Outlook 2016 Folder Empty Upon Restart : Troubleshoot the Issue

Microsoft Outlook renders a systematic manner of holding bulk messages in a simple manner. The particular folder and all the unread emails could easily be accessed rapidly by the Favorite Folders list having incorporated items. In addition to this, the messages that are saved in these folders could be arranged or sorted accordingly and thus, searched quickly.

Few Important Tips

• One can only add message folders to the Favorite folders list.
• Since it is impossible to create a new subfolder to the list, therefore, it will be enlisting major folders.
• Whenever required, Outlook folders can be added as well as deleted from the list.
• As per the need, Outlook favorite folders can be activated or deactivated.

Well, a situation occurs in Microsoft Outlook 2016 (or any other edition) that the Favorite folder is missing. The problem may be proving itself harmful because those folders might comprises of essential messages. Before there are occurs any high problem, users need to troubleshoot issue i.e., Outlook 2016 folder empty upon restart.

The resolution requires proper understanding for the reason due to which the problem occurs. One of the most common reason due to which this issue occurs is intentional or unintentional disabling of the Favorites section. Not only this but, there are many other causes that are behind this issue. Therefore, here we have described each cause with its respective solution to fix it.

If your Outlook folders get empty when you open Microsoft Outlook then there might be chances that you are losing your crucial emails. You can implement the steps mentioned below to resolve the error message but when it comes to lost emails, it is hard to recover them if they are permanently deleted. So, you are advised to use SysTools Outlook Data Recovery Software which will help you to recover deleted mailbox items in no time.

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Rectify ‘Outlook 2016 Folder Empty Upon Restart’ Problem

Dependent upon the cause, users can choose any of the following solutions to resolve the problem.

Solution 1: Microsoft Outlook Issue

If the error is caused due to the slow performance of Outlook profile then, use this method to get rid of the problem. This will reset all the made changes in Outlook and make all changes with its default attributes.

• For MS Windows XP OS users:

Click on Start and then, click on the Run. A box appears in which you have to execute outlook.exe/resetnavpane command

• For Windows Vista and Windows 7:

Go to Start icon and type outlook.exe/resetnavpane in the search box. Execute the command typed in the searching box

• For Windows 8, 8.1, and 10:

Click on the Start menu and type outlook.exe/resetnavpane command. Press Enter to begin the desired procedure
The command will be helping one in determining the major cause of the problem. It will eliminate the chances of error occurrence for preventing the same kind of issues.

Solution 2: Files / Folders with Special Characters

The presence of special characters in the components stored under a section also causes this problem. There are chances that the issue might occur due to an occurrence of this issue. The XML file may be unable to capture special coding of all these types of characters.

Solution 3: Microsoft Outlook Profile Corruption

It might be possible that major or minor corruption is there in the profile of Outlook. And, this is reason due to which ‘Outlook 2016 folder empty upon restart’ problem occurs. Therefore, to troubleshoot this difficulty users need to recreate Outlook profile.

Solution 4: Backup the Navigation Panel Settings

The Outlook navigation panel settings involves Favorite folder, which must be backed up on the regular basis. These kinds of settings get stored in an XML file with the same name as of the profile.
For instance, if your profile name is Kelly then, the file will be kelly.xml. The storage file location is dependent upon the version of an operating system:

• For Windows XP OS:

C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\

• For Windows Vista, 7, and all above versions:

C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook\

Note: ‘AppData’ folder is the hidden folder for Windows OS users. Therefore, users need to enable the permission of displaying hidden folders on their system.

Additional Information: Enable or Disable the Favorite Folders
At any instance of time, Favorite folders option might be enabled or disabled by the end user. However, this activity will not be affecting the incorporated data items in one or another way. One can take help of following steps to activate or deactivate the Favorite Folder feature in MS Outlook.

Note: The steps varies with version of Outlook in which error occurs. Therefore, measures with all Outlook editions are explained here.

• For Outlook 2007
1. Click on View >> Navigation Pane.
2. Hit on the Favorite Folders option and check or uncheck the option to enable or disable it respectively.
• For Outlook 2010
1. Go to the View tab and click on Layout >> Navigation Pane.
2. Check or uncheck the Favorite option from the displayed list.
• For Outlook 2013 and 2016
1. Click on View and select Folder Pane >> Navigation Pane.
2. Hit on the Favorites for enabling this feature in Outlook; else keep it disabled.

Conclusion

Microsoft Outlook provides a very useful feature of ‘Favorite Folders’. To achieve the complete advantage of the feature, it should be the duty of each and every person to manage all emails with provided folders. ‘Outlook 2016 folder empty upon restart’ problem occurs due to some annoying activity in the application. Therefore, don’t get panic, just follow all those that are explained in this blog. One of the any rendered measures will work for the end users in getting rid of the issue.