Recreate Corrupted Outlook Template File
Scenario
You encounter unusual behavior (especially layout or spelling issues) when using Outlook, such as weird characters appearing in text, some typing functions not working properly, unexpected error messages, random freezes especially when typing, etc. You've already tried several troubleshooting steps, like disabling add-ins, creating a new Outlook profile, updating device drivers, to no avail. In such cases, recreating the template file for Outlook, which is "NormalEmail.dotm", can solve the problem if it was somehow got corrupted.
Solution/Workaround
- Close Outlook.
- Open Run dialog box (Press "Windows Key + R") and then copy-paste the following text in there, click OK:
%appdata%\Microsoft\Templates - Right click on file NormalEmail.dotm and rename it to something like NormalEmail.old. You can also move it to some folder/path else.
- Start Outlook.
Conclusion
Renaming the template file will cause Outlook to get it recreated. If you encounter any unexpected issues afterwards, you can always replace the newly created file with the original one either by renaming or moving it back to its original path depending on the action you've taken.