Outlook Comprehensive Guide #2:Command Line Switches

Switches are commands usually run from the Start/Run dialog box or from a command line(DOS prompt).
These switches allow you to perform common maintenance tasks for Outlook and are incredibly useful for clearing up a host of Outlook related issues. In later articles I will show you some other Microsoft Office switches for the rest of the Office applications.

Outlook 2003 is normally installed in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11. (If you install your applications on another partition use the drive letter for that partition.)

Open a CMD window by typing cmd in the Run dialog box and than navigate to the path above. To do this you will use the CD command which will look like this " cd Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11"(Without the quotes). Run Outlook.exe with the appropriate switch.

To use switches, at the Start menu, Run command type:
Outlook /switch
Sometimes it will be necessary to use the full path to Outlook, so the command line you will type will be:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Outlook.exe /switch

Here are a list of commonly used switches:

/cleanclientrules
 Starts Outlook and deletes client-based rules.

/cleandmrecords
Deletes the logging records saved when a manager or a delegate declines a meeting.

/cleanfinders
Removes Search Folders from the Microsoft Exchange server store.

/cleanfreebusy
Clears and regenerates free/busy information. This switch can only be used when you are able to connect to your Microsoft Exchange server.

/cleanprofile
Removes invalid profile keys and recreates default registry keys where applicable.

/cleanpst
Launches Outlook with a clean PST(Personal Folder).

/cleanreminders
Clears and regenerates reminders.

/cleanrules
Starts Outlook and deletes client- and server-based rules.

/cleanschedplus
Deletes all Schedule+ data (free/busy, permissions, and .cal file) from the server and enables the free/busy information from the Outlook Calendar to be used and viewed by all Schedule+ 1.0 users.

/cleanserverrules
Starts Outlook and deletes server-based rules.

/cleansniff
Deletes duplicate reminder messages.

/cleansubscriptions
Deletes the subscription messages and properties for subscription features.

/cleanviews
Restores default views. All custom views you created are lost.

/firstrun

Starts Outlook as if it were run for the first time.

/nocustomize

Starts Outlook without loading outcmd.dat (customized toolbars) and *.fav file.

/noextensions

Starts Outlook with extensions turned off, but listed in the Add-In Manager.

/nopollmail

Starts Outlook without checking mail at startup.

/nopreview

Starts Outlook with the Reading Pane off.

/recycle

Starts Outlook using an existing Outlook window, if one exists. Used in combination with /explorer or /folder.

/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 Outlook 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 changing the user interface language or installing a different language version of Outlook.

/resetfolders

Restores missing folders for the default delivery location.

/resetnavpane

Clears and regenerates the Navigation Pane for the current profile.

/sniff

Starts Outlook and forces a detection of new meeting requests in the Inbox, and then adds them to the calendar.

For a complete list of available switches for Outlook 2003 Please visit :http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HP010031101033.aspx?pid=CH062556271033

For Outlook 2007 Please visit :http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HP012185891033.aspx?pid=CH100788811033

Posted in: Microsoft Exchange,Microsoft Exchange Server,Microsoft Office,Microsoft Outlook