Outlook 2010 Help Page 1 of 6

Outlook 2010 Home > Outlook 2010 Help and How-To > Getting started with Outlook

Search help

More on Office.com: images | templates

Command-line switches for Outlook 2010

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.

In this article
What are commands and switches?
Use a switch one time by adding it to the Run command
Outlook 2010 32-bit installed on Windows 64-bit
Make a switch available for reuse by creating a shortcut
Outlook 2010 32-bit installed on Windows 64-bit
Available switches

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 turned off.

The command outlook.exe starts Outlook.

The switch /nopreview starts Outlook with the Reading Pane turned off.

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

http://office.microsoft.com/client/helppreview14.aspx?AssetId=HP010354956&lcid=1033... 2/13/2013
Outlook 2010 Help Page 2 of 6

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.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

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.

1. Right-click the Windows desktop, point to New, and then click Shortcut.

2. 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.

3. 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

http://office.microsoft.com/client/helppreview14.aspx?AssetId=HP010354956&lcid=1033... 2/13/2013
Outlook 2010 Help Page 3 of 6

NOTE If the parameter is a path of a location on your computer, it must also be enclosed in double quotation marks.

4. Click Next.

5. 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.

6. 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.

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.

http://office.microsoft.com/client/helppreview14.aspx?AssetId=HP010354956&lcid=1033... 2/13/2013
Outlook 2010 Help Page 4 of 6

/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.

http://office.microsoft.com/client/helppreview14.aspx?AssetId=HP010354956&lcid=1033... 2/13/2013
Outlook 2010 Help Page 5 of 6

/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 Opens a Help window with the Help topic specified in assetid
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.

http://office.microsoft.com/client/helppreview14.aspx?AssetId=HP010354956&lcid=1033... 2/13/2013
Outlook 2010 Help Page 6 of 6

/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 Specifies a sharing URL to connect to Outlook. For example, use
/share stssync://URL stssync://URL to connect a SharePoint list to Outlook.
/share web://URL/filename

/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.

http://office.microsoft.com/client/helppreview14.aspx?AssetId=HP010354956&lcid=1033... 2/13/2013