Cant get into outlook

Harry Cochran 5 Reputation points
2025-11-18T18:57:21.33+00:00

My PC crashed with outlook open, and now I can't get back into my email. When I re-open outlook it asks me to login, but when I put in my password it says, "adding account" and then "setting things up" but then it dumps me back onto the login page. sometimes I get an error that says "outlook is having trouble starting. How about starting with essentials only?" whatever I select makes no difference, I just go back to the same login loop.

All of the support articles I can find say to start in safe mode, but this doesn't work, because the .exe can't be found. This started me on a rabbit hole of trying to find the .exe, but there doesn't seem to be one. I've looked everywhere and tried multiple searches both in the search bar and with copilot. I've tried to uninstall and reinstall about 4 times, tried rebooting the machine, updating windows, and everything else I can think of. Not sure what else to do from here, any ideas?

Outlook | Windows | New Outlook for Windows | For home
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Harry Cochran 5 Reputation points
2025-11-18T21:54:56.93+00:00

I got this figured out eventually. What I had to do was set up a new email address in the outlook app, go into my settings inside the app, remove my old account, and set it up again from scratch. Then I just deleted the new email account that I set up.

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  1. Arlene D 36,235 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2025-11-18T21:59:29.5933333+00:00

    Great to hear, Harry! I’m glad you got it sorted.

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  2. Arlene D 36,235 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2025-11-18T21:36:43.6233333+00:00

    Thanks, Harry. Since you can log in online but only see a new @outlook.com address, it sounds like your previous account isn’t properly linked or recognized by the Microsoft account currently signed in.

    To fix this, remove the new account from the Microsoft account sign-in, then add your original email as the primary account. On Windows, go to Settings> Accounts> Email & accounts, remove the new Outlook account, then open the Outlook app and add your previous email using the Add Account option. This ensures the app connects directly to your original mailbox and avoids the new temporary address.

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  3. Arlene D 36,235 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2025-11-18T21:03:57.49+00:00

    Thanks, Harry. Since you are on the new Outlook, have already repaired, reset, and reinstalled multiple times, and app updates are on, the official guidance from Microsoft is that persistent login loops like this can sometimes be caused by a corrupted profile stored in the cloud or your account settings.

    The next step is to sign in to Outlook on the web at outlook.com to confirm your account works there and clear any account issues. If it works online but not in the app, I recommend using the official account recovery and troubleshooting tools to check your account and remove any cached credentials that may be causing the loop.

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  4. Arlene D 36,235 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2025-11-18T20:52:20.1633333+00:00

    Thanks for the screenshot, Harry. It looks like you are using the new Outlook app.

    The official step is to reset the app: go to Settings, Apps, Installed apps, find Outlook, click Advanced options, then Reset. This clears app data and often fixes login loops. After that, open Outlook and sign in. If it still doesn’t work, uninstall the app completely and reinstall it from the Microsoft Store. Have you tried resetting the app yet?

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