Oct 14, 2025 · For example, a common troubleshooting option is to enable Safe Mode, which starts Windows in a limited state, where only the bare essentials services and drivers are started.

See how to work with Office safe modes to safely use a Office program that has encountered certain problems.

Type Outlook.exe /safe, and click OK. Tip: If Windows can't find Outlook.exe /safe, try using the full path to Outlook (for example C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OfficeXX, where XX is your version number).

Are you having trouble starting Outlook or receiving "Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window" error messages? We can fix the problem for you, or you can use the …

You may need to start Windows in Safe mode or different advanced troubleshooting modes so that you can find and fix the problem. The Windows Startup Settings article can help you with Windows safe …

When you run Excel in safe mode, it bypasses functionality and settings such as alternative startup location, changed toolbars, startup folders used by Excel, Excel add-ins, and most COM add-ins.

If Outlook stops responding at a screen that says "Processing," you can close Outlook, start it in safe mode, then close it and open it normally to fix the problem.

This is similar to starting Windows in Safe Mode, but provides you more control over which services and programs run at startup to help you isolate the cause of a problem.

Resolve Windows blue screen errors with tips and resources to do your own troubleshooting, or contact the Microsoft support if you need more help.

Describes how to start your computer in Safe mode, which uses a minimal set of drivers and startup programs so that you can determine whether a background program is interfering with Office for Mac.