The command that starts Microsoft Outlook 2010 is outlook.exe. A command-line switch is the addition of a forward slash followed by the command name and any parameters.
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What are commands and switches?
Each time that you start the program, you run the outlook.exe command, although you do not usually type the command or even see it. You can change certain aspects of how the program starts by adding subcommands called switches to the outlook.exe command.
A switch appears as a space after the main command, followed by a forward slash and the name of the switch, which provide additional information about how to execute the command.
For example, the following command instructs Outlook 2010 to start with the Reading Pane (Reading Pane: A window in Outlook where you can preview an item without opening it. To display the item in the Reading Pane, click the item.) turned off.
The command
outlook.exe starts Outlook.
The switch
/nopreview starts Outlook with the Reading Pane turned off.
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Use a switch one time by adding it to the Run command
First, verify the location of the outlook.exe file on your computer. If you accepted the default folder locations when you installed Outlook 2010, the outlook.exe file is located at the following:
c:\program files\microsoft office\office14\outlook.exe
Outlook 2010 32-bit installed on Windows 64-bit
c:\program files (x86)\microsoft office\office14\outlook.exe
If you do not find the outlook.exe file at that location, search for the file and note the full path.
- Do one of the following:
- Windows 7 and Windows Vista
- Click the Start button, point to All Programs, click Accessories, and then click Run.
- Windows XP
- Click the Windows Start button, and then click Run.
- In the Run dialog box, type a quotation mark, enter the full path for the outlook.exe file, and then type another quotation mark. Alternatively, click Browse to locate and select the file. In this case, the quotation marks are supplied automatically.
- After the closing quotation mark, type a space, and then type the switch. For example, you might type:
"c:\program files\microsoft office\office14\outlook.exe" /nopreview
The next time that you start Outlook 2010, the program opens as usual. To make your customized startup available for repeated uses, see the next section.
Notes
- Switches are not case-sensitive. For example, /NOPREVIEW functions the same as /nopreview.
- Remember to include one blank space before the switch and one before each parameter.
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Make a switch available for reuse by creating a shortcut
First, verify the location of the outlook.exe file on your computer. If you accepted the default folder locations when you installed Outlook 2010, the outlook.exe file is probably located at the following:
c:\program files\microsoft office\office14\outlook.exe
Outlook 2010 32-bit installed on Windows 64-bit
c:\program files (x86)\microsoft office\office14\outlook.exe
If you do not find the outlook.exe file at that location, search for the file and note the full path.
- Right-click the Windows desktop, point to New, and then click Shortcut.
- In the Create Shortcut Wizard, in the Type the location of the item box, type a quotation mark, enter the full path for the outlook.exe file, and then type another quotation mark. Alternatively, click Browse to locate and select the file. In this case, the quotation marks are supplied automatically.
- After the closing quotation mark, type a space, and then type the switch and any parameters. For example, you might type:
"c:\program files\microsoft office\office14\outlook.exe" /nopreview
Note If the parameter is a path of a location on your computer, it must also be enclosed in double quotation marks.
- Click Next.
- In the Type a name for this shortcut box, type a new name that you want to use for the shortcut, and then click Finish.
The wizard creates the shortcut on the desktop.
- Whenever you want to start Outlook 2010 in this particular customized way, double-click the shortcut.
Tip To add the desktop shortcut to the Windows Start menu, right-click the shortcut, and then click Pin to Start menu.
You can create various shortcuts, each of which applies different switches and parameters to the program at startup.
Notes
- Switches are not case-sensitive. For example, /NOPREVIEW functions the same as /nopreview.
- Remember to include one blank space before the switch and one before each parameter.
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Available switches
| Switch |
Description |
| /a |
Creates an item with the specified file as an attachment.
Example:
- "c:\program files\microsoft office\office14\outlook.exe" /a "c:\my documents\labels.doc"
If no item type is specified, IPM.Note is assumed. Cannot be used with message classes that are not based on Outlook.
|
| /altvba otmfilename |
Opens the VBA program specified in otmfilename, instead of %appdata%\microsoft\outlook\vbaproject.otm.
Note This command line switch is only available if the following Windows registry DWORD value is set to 1. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Security\EnableAltVba
|
| /c messageclass |
Creates a new item of the specified message class (Outlook forms or any other valid MAPI form).
Examples:
- /c ipm.activity creates a Journal entry
- /c ipm.appointment creates an appointment
- /c ipm.contact creates a contact
- /c ipm.note creates an e-mail message
- /c ipm.stickynote creates a note
- /c ipm.task creates a task
|
| /checkclient |
Prompts for the default manager of e-mail, news, and contacts. |
| /cleanautocompletecache |
Removes all names and e-mail addresses from the Auto-Complete list. |
| /cleancategories |
Deletes any custom category names that you have created. Restores categories to the default names. |
| /cleanclientrules |
Starts Outlook and deletes client-based rules. |
| /cleanconvongoingactions |
Deletes the Conversations Actions Table (CAT). CAT entries for a conversation thread usually expire 30 days after no activity. The command-line switch clears all conversation tagging, ignore, and moving rules immediately stopping any additional actions. |
| /cleandmrecords |
Deletes the logging records saved when a manager or a delegate declines a meeting. |
| /cleanfinders |
Resets all Search Folders in the Microsoft Exchange mailbox for only the first profile opened. |
| /cleanfreebusy |
Clears and regenerates free/busy information. This switch can be used only when you are able to connect to the server that runs Exchange. |
| /cleanfromaddresses |
Removes all manually added From entries from the profile. |
| /cleanmailtipcache |
Removes all MailTips from the cache. |
| /cleanreminders |
Clears and regenerates reminders. |
| /cleanroamedprefs |
All previous roamed preferences are deleted and copied again from the local settings on the computer where this switch is used. This includes the roaming settings for reminders, free/busy grid, working hours, calendar publishing, and RSS rules. |
| /cleanrules |
Starts Outlook and deletes client-based and server-based rules. |
| /cleanserverrules |
Starts Outlook and deletes server-based rules. |
| /cleansharing |
Removes all RSS, Internet Calendar, and SharePoint subscriptions from Account Settings, but leaves all the previously downloaded content on your computer. This is useful if you cannot delete one of these subscriptions within Outlook 2010. |
| /cleansniff |
Overrides the programmatic lockout that determines which of your computers (when you run Outlook at the same time) processes meeting items. The lockout process helps prevent duplicate reminder messages. This switch clears the lockout on the computer it is used. This enables Outlook to process meeting items. |
| /cleansubscriptions |
Deletes the subscription messages and properties for subscription features. |
| /cleanviews |
Restores default views. All custom views that you created are lost. |
| /embedding |
Used without command-line parameters for standard OLE co-create. |
| /f msgfilename |
Opens the specified message file (.msg) or Microsoft Office saved search (.oss). |
| /finder |
Opens the Advanced Find dialog box. |
| /hol holfilename |
Opens the specified .hol file. |
| /ical icsfilename |
Opens the specified .ics file. |
| /importNK2 |
Imports the contents of an .nk2 file which contains the nickname list that is used by both the automatic name checking and Auto-Complete features. |
| /importprf prffilename |
Starts Outlook and opens/imports the defined MAPI profile (*.prf). If Outlook is already open, queues the profile to be imported on the next clean start. |
| /launchtraininghelp assetid |
Opens a Help window with the Help topic specified in assetid displayed. |
| /m emailname |
Provides a way for the user to add an e-mail name to the item. Only works together with the /c command-line parameter.
Example:
- Outlook.exe /c ipm.note /m emailname
|
| /nopreview |
Starts Outlook with the Reading Pane off. |
| /p msgfilename |
Prints the specified message (.msg). |
| /profile profilename |
Loads the specified profile. If your profile name contains a space, enclose the profile name in quotation marks (" "). |
| /profiles |
Opens the Choose Profile dialog box regardless of the Options setting on the Tools menu. |
| /promptimportprf |
Same as /importprf except that a prompt appears and the user can cancel the import. |
| /recycle |
Starts Outlook by using an existing Outlook window, if one exists. |
| /remigratecategories |
Starts Outlook and starts the following commands on the default mailbox:
- Upgrades colored For Follow Up flags to Outlook 2010 color categories.
- Upgrades calendar labels to Outlook 2010 color categories.
- Adds all categories used on non-mail items into the Master Category List
Note This is the same command as Upgrade to Color Categories in each Outlook mailbox properties dialog box.
|
| /resetfolders |
Restores missing folders at the default delivery location. |
| /resetfoldernames |
Resets default folder names (such as Inbox or Sent Items) to default names in the current Office user interface language.
For example, if you first connect to your mailbox in Outlook by using a Russian user interface, the Russian default folder names cannot be renamed. To change the default folder names to another language, such as Japanese or English, you can use this switch to reset the default folder names after you change the user interface language or install a different language version of Outlook.
|
| /resetformregions |
Empties the form regions cache and reloads the form region definitions from the Windows registry. |
| /resetnavpane |
Clears and regenerates the Navigation Pane for the current profile. |
| /resetquicksteps |
Restores the default Quick Steps. All user-created Quick Steps are deleted. |
| /resetsearchcriteria |
Resets all Instant Search criteria so that the default set of criteria is shown in each module. |
| /resetsharedfolders |
Removes all shared folders from the Navigation Pane. |
| /resettodobar |
Clears and regenerates the To-Do Bar task list for the current profile. The To-Do Bar search folder is deleted and re-created. |
| /restore |
Attempts to open the same profile and folders that were open prior to an abnormal Outlook shutdown. |
| /rpcdiag |
Opens Outlook and displays the remote procedure call (RPC) connection status dialog box. |
| /safe |
Starts Outlook without the Reading Pane or toolbar customizations. Both native and managed Component Object Model (COM) add-ins are turned off. |
| /safe:1 |
Starts Outlook with the Reading Pane off. |
| /safe:3 |
Both native and managed Component Object Model (COM) add-ins are turned off. |
| /select foldername |
Starts Outlook and opens the specified folder in a new window. For example, to open Outlook and display the default calendar, use: "c:\program files\microsoft office\office14\outlook.exe" /select outlook:calendar. |
|
/share feed://URL/filename
/share stssync://URL
/share web://URL/filename
|
Specifies a sharing URL to connect to Outlook. For example, use stssync://URL to connect a SharePoint list to Outlook. |
| /sniff |
Starts Outlook, forces a detection of new meeting requests in the Inbox, and then adds them to the calendar. |
| /t oftfilename |
Opens the specified .oft file. |
| /v vcffilename |
Opens the specified .vcf file. |
| /vcal vcsfilename |
Opens the specified .vcs file. |
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