Make Outlook Faster by Disabling Unnecessary Add-Ins
If Microsoft Outlook loads slower than dirt and hangs every time you try to do anything, there’s a very good chance that your problem is an Outlook plug-in gone haywire—but we can easily disable them.
You’ll want to be careful not to disable an add-in that you actually need, but I’ve used this technique many times over the years to make Outlook run much faster.
Disable Outlook Add-ons
Open up the Trust Center by navigating to Tools –> Trust Center on the menu.
On the left-hand pane, choose Add-ins, and then near the bottom of the window you’ll see a button that will let you manage your COM Add-ins.
From this window, you can disable anything that you aren’t using. My recommendation would be to start off by only disabling non-Microsoft add-ins, restart Outlook and see if that solves your slowdown problems.
You’ll notice that some of the add-ins in the list won’t let you remove them under Windows 7 or Vista—for instance, if you want to remove Microsoft Outlook Mobile Service, which lets you send text messages to cell phones—you will need to close Outlook and re-open it as administrator.
If you are using Windows 7 and have it pinned to your taskbar, you can close Outlook and then hold down the Ctrl+Shift keys while you click on the taskbar icon. Repeat the steps above, and you should be able to remove the other Add-ins without problems.
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Thanks for the article, I’ve disabled some add-ins I never knew I had! For instance, why is there an iTunes add-in for Outlook?
Itunes can pull your calender from Outlook into your iphone/touch
WOW!
That is phenomenal.
I had forgotten how zippy Outlook could be. Over time I realize I’ve been settling for a very slow operation and imagining it had something to do with the amount of data or I don’t know what.
THANK YOU. Went from about 30 seconds to load down to about 8.
I purchased a laptop with a preinstalled trial of Mcafee. I used windows and mcafee uninstaller to remove it. Now when i open outlook i get a popup that says that the add-in Mcafee anti-spam cannot be loaded. I am trying to make the popup go away.
Thanks!
That stinking I-Tunes add-in slowed it down badly.
wow what a difference! perhaps a 70% increase in start time ( I blew off 4 add-ins including the iTunes)
sorry a 70% DECREASE in start time / 70% increase in speed…;-)
Outlook tells me c:/windows/system32/fxsext32.dll cannot be loaded and should be updated or deleted, but it doesn’t appear in the list of add-ins?
Every time I try to delete a message in the Outlook Inbox or Sent box, my system “hour glasses” and hangs up. I just added some memory to may laptop in hopes to make it run faster, but I still have this same problem with deleting messages. I am sick of this! Who can help?
With reference to “Outlook tells me c:/windows/system32/fxsext32.dll cannot be loaded and should be updated or deleted, but it doesn’t appear in the list of add-ins?” – at the bottom of the Trust Center Add-Ins page, in the ‘Manage’ drop down box choose ‘Exchange Client Extensions’ and this fax extension add-in should be found there – at least that’s where I found it on my machine as I had the same problem – now fixed.
Nice! Thank you so much for the info…that Business Manager startup keeps nagging me each time I start up my outlook! Geez! It was driving me nuts!!I just wished Ive had a chance to go to this site months ago! Thanks so much!
Rachel
@Wouter I was having the same question…
This is wonderful!
Outlook had been hanging almost constantly and had a delay between keystroke and character appearing on the screen of up to 20 seconds! Now it’s fast, responsive and out of my hair.
Thanks a million!
We are trying to get the printer hook up to the computer.Please help us…..
Thanks for posting info on how to disable add-ins. The one that fails to load doesn’t show up in the list. Any ideas? Vista OS, MS Office/Outlook 2007. Add-in failing each time I create new email – “Fax Extension” c:\windows\system32\fxsext32dll and has been disabled by Outlook….. It just doesn’t show up in the Add-ins list. Also, the dll is not lolcated in system32 folder. Any ideas?? Thanks much.
trying to open Microsoft Office 2007 Outlook, Receiving error message
Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window…
Tried some of the items listed to clear this up but no help… any ideas?
in my Outlook program, upon trying to start a msg pops up telling me that the add-in exchange scan C:\Program Files\McAfee\ManagedVirusScan\VScan\OtlkUI.20090825133928.dll cannnot be loaded and has been disabled by Outlook. Please contact the Add-In manufacturer for an update. If no update is available, please uninstall the Add-in. I am new at the computer and don’t know what this means, can you help me out or tell me who to call. Any help will be appreciated.
Answer for Debi: close outlook
browse to Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
delete extend.dat
open outlook and you should be good to go.
I keep getting a Microsoft Office Outlook Security Notice every time I open each of my Outlook email accounts. The message states that there is a potential security concern regarding an iTunes Outlook Add-in. I have checked the disable box and the message states that the add-in has been disabled. But the message shows up every time I open my email. How do I stop this message from popping up every time?
BTW, I have checked the Trust Center and it shows that the iTunes Outlook Add-in is in the Inactive Add-ins list. Since I do not have an iPhone, I want to get rid of this add-in permanently. Any suggestions?
Outlook 2007 cannot connect to Hotmail..! ( Andy )
I was getting the McAfee Addin was being disabled each time I went into Outlook 2007 and the Fax Addin was being disabled each time I created an email. Thanks to Dave’s tip, both addins were found under Outlooks’ Tools/Trust Center Add Ins Page and in the ‘Manage’ drop down box ‘Exchange Client Extensions’ both extensions were there to disable.
Thanks for that my outlook is now really speedy – just need to get the rest of the pc as fast and we will be laughing
Thanks Dave! Darn add-ins…
in my Outlook program, upon trying to start a msg pops up telling me that the add-in exchange scan C:\Program Files\Symantic Anti Virus vpmsc3.dll cannnot be loaded and has been disabled by Outlook. Please contact the Add-In manufacturer for an update. If no update is available, please uninstall the Add-in. I went to the trust center and the Symantics addins are no longer thier. In fact the Symantic Anti-Virus has been removed from the machine and McAfee has replaced it.
Thanks for posting info on how to disable add-ins. I have the exact same issue as Gus – I tried Dave’s approach to no avail. Ever since this issue started (last week) my outlook is very messed up and keeps freezing….Vista OS, MS Office/Outlook 2007. Add-in failing each time I create new email – “Fax Extension” c:\windows\system32\fxsext32dll and has been disabled by Outlook….. It just doesn’t show up in the Add-ins list. Also, the dll is not lolcated in system32 folder. I have been looking all over, seaching folders deep w/in the system to no avail.
thanks for your help!
Julia
I am running Vista with Office 2007-
Which of these Outlook add ins can i disable safely:
MS Exchange Unified Message
MS Sharepoint Scheduler Colleague Import
MS VBA for Outlook Add in