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Outlook 2011 start error: "Please upgrade the Office database"

Article ID: 2702740 - View products that this article applies to.

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SYMPTOMS

After Service Pack 2 (SP2) is installed for Office for Mac 2011, you may receive this message:

Please upgrade the Office database

The message provides two options: Upgrade or Rebuild.

If you select Upgrade, this error may appear:

There is a problem with the Office database. You must rebuild it using the database utility.

If you select Rebuild, this error may appear:

Your identity is older than this version of Outlook. Please rebuild by using the last version of Outlook that used this identity.

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Warning: You should follow these steps only if Office for Mac 2011 has been updated to Service Pack 2. To check, open Word, and then click About Word from the Word menu. If the version number is 14.2.0 or above, Service Pack 2 was installed.

Method 1 - Download and install update 14.2.2

Update 14.2.2 is available and should be installed before trying the steps in Method 2. Open Word and click About Word to check the version.

If you already have version 14.2.2, go to the next method. If you still have version 14.2.0, you'll need to install the latest update. To do this:

Open Word.
On the Help menu, click Check for Updates.
Click the Check for Updates button.
Follow the instructions to install the latest update.

You can also download update 14.2.2 directly from the Office for Mac updates

(http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads?pid=Mactopia_Office2011&fid=5D88D3D4-89BD-44C3-9E5A-657998223E2F)

web page.

Method 2 - Rebuild main identity database

The steps provided modify the current identity. We recommend you back up the identity first before any other steps are taken. To do this, follow these steps:

Quit Outlook.
On the Go menu, click Documents.
Open Microsoft User Data.
Hold down the CONTROL key, click Office 2011 Identities, and select Duplicate.

This will create a folder named Office 2011 Identities copy. This may take time depending on the size of the original folder.

Step 1: Create a new Outlook identity

Now that you have a back up, create a new identity. To do this, follow these steps:

Quit Outlook.
Hold down the OPTION key, and click Outlook in the Dock. This will open a Microsoft Database Utility window.
Note You can also open the utility in the Application folder. Click Go > Applications, open the Microsoft Office 2011 folder and then the Office folder. Find the Microsoft Database Utility and double-click to run it.
Click the + symbol to create a new identity. By default, it should be called Identity 1.
Important: Do not set this new identity as the Default identity.
Close the Microsoft Database Utility window.

Step 2: Move the Database Headers folder

Move the Database Headers folder from the new identity to the old one. To do this, follow these steps:

Quit Outlook.
On the Go menu, click Documents.
Open Microsoft User Data, and then open Office 2011 Identities.
Open Identity 1 (or the new identity you created), and then open Data Records.
Hold down the CONTROL key, click the Database Headers folder, and then select Copy "Database Headers" from the options.
Go back to the Office 2011 Identities folder.
Open Main Identity (or the identity folder you currently use), and then open Data Records.
On the Edit menu, click Paste Item.
Click Replace All.
Close all open windows.

Step 3: Rebuild the main identity database

Rebuild your main identity with the Microsoft Database Utility. To do this, follow these steps:

Quit Outlook.
Hold down the OPTION key, and click Outlook in the Dock. This will open a Microsoft Database Utility window.
Note You can also open the utility in the Application folder. Click Go > Applications, open the Microsoft Office 2011 folder and then the Office folder. Find the Microsoft Database Utility and double-click to run it.
Select Main Identity (or the identity name of your main identity in Outlook).
Click Rebuild...

The database rebuild will go through 5 steps. This may take time depending on the size of the database. When the database is rebuilt, open Outlook.

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