Outlook 2016 hangs on 'loading profile'

I opened the properties of the shortcut on Windows 10 and there is no "Compatibilities" tab. The shortcut for me was in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs. When I right click on the shortcut there was an option to "Troubleshoot compatibility". Ran the process and it worked.

Just leaving this here for future reference:
TLDR: Try cutting off internet during Outlook startup.

I used Process Monitor to see what Outlook was actually doing in my case when it is stuck on loading the profile. I saw a bunch of Telemetry and TCP related stuff which made me think it is trying to connect somewhere but does not succeed.
Disabling all network interfaces during startup of Outlook immediately solved my problem. Outlook opened perfectly and once it is open, the network interfaces can be switched on again.

Thanks Michael, this option worked well for Outlook 365 on Win10.

In my case after uninstalling two .net framework updates done by windows yesterday afternoon solved my problem.

You know you could hold CTRL in and right click the Outlook-icon in systray to see that TCP-traffic?
I have a customer now on the phone and it seems it's resyncronizing the OST-file before loading Outlook. Has ScanPST maybe been moved to run pre-startup of Outlook 2016?

I shut of my wifi and outlook loaded correctly. Turned off and on no problem. Thx

This method works for me as well, but how can we fix this. so fraustrating

Here is what I found out. First I launch Outlook. The loading Profile window comes up and tried to load. What I did next works every time. Open Task Manager. Then click on Start Task Manager. As soon as you do that, Outlook opens.

Thanks Michael, simple fix!

Something that worked for us the other day was simply to rename the .ost file (assuming this is an upgrade to 2016 on a machine that already had an older version of Outlook installed). Then Outlook opened fine and created its own new OST file. Worth a try.

it worded for me, right click and run as administrator.

As soon as I unplugged the Internet connection Outlook opened up!! Thank you :-)

I ran Outlook 2016 in administrator mode and it started working.

Non of the other methods worked for me...Run as admin, safe mode etc.
Removed my .net framework worked 100%. Thanks Chris

Worked for me, thanks Ian!

Did the job. Many thanks. Now I can get rid of the offending icloud account which caused the issue in the first place!!!

Hello
Thanks Michael
Another way to get around this issue :
1>Go to Internet Options in the Control Panel.
2>Connections
3>Lan Settings
4>Check (in my case) or Uncheck "Automatically detect settings" (depending of your Network Configuration)

Thanks

Thanks Michael. Worked for me as well

I saw your post but do not know how to disable "all network interfaces during startup of Outlook". How do I do that? Running Windows 10.

Actually - I figured out how to disable all networks. Thank you! It worked.

Shutting down internet and outlook started up. I noticed when click send and receive it shows the outlook task window stating "synchronizing subscribed folders for my second email account" outlook hangs at that spot. I deleted my second accound and outlook starts up fine. Outlook only works with one account

Shutting down the internet was the only thing that worked - after an hour of all the other solutions posted. THANK YOU!

For our situation we're 365 subscribers using Office 2016 on Win7 SP1 inside a VPN environment with Exchange Server 2013. Opening in Safe Mode allowed me to get Outlook open, then I disabled all but 2 add-ons (Skype Meetings and Exchange 2013). I disabled everything related to SharePoint, Social Media, and OneNote (who uses that?). After disabling the plugins Outlook would open normally. Inside the VPN environment we can't reach SharePoint, OneNote, or social media channels normally, so one of them seemed to have been what Outlook was trying to connect to and couldn't reach in our case.

Thank You, I had spent hours trying to fix this until I found Your simple and effective fix.

Thank you Michael. Worked perfectly - clicked on the wifi icon at bottom right, clicked flight mode, opened Outlook, closed Outlook again, disabled flight mode and now Outlook is opening normally. Problem solved.

Michael, thanks a lot, this procedure solved my problem, I'm using Win 10 and Outlook 2016.

Michael - thanks you just saved me from trashing my goddam machine.. spent hours on this - poor from microsoft!

Brilliant! It worked! Thank you :)

With updates in Outlook by Microsoft sometime it becomes difficult to Add Outlook Account via desktop application due to compatibility issues. Another method to add profile in Outlook is by control panel. From the Mail icon you can easily add Outlook Account without window crash.

OMG this has taken me 2 days of research. it started suddenly and I could not get Outlook to run even in safe mode. I found your post a few minutes ago and tried it. It worked immediately. I wish I had seen this two days ago. Thank you for posting this.

Yea, that really helped! Thanks for the hint!

This also worked for me. I fixed the issue by resetting my router and problem fixed

The only way I've managed to get past this is by deleting the windows profile and also remove via registry. However all my issues have been trying to upload from Office 2007 to 2016.

1.Start any Office program.
2.On the File tab, click Options.
3.In the Options dialog box, click Advanced.
4.In the list of available options, click to select the Disable hardware graphics acceleration check box. ...
5.Click OK.

Thanks Michael, cutting the internet off first and then adjusting the settings worked well for the MS Office Outlook 2016 Pro Plus. It was somewhat annoying to just watch the screen hanging on profile loading screen. Many thanks.

Win 7 sp1 ,Outlook 2016, Office 365 Exchange.
Disabling hardware acceleration fixed the problem.

None of these suggestions are working for me!!!
Help?

Outlook 2016 hangs on loading profile for over 2 minutes.

NON-WORKING SOLUTIONS:
----------------------
1. Creating a new Outlook profile.
2. Quick repair.
3. Full repair (gave me an error and used Microsoft's tool to remove all office projects and re-installed everything.)
4. Deleted the Outlook folder (including all OST files) and let things get re-created.
5. Disable hardware acceleration.
6. Started outlook.exe /safe which opens fast.
7. Disabled all COM add-ins.
8. Disk Cleanup
9. All windows/office updates completed.
10. Disabled IPv6.
11. Ran the SARA (Support and Recovery Assistance) troubleshooting
12. Tried the "Run this program in compatibility mode for" on the shortcut.

WORKING SOLUTION:
----------------------
Disable the following network adapters:

Microsoft Loopback Adapter
Npcap Loopback Adapter

After this, outlook would open within 5 seconds and not hang on loading profile anymore. I also you recommend to just disable any network adapter you're not using.

OTHER THROUGHTS
---------------
Why does Outlook search other network adapters?

I'm using Windows 10 (new computer) with Office 16 and Outlook worked until I sycronised to iPhone 5.
Now Outlook is stuck on Loading Profile. I've disconnected wifi but didn't open. I've opened using Administrator but that didn't work.
Help I'm a home user with basic knowledge and can't find a solution.

Well done! That worked.

The advice from Mike Shrout works for me thanks. However, don't actually have to go as far as opening Task Manager. Just press Control Alt Delete to bring up the menu, then Escape to revert back. Still looking for a long term solution as I am afraid to mess with new profiles in case I lose downloaded emails.

Thanks..it work

Cutting off the internet worked for me. deleting profile, safe mode, did not work.
thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks Michael that worked for me.

fixed mine.

You are sent from Heavens! I have been trying to fix this problem for more than 5 hours. I read many articles and tried every possible fix I found online to no avail. This fixed my problem. You are a genius! Thank you so much

Thanks, Michael, cutting the internet connection resolved the issue. Outlook app able to open, the internet connection was good somehow the outlook is disconnected, now the next thing to do is to check the LAN settings the default was set to "Automatically detect settings" I put the proxy server hit ok and outlook is now Connected to: Microsoft Exchange.

It worked for me as well!

Going into airplain mode and it worked! For Outlook O365!

Just leaving this here for future reference:
TLDR: Try cutting off internet during Outlook startup.

I used Process Monitor to see what Outlook was actually doing in my case when it is stuck on loading the profile. I saw a bunch of Telemetry and TCP related stuff which made me think it is trying to connect somewhere but does not succeed.
Disabling all network interfaces during startup of Outlook immediately solved my problem. Outlook opened perfectly and once it is open, the network interfaces can be switched on again.