How to scan Outlook by using the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant tool

The following operating systems are supported:

• Windows 10

• Windows 8 and Windows 8.1

• Windows 7

The Outlook program in any of the following Office versions can be scanned:

• Microsoft Office 365 (2016 or 2013, 32-bit or 64-bit)

• Microsoft Office 2016 (32-bit or 64-bit; Click-to-Run or MSI installations)

• Microsoft Office 2013 (32-bit or 64-bit; Click-to-Run or MSI installations)

• Microsoft Office 2010 (32-bit or 64-bit)

If you are running Windows 7 (any edition), you must also have .NET Framework 4.5 installed. Windows 8 and later versions of Windows include at least .NET Framework 4.5.

To install the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Outlook Support Center.

2. Click Download Now.

3. Click Run when you are prompted by your browser.

4. Click Install. 
   
   

5. Wait for the download to finish. 
   
   

6. Read the Microsoft Services Agreement, and then click I agree. 
   
   
   
   You are now ready for your first scan. 
   
   

The Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant can resolve issues in many programs. To scan Outlook for known issues and create a detailed report of your Outlook configuration, follow these steps:

1. Select Advanced diagnostics, and then click Next. 
   
   

2. Select Outlook, and then click Next. 
   
   

3. When you are prompted to confirm that you are using the affected machine, select Yes, and then click Next.
   
   

4. In the "Let’s get started fixing your problem" window, enter your account credentials, and then click Next. 
   
   
   
   After your account is validated in Office 365, the scan automatically begins. 
   
   Note You see the following error message if your account is in Office 365 and SaRA cannot validate your credentials.
   
   
   
   If you click Back to re-enter your credentials, and you see this same error, click Back again, and then use the following sample credentials to mimic a non-Office 365 account:

   • Email address: juliet@contoso.com

   • Password: <any password that you want to use>

   
   
   Any non-Office 365 account will not be authenticated through the Office 365 service. In this case, SaRA gives you an option to continue. Click the Next button to continue.

When the scan is running, you see the following window.

Note The scan may take several minutes to run. 

The scan is complete when you see We’re done collecting your Outlook configuration details.

Your scan report includes these separate tabs:

• Issues found

• Detailed View

• Configuration Summary

Issues found

On the Issues found tab, you are provided a list of configuration issues that are detected during the scan.

Select an issue to expand it for a more detailed description. There is also a link to an article that contains steps for resolving the issue.

Detailed view

The information on the Detailed View tab is intended for advanced users, Helpdesk personnel, and IT administrators. This tab contains configuration information for diagnosing an Outlook issue from the client side. This incudes the following items:

• User name

• Computer hardware

• Windows version

• Office installation

• Outlook profile

• Registry and policies information

• Event logs

The information is provided in a tree view. Click any node to expand or collapse it. 

This scenario also collects important configuration information for Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Microsoft Word. To see this information, expand the Miscellaneous section in the tree view.

Configuration Summary

The information on the Configuration Summary tab is a snapshot of the configuration settings that are most frequently collected and analyzed. 

Viewing scan results in a browser

To increase the viewing area for the scan results, click View results in my browser. This view displays the whole scan report, including all three tabs, in your default browser.

Note The Detailed View in your browser contains a search feature that is not found when you view this information in the SaRA window. 

Sharing your scan results

After you review your scan results, click Next. The next screen provides an opportunity to see the log files that were saved on your computer (See all logs) or to view the log again (View log).

Users who have an Office 365 account

If you sign in to SaRA by using an account in Office 365, you also see an option to send your files to Microsoft. This option is helpful if you are working with a Microsoft support engineer. Click Send to have your log files securely uploaded.

Click Don’t send if you don’t want to upload your log files. If you have to share your log files with someone, click See all logs to open the folder that contains all the logs that are created by SaRA.

Note If you click Send, only the .json file is uploaded to Microsoft.

Users who do not have an Office 365 account

If you sign in to SaRA by using an account that is not in Office 365, there is no option to send your files to Microsoft.

If, for example, you have to share your log files with your Helpdesk, click See all logs to open the folder that contains all the logs that are created by SaRA. 

You can copy the file from this folder to share with the person who is helping you to fix your Outlook issue.

To uninstall SaRA from your computer, follow these steps:

1. Open Control Panel.

2. Click Uninstall a program.

3. Locate and select Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant for Office 365. 
   
   

4. Click Uninstall/Change.
   
   

5. Select Remove the application from this computer, and then click OK.
   
   

We hope that SaRA is able to detect and provide a fix your Outlook issue. Regardless of the outcome, we’d appreciate it if you would share your results in the survey at the end of the procedure.

If, for some reason, you canceled the scan before it’s finished, please tell us the reason for canceling.

Your feedback and comments give us insight to necessary improvements by addressing issues that are important to SaRA users.