Outlook

How to Fix “The Set of Folders Cannot Be Opened” Error in Outlook
How to Filter Email in Outlook

How to Fix “The Set of Folders Cannot Be Opened” Error in Outlook

⇒ Important Note: Back up your Outlook data before pursuing the solutions below.

Launch Outlook in Safe Mode

Press the Windows and R keys to launch a new Run window. Then type Outlook.exe /safe, and hit OK.

If the issue is gone in Safe Mode, most likely, your add-ins are to blame. Go to the next step and disable your add-ins.

Disable Your Add-Ins

Launch Outlook and go to File.
Select Options, and click on Add-ins.
Click on Manage and hit the Go button.

Select the add-ins you want to disable and save the changes.

Don’t forget to update your Outlook version. Click on File, select Office Account, and go to Office Update. Click on Update Options and select Update now to update your email client.

Recreate Your Email Profile

Some users were able to fix this error by recreating their email profiles.

Type regedit in the Windows Search bar and launch the Registry Editor.
Then, navigate to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Profiles
Go ahead and delete all the folders listed under Profiles.
- Note: Depending on your Office version, you may need to navigate to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\15.
Relaunch Outlook and recreate your email profile.
Go to File, select Account Settings, and click on Manage Profiles.
Then go to Show Profiles and hit the Add button.
Enter all the necessary details in the Profile Name box and save the changes.

Alternatively, if you’re not comfortable using the Registry Editor, you can only follow the steps from 5 to 8 to create a new profile.

If you can’t create a new profile using Outlook, go to Control Panel → Mail → Show Profiles → Add.

Repair Office

Go to Control Panel and select Programs.
Click on Programs and Features and select your Office package.
Hit the Change button and launch the Quick Repair tool.
If the error persists and you still can’t use Outlook properly, run the Online Repair tool as well.

Repair Outlook

Go to Settings and select Apps.
Then click on Apps and Features and select Outlook (or Outlook Desktop Integration).
Go to Advanced options and hit the Repair option.

Alternatively, you can repair the Outlook data file (.pst) file directly.

Close Outlook and navigate to Outlook 2016/2019: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16 or Outlook 2013: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15 (depending on your Office version).
Locate and run SCANPST.EXE.

Click on Browse to select the Outlook Data File (.pst).
Hit the Start button and then select the Repair option.

Run Microsoft’s Support and Recovery Assistant

There’s another handy tool that you can use to repair Outlook. The Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant can quickly find and repair various Office and Outlook issues. Download the tool from Microsoft, install it on your computer, and follow the on-screen instructions to repair Outlook.

Reduce Outlook Data Size

Large mailboxes can take an awful lot of time to open. Apart from that, they may also trigger various errors while loading. Reduce the size of your mailbox and Outlook data files and check if the error persists.

Launch Outlook, click on File, select Tools, and click on Mailbox Cleanup.
Select the items you want to remove and confirm your choice.
To reduce the size of the data file, empty the Deleted Items folder.
Then click on File, and select Account Settings.
Go to the Data Files tab, and select the file that you want to compact.
Go to Settings and hit the Compact Now option.

Exchange and Outlook.com users need to click on Settings → Advanced → Outlook Data File Settings.

Reinstall Outlook

If you’re using the standalone desktop app, uninstall it and restart your computer. Then download Outlook again (the 64-bit version). If the error persists, go to Control Panel and select Uninstall a program. Then uninstall your Office package, restart your machine again and reinstall Office. Check the results.

Conclusion

Microsoft Outlook may sometimes fail to launch with the “The set of folders cannot be opened” error. To fix it, launch Outlook in Safe Mode and disable your add-ins. Then repair Office and Outlook, create a new user profile and reinstall the email client. Which of these solutions worked for you?

How to Filter Email in Outlook

Is your Outlook inbox so unorganized that you can't find what you're looking for? Fortunately, it's easy to filter messages into different folders based on email address (sender or receiver), words, and phrases in any version of Outlook, including Microsoft Outlook 365. We'll show you how to create rules in Outlook to automatically filter incoming email messages, plus how to sort your existing emails.

Method 1

Filtering by Email Address

1 Click a message sent to or from an address you want to filter. This opens the message in the right panel.

For example, if you want to filter all mail sent from one email address, click an email from that sender.
If you want to filter messages sent to one of your email addresses, click a message addressed to that address.

2 Click the Home tab. It’s near the top-left corner of the window.

3 Click Rules. It’s in the row of icons near the top of the screen, toward the center.

If you don't see this option, click the three dots at the far-right corner of the toolbar.
You can also right-click a message or folder and select Rules

4 Click Always Move Messages From <sender> or Always Move Messages To <address>. A list of folders on your account will appear.

5 Select the folder to which you want these messages filtered. If you don’t see a folder you want to use, click New to create one, then select it.

6 Click OK. Future email sent to or from the email address you selected will be moved to the selected folder upon receipt.

Method 2

Filtering by Words

1 Click a message containing a word or phrase you want to filter. The word or phrase can be anywhere in the message, such as the subject, body, or header.

2 Click the Home tab. It’s near the top-left corner of the screen.

3 Click Rules. It’s in the row of icons near the top of the screen, toward the center.

If you don't see this option, click the three dots at the far-right corner of the toolbar.
You can also right-click a message or folder and select Rules.

4 Click Manage Rules & Alerts.

5 Click New Rule. It’s at the top-left corner of the window.

6 Select Move messages with specific words in the subject to a folder. Even if you don’t want to filter only words in the subject, select this option for now.

7 Click Next. A list of options and check boxes will appear.

8 Remove the check mark from “with specific words in the subject.” You can skip this step if you only want the filter to look at words in the subject line.

9 Select the parts of the message where the filter will look for the words. Choose at least one of these options:

with specific words in the subject or body
- Example: You want to filter messages with the word “coupon” in either the subject or the body to a folder called Coupons.
with specific words in the message header
- Example: You want messages sent through a certain mail server to go straight to the trash.
with specific words in the recipient’s address
- Example: You want mail sent to support@yourdomain.com to go to a folder called Support.
with specific words in the sender’s address
- Example: You want messages sent from anyone with the word “wiki” in their email address to a folder called Wiki.

10 Click Next.

11 Type the word or phrase and click Add. You can add multiple words and phrases if you wish.

12 Click OK. This brings you back to the list of filter conditions.

13 Click the specified link. It’s in the box at the bottom of the window as a part of the phrase “specified folder.” A list of folders on your email account will appear.

14 Select the folder you to which you want these messages filtered. If you don’t see a folder you want to use, click New to create one, then select it.

15 Click OK.

16 Click Next. Now you’ll see a list of actions Outlook can take based on the filter you created.

17 Check the boxes next to what you’d like to happen. Make sure “move it to the specified folder” (the second option) is checked so the message lands in its folder. The others are optional, but can be helpful based on your needs.

18 Click Next.

19 Enter a name for the filter. This is how it will appear in your list.

20 Check the box next to “Turn on this rule.” If you’d like, you can also check “Run this now” so the filter will scan the mail you’ve already received.

21 Click Finish. Future incoming messages will now be sorted based on the word or phrase you entered.

Method 3

Sorting Your Outlook Inbox

1 Open Microsoft Outlook. It’s usually in the Microsoft Office folder, which you’ll find in the All Apps area of the Start menu.

You'll want to use this method to search or filter all your current email.

2 Click Filter Email. This is next to a funnel icon in the "Find" grouping of the Home tab.

3 Select your filter. You can see all the emails marked as unread, has attachments, when they were received, if they are categorized, flagged or marked important, or based on the "Sent to" field.

For example, if you select "Has attachments," you will see a list of emails that have attachments (even if they are categorized into email folders that aren't the Inbox).
To clear the filter search, click the x in the search box.^[2]