Cannot rebuild Outlook database

Question

Cannot rebuild Outlook database

Anonymous

I am using a Macbook with Ventura 13 and Outlook for Mac 16.78.23102103

I recently tried to open my Outlook app and was prompted with: "Somethings wrong with the Outlook database. Please repair to fix the problem." If I hit the Repair button a new popup appears for a split second before disappearing. I was able to quickly see that it said "Repairing main profile, copying records to a new profile" Then is just displays the original error again.

Steps I have tried:

Deleting Outlook and downloading it from the App store

Deleting Outlook and downloading it through portal.office.com and using the O365 wizard to complete the install

Updating Outlook

Deleting my exchange account in my Mac settings account tab, and re-creating it

I can still access my email through web-based Outlook

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.

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1 answer

Answer 1

Hi Djones,

Thanks for contacting us and sorry for the inconveniences,

Here are some other possible ways to fix the problem:

You can try to rebuild your Outlook database manually by using the Terminal app on your Mac. To do this, follow these steps: * Quit Outlook and any other Microsoft Office applications. * Open the Terminal app from the Applications/Utilities folder or use Spotlight to search for it. * Type or copy and paste the following command and press Enter: defaults write com.microsoft.Outlook DatabaseRebuildBehavior 1 * This will set Outlook to rebuild the database on the next launch. * Open Outlook and wait for the rebuilding process to finish. You may see a progress bar or a message saying "Updating local changes". * When the rebuilding is done, quit Outlook and open the Terminal app again. * Type or copy and paste the following command and press Enter: defaults delete com.microsoft.Outlook DatabaseRebuildBehavior * This will reset Outlook to its normal behavior. * Open Outlook and check if the problem is resolved.
You can try to create a new Outlook profile and import your data from the old one. To do this, follow these steps: * Quit Outlook and any other Microsoft Office applications. * Open Finder and go to the Applications folder. * Ctrl + click or right-click Microsoft Outlook and select Show Package Contents. * Open Contents > SharedSupport, and then open Outlook Profile Manager. * Click the Add (+) button to create a new profile. Give it a name and click OK. * Select the new profile and click Set as Default. * Close the Outlook Profile Manager and open Outlook. * Follow the prompts to add your email account and set up your preferences. * To import your data from the old profile, click File > Import and choose Outlook for Mac archive file (.olm). * Browse to the location of your old profile's data file, which is usually in ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9. Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles/Main Profile/Data * Select the file named Outlook.sqllite or something similar and click Import. * Wait for the import process to finish and check if your data is intact.

I hope this helps!

Regards, Sola