OT: Outlook and Direct Access problems, try /resetnavpane switch

Last week I had a problem where Outlook would not connect to my Exchange server while I was remote and using Direct Access. Having some knowledge of Outlook troubleshooting I jumped straight to creating a new profile which failed as Outlook was in an offline state I could not reset. A call to helpdesk resolved the issue although I had to manually install updates which took a bit of time and then establish a VPN connection. While I was a bit disappointed with needing a VPN when every other app was working over DA I just wanted it all to work again.

So today my problem resurfaced, Outlook unable to connect to my Exchange server. I bit the bullet and called helpdesk again and the tech was super sharp and fast, so fast I almost didn’t see him launch

outlook.exe /resetnavpane

Sure enough Outlook restarted just fine. Sorry I don’t have great technical details to explain why this happens but it is a really simple step to try.

Command-line switches for Outlook 2010

TomL LCSKid