What Is "Safe Mode"?

Outlook can be started in a special diagnostic mode that helps both you and Outlook locate and repair any problems that you might be having with Outlook. This mode is known as Safe mode. Starting Outlook in Safe mode enables you to safely use Outlook even when certain startup issues have been detected. Outlook provides two types of Safe mode:

• Automated Safe mode
• User-Initiated Safe mode

During startup, Outlook automatically checks for problems that could prevent it from running safely. Problems detected by these checks include things such as corrupted files, Windows Registry entries, or templates; these checks also discover whether an add-in, macros, or extensions fail to load correctly. If Outlook detects a problem, it automatically attempts to start in Safe mode and displays a message asking whether you want to disable the features that are causing the problem or (depending on the type of problem) whether Outlook should attempt to automatically repair the problem(s). This is known as Automated Safe mode.

As the name suggests, you start the other type of Safe mode, User--Initiated Safe mode (see FAQ 1.3). Note that when Outlook is started with User-Initiated Safe mode, the following restrictions apply:

• The Office Assistant is not displayed automatically. If you still want to use the Office Assistant when in Safe mode, you can start it manually by selecting Office Assistant from the Help menu.
• Any customizations that you have made to the Outlook toolbar or command bars are not loaded. Also, any changes to the configurations of the toolbar and command bars made while running in Safe mode will not be saved.
• The list of corrections used by the AutoCorrect feature is not loaded, and any additions you make to the list will not be saved. AutoCorrect is the feature that automatically corrects simple mistakes you make when typing. For example, if you typed teh, it would automatically change it to the.
• All command-line switches, except the /a and /n options, are ignored. For a list of command-line switches, see the Command-line Switches section of this chapter.
• Outlook preferences are not saved.
• You cannot work with documents that have restricted permissions. (You cannot open or create documents that have restricted permissions, such as mail messages and notes.)
• Smart tags are not loaded, and any new smart tags that you create will not be saved.