Tip 1106: Outlook's Restore Window button doesn't work?

A surprisingly common problem is Outlook appears to be stuck with the window either Minimized or Maximized. When the Restore button is clicked, Outlook disappears.

When I start Outlook, it starts minimized. It never starts maximized. When I try to Restore the window by clicking on the icon between the minimize button and the close application button, the entire program goes to the minimized format. How do I fix this so that I can adjust the size of the display?

When this happens it means the window was pushed off the screen. This can happen when you accidentally drag the window off-screen or if you lower the screen resolution and had Outlook partially pushed off the screen.

For a quick fix, right-click on the Taskbar and choose Cascade. Any of the windows arrangements should bring Outlook's window on screen, but some users report only Cascade brings it up. I recommend closing all applications except Outlook when you do this, as it will change the size and location of all windows.

If you'd rather "get under the hood" you can delete a value from the registry to reset the windows size and location.

Close Outlook then open the registry editor. Find and delete the values at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\xx.0\Outlook\Office Explorer where xx is your version of Outlook. Delete Frame , and if you have one for Namespaces, delete it as well. When you restart Outlook, it will open at full screen. Resize the window as desired.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\xx.0\Outlook\Office Explorer
REG_BINARY: Frame
REG_BINARY: Namespaces

Do it for me

If you don't want to edit the registry, you can use a .reg file to delete the two values. Download the correct file for your version of Outlook then double click to run. Note: if your web browser saves the file with a .txt extension, you'll need to change the file name to end in reg.

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Published September 23, 2013. Last updated on September 23, 2013.