Microsoft Outlook is the email client that all the users prefer. It is very productive and everyone uses it from individuals to big organizations for both their personal and official purposes. Its easy integration with other Microsoft products and Exchange connectivity is the most prominent advantage among its competitors. But even after being so much popular, it has several errors. “The set of folders cannot be opened” error is most prominent among them.
This error has been reported and encountered by several users worldwide, but surprisingly its actual cause is still unknown. But even though experts suggest the reasons to be the wrong Outlook configuration on your system. A corrupt PST file linked to your account can also cause such errors.
However, fortunately even in the absence of causes, we have some great solutions to fix the error “outlook set of folders cannot be opened” effectively. Let’s explore all these methods more deeply to resolve the issue.
Solutions to Fix “The Set of Folders Cannot Be Opened” Error
Before opting for any solutions, you should ensure that you are running your system as an administrator. Also, Outlook must not be running on the system or in the background.
So now, the most appropriate solutions to fix the issue “cannot start Microsoft Outlook the set of folders” are as follows:
- Working in Safe Mode
- Launching Outlook from the taskbar
- Reinstall MS Office
- Disable your account from the Mail app
- Repairing OSTs and PSTs
- Using an app password
Solution 1: Working in Safe Mode
Safe mode is not something you have heard for the first time because it is the most common choice for making any problematic application work. You can try safe mode in Microsoft Outlook to resolve the error “the set of folders cannot be opened” and do so by following the given steps:
- Open Run command and type in ‘Outlook/safe’ and press the Enter key.
- On the next window, choose your Outlook profile and click Also, enter your Outlook credentials if asked.
- Your MS Outlook will start working in Safe Mode. If it is working fine, then you should disable the add-ins to resolve the error “The set of folders cannot be found.”
- Click on Options from the File menu.
- Go to the Add-ins tab and select Com Add-ins from the drop-down menu in the Manage section, and press OK.
- Uncheck all the add-ins displayed on the next window and click the OK button to finish.
- Now, restart outlook in normal mode, and you are ready to go.
Solution 2: Launching Outlook from the Taskbar
As stated earlier, the cause of this error is still unknown. However, opening Outlook from the taskbar can avoid the error “the set of folders cannot be opened Outlook 2016”. Although, it is not a permanent solution for the error “the set of folders cannot be opened,” but it’s a feasible alternative if you don’t want to stay indulged in lengthy solutions.
Solution 3: Reinstall MS Office
We know that Microsoft Outlook is an application that comes under the MS Office package. Hence, there is an excellent possibility that reinstalling MS Office in your system can remove the “outlook 2016 the set of folders cannot be opened” error as reinstallation would initiate a complete reset of Microsoft Outlook which may be causing this error.
Also, I will prefer to install a 64-bit version of the package because of its better performance and stability compared to the 32-bit version. There are only a few reported cases of such errors in the 64-bit version. Hence, it is a good choice for resolving the error “the set of folders cannot be opened.”
Solution 4: Repair OSTs & PSTs
Corrupt Outlook data files can easily cause the “Microsoft outlook the set of folders cannot be opened” error. Follow the given steps to repair such a file:
- Find and run exe from MS Office files located usually in Local Disk (C).
- Select the file to repair and press the Start button to initiate scanning.
- After scanning, click on the Repair button to start repairing the file.
Solution 5: Disable your Account from the Mail App
- Launch the Mail app and open its Account Settings.
- Select your Email Account after clicking Manage Account.
- Now, hit the Delete Account option on the next window.
- Close the confirmation message and restart your system to remove the “the set of folders cannot be opened”
Solution 6: Deleting XML Files from Directory
- Type App data in the Run app and press the Enter key
- Go to C:\Users\Fujitsu\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook and delete or move the XML files.
The above methods are some great solutions to resolve the errors like cannot start Microsoft Outlook the set of folders cannot be opened, set of folders cannot be opened, etc. But these methods can’t provide you the assurance of the latter. Hence, I would not recommend you to spend your valuable time and effort on the above methods.
Instead of that, using an alternative third-party solution like DRS Outlook PST Repair Tool would be the best choice for your concerns. This tool comes with several valuable technical features like log file creation, recover corrupt PST files, etc., that can resolve all your Outlook queries like
Conclusion
We addressed the “the set of folders cannot be opened” error and learned several ways to resolve it, ranging from repairing PSTs to reinstalling the MS Office package and a lot more. Also, you learned about the best third-party software for the latter. I hope that this blog resolved your queries in a technically sound manner.
