              My tip, though, is this: If Outlook freezes while composing, go to the task bar and right-click on each icon that represents a draft message. Click on "Close window" ...



              Close email draft window



              ... and Outlook will display the dialog asking whether you want to save your changes ...



              enter image description here



              If you then click "Yes," your changes will be saved in your Drafts folder. Repeat for each message you're composing.



              Unfortunately, it does not cause Outlook to wake up. You still have to close Outlook via the Task Manager and restart it. But you haven't lost your work.



              Other possible solutions:





              1. Freeze caused by nickname cache: I have been playing with this,
                and so far I have reduced my cache size from 1,000 to 600, and the
                freezes continue. I'll continue decreasing the size for a while to
                see if that helps.


              2. Freeze caused by damaged user profile: Try
                and see if it helps. I did not bother with this because my
                experience is that changing user profiles has not helped with
                anything else.


              3. Freeze caused by corrupt local files: This is
                said to apply only in cached Exchange mode, but I'm not using that
                mode. Try it if you are.






              share|improve this answer























                up vote
                0
                down vote










                up vote
                0
                down vote









                So far, I have found a couple of suggestions for fixing the problem, which I will outline at the end.



                My tip, though, is this: If Outlook freezes while composing, go to the task bar and right-click on each icon that represents a draft message. Click on "Close window" ...



                Close email draft window



                ... and Outlook will display the dialog asking whether you want to save your changes ...



                enter image description here



                If you then click "Yes," your changes will be saved in your Drafts folder. Repeat for each message you're composing.



                Unfortunately, it does not cause Outlook to wake up. You still have to close Outlook via the Task Manager and restart it. But you haven't lost your work.



                Other possible solutions:





                1. Freeze caused by nickname cache: I have been playing with this,
                  and so far I have reduced my cache size from 1,000 to 600, and the
                  freezes continue. I'll continue decreasing the size for a while to
                  see if that helps.


                2. Freeze caused by damaged user profile: Try
                  and see if it helps. I did not bother with this because my
                  experience is that changing user profiles has not helped with
                  anything else.


                3. Freeze caused by corrupt local files: This is
                  said to apply only in cached Exchange mode, but I'm not using that
                  mode. Try it if you are.






                share|improve this answer












                So far, I have found a couple of suggestions for fixing the problem, which I will outline at the end.



                My tip, though, is this: If Outlook freezes while composing, go to the task bar and right-click on each icon that represents a draft message. Click on "Close window" ...



                Close email draft window



                ... and Outlook will display the dialog asking whether you want to save your changes ...



                enter image description here



                If you then click "Yes," your changes will be saved in your Drafts folder. Repeat for each message you're composing.



                Unfortunately, it does not cause Outlook to wake up. You still have to close Outlook via the Task Manager and restart it. But you haven't lost your work.



                Other possible solutions:





                1. Freeze caused by nickname cache: I have been playing with this,
                  and so far I have reduced my cache size from 1,000 to 600, and the
                  freezes continue. I'll continue decreasing the size for a while to
                  see if that helps.


                2. Freeze caused by damaged user profile: Try
                  and see if it helps. I did not bother with this because my
                  experience is that changing user profiles has not helped with
                  anything else.


                3. Freeze caused by corrupt local files: This is
                  said to apply only in cached Exchange mode, but I'm not using that
                  mode. Try it if you are.







                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered Nov 19 at 16:16









                vknowles

                1012




                1012
























                    up vote
                    0
                    down vote













                    A common cause of Outlook freeze when using an Exchange mailbox is the Online Exchange mode. You may first check whether you are using online Exchange mode, try switching to cached Exchange mode to see whether this issue persists.



                    Also have a look at this article: How to troubleshoot performance issues in Outlook. It listed several possible causes for this issue.






                    share|improve this answer





















                    • I went through the article's list briefly. The performance issues did not seem to apply. My folders have fewer items than the problematic levels mentioned. I noticed also that both cached and online modes can have problems. I also have some offline PST folders, but even though some of them are large, they are less than 1GB (the article says <5GB should be okay). The article focused on performance improvement and did not mention actual freezing of the program.
                      – vknowles
                      Nov 21 at 14:06

















                    up vote
                    0
                    down vote













                    A common cause of Outlook freeze when using an Exchange mailbox is the Online Exchange mode. You may first check whether you are using online Exchange mode, try switching to cached Exchange mode to see whether this issue persists.



                    Also have a look at this article: How to troubleshoot performance issues in Outlook. It listed several possible causes for this issue.






                    share|improve this answer





















                    • I went through the article's list briefly. The performance issues did not seem to apply. My folders have fewer items than the problematic levels mentioned. I noticed also that both cached and online modes can have problems. I also have some offline PST folders, but even though some of them are large, they are less than 1GB (the article says <5GB should be okay). The article focused on performance improvement and did not mention actual freezing of the program.
                      – vknowles
                      Nov 21 at 14:06















                    up vote
                    0
                    down vote










                    up vote
                    0
                    down vote









                    A common cause of Outlook freeze when using an Exchange mailbox is the Online Exchange mode. You may first check whether you are using online Exchange mode, try switching to cached Exchange mode to see whether this issue persists.



                    Also have a look at this article: How to troubleshoot performance issues in Outlook. It listed several possible causes for this issue.






                    share|improve this answer












                    A common cause of Outlook freeze when using an Exchange mailbox is the Online Exchange mode. You may first check whether you are using online Exchange mode, try switching to cached Exchange mode to see whether this issue persists.



                    Also have a look at this article: How to troubleshoot performance issues in Outlook. It listed several possible causes for this issue.







                    share|improve this answer












                    share|improve this answer



                    share|improve this answer










                    answered Nov 20 at 9:13









                    Steve Fan

                    58814




                    58814












                    • I went through the article's list briefly. The performance issues did not seem to apply. My folders have fewer items than the problematic levels mentioned. I noticed also that both cached and online modes can have problems. I also have some offline PST folders, but even though some of them are large, they are less than 1GB (the article says <5GB should be okay). The article focused on performance improvement and did not mention actual freezing of the program.
                      – vknowles
                      Nov 21 at 14:06




















                    • I went through the article's list briefly. The performance issues did not seem to apply. My folders have fewer items than the problematic levels mentioned. I noticed also that both cached and online modes can have problems. I also have some offline PST folders, but even though some of them are large, they are less than 1GB (the article says <5GB should be okay). The article focused on performance improvement and did not mention actual freezing of the program.
                      – vknowles
                      Nov 21 at 14:06


















                    I went through the article's list briefly. The performance issues did not seem to apply. My folders have fewer items than the problematic levels mentioned. I noticed also that both cached and online modes can have problems. I also have some offline PST folders, but even though some of them are large, they are less than 1GB (the article says <5GB should be okay). The article focused on performance improvement and did not mention actual freezing of the program.
                    – vknowles
                    Nov 21 at 14:06






                    I went through the article's list briefly. The performance issues did not seem to apply. My folders have fewer items than the problematic levels mentioned. I noticed also that both cached and online modes can have problems. I also have some offline PST folders, but even though some of them are large, they are less than 1GB (the article says <5GB should be okay). The article focused on performance improvement and did not mention actual freezing of the program.
                    – vknowles
                    Nov 21 at 14:06




















                     

                    draft saved


                    draft discarded



















































                     


                    draft saved


                    draft discarded














                    StackExchange.ready(
                    function () {
                    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fsuperuser.com%2fquestions%2f1376733%2ftip-for-when-outlook-freezes-while-composing-messages%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                    }
                    );

                    Post as a guest















                    Required, but never shown





















































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown

































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown







                    Popular posts from this blog

                    Probability when a professor distributes a quiz and homework assignment to a class of n students.

                    Aardman Animations

                    Are they similar matrix