Command-line switches for Microsoft Office Outlook 2007

The command that starts Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 is outlook.exe. A command-line switch is the addition of a forward slash followed by the command name and any parameters.

In this article

• What are commands and switches?
• Use a switch once by adding it to the command
• Make a switch available for reuse by creating a shortcut
• Available switches

What are commands and switches?

Each time you start the program, you run the outlook.exe command, although you do not usually type the command or even see it. You can change certain aspects of how the program starts by adding subcommands called switches to the outlook.exe command.
A switch appears as a space after the main command, followed by a forward slash and the name of the switch, which provide further information about how to execute the command.
For example, the following command instructs Office Outlook 2007 to start with the Reading Pane turned off.

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 The command outlook.exe starts Outlook.

 The switch /nopreview starts Outlook with the Reading Pane turned off.

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Use a switch once by adding it to the Run command

First, verify the location of the outlook.exe file on your computer. If you accepted the default folder locations when you installed Office Outlook 2007, the outlook.exe file is located at the following:
c:\program files\microsoft office\office12\outlook.exe
If you do not find the outlook.exe file at that location, search for the file and make a note of the full path.

1. Do one of the following:
• Windows Vista    
• Click the Windows Start button , point to All Programs, click Accessories, and then click Run.
• Microsoft Windows XP or Microsoft Windows Server 2003    
• Click the Windows Start button, and then click Run.
2. In the Run dialog box, type a quotation mark, enter the full path for the outlook.exe file, and then type another quotation mark. Alternatively, click Browse to locate and select the file. In this case, the quotation marks are supplied automatically.
3. After the closing quotation mark, type a space, and then type the switch. For example, you might type:

"c:\program files\microsoft office\office12\outlook.exe" /nopreview

The next time that you start Office Outlook 2007, the program opens normally. To make your customized startup available for repeated uses, see the next section.
 Notes 

• Switches are not case-sensitive. For example, /NOPREVIEW functions the same as /nopreview.
• Remember to include one blank space before the switch and one before each parameter.

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Make a switch available for reuse by creating a shortcut

First, verify the location of the outlook.exe file on your computer. If you accepted the default folder locations when you installed Office Outlook 2007, the outlook.exe file is probably located at the following:
c:\program files\microsoft office\office12\outlook.exe
If you do not find the outlook.exe file at that location, search for the file and make a note of the full path.

1. Right-click the Windows desktop, point to New, and then click Shortcut on the shortcut menu.
2. In the Create Shortcut Wizard, in the Type the location of the item box, type a quotation mark, enter the full path for the outlook.exe file, and then type another quotation mark. Alternatively, click Browse to locate and select the file. In this case, the quotation marks are supplied automatically.
3. After the closing quotation mark, type a space, and then type the switch and any parameters. For example, you might type:

"c:\program files\microsoft office\office12\outlook.exe" /nopreview

 Note   If the parameter is a path to a location on your computer, it also must be enclosed in double quotation marks.

4. Click Next.
5. In the Type a name for this shortcut box, type a name for the shortcut, and then click Finish.

The wizard creates the shortcut on the desktop.

6. Whenever you want to start Office Outlook 2007 in this particular customized way, double-click the shortcut.

 Tip   To add the desktop shortcut to the Windows Start menu, right-click the shortcut, and then click Pin to Start menu on the shortcut menu.

You can create a variety of shortcuts, each of which applies different switches and parameters to the program at startup.
 Notes 

• Switches are not case-sensitive. For example, /NOPREVIEW functions the same as /nopreview.
• Remember to include one blank space before the switch and one before each parameter.

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Available switches

Switch	Description
/a	Creates an item with the specified file as an attachment. Example: "c:\program files\microsoft office\office12\outlook.exe" /a "c:\my documents\labels.doc" If no item type is specified, IPM.Note is assumed. Cannot be used with message classes that are not based on Outlook.
/altvba otmfilename	Opens the VBA program specified in otmfilename, rather than %appdata%\microsoft\outlook\vbaproject.otm.
/c messageclass	Creates a new item of the specified message class (Outlook forms or any other valid MAPI form). Examples: /c ipm.activity creates a Journal entry /c ipm.appointment creates an appointment /c ipm.contact creates a contact /c ipm.note creates an e-mail message /c ipm.stickynote creates a note /c ipm.task creates a task
/checkclient	Prompts for the default manager of e-mail, news, and contacts.
/cleancategories	Deletes any custom category names that you have created. Restores categories to the default names.
/cleanclientrules	Starts Outlook and deletes client-based rules.
/cleandmrecords	Deletes the logging records saved when a manager or a delegate declines a meeting.
/cleanfinders	Resets all Search Folders in the Microsoft Exchange mailbox for only the first profile opened.
/cleanfreebusy	Clears and regenerates free/busy information. This switch can be used only when you are able to connect to the server running Exchange.
/cleanprofile	Removes invalid profile keys and re-creates default registry keys where applicable.
/cleanreminders	Clears and regenerates reminders.
/cleanroamedprefs	All previous roamed preferences are deleted and copied again from the local settings on the computer where this switch is used. This includes the roaming settings for reminders, free/busy grid, working hours, calendar publishing, and RSS rules.
/cleanrules	Starts Outlook and deletes client-based and server-based rules.
/cleanserverrules	Starts Outlook and deletes server-based rules.
/cleansharing	Removes all RSS, Internet Calendar, and SharePoint subscriptions from Account Settings, but leaves all the previously downloaded content on your computer. This is useful if you are unable to delete one of these subscriptions within Office Outlook 2007.
/cleansniff	Overrides the programmatic lockout that determines which of your computers (when running Outlook simultaneously) processes meeting items. The lockout process helps prevent duplicate reminder messages. This switch clears the lockout on the computer it is used, enabling Outlook to process meeting items.
/cleansubscriptions	Deletes the subscription messages and properties for subscription features.
/cleanviews	Restores default views. All custom views that you created are lost.
/embedding	Used without command-line parameters for standard OLE co-create.
/f msgfilename	Opens the specified message file (.msg) or Microsoft Office saved search (.oss).
/finder	Opens the Advanced Find dialog box.
/firstrun	Starts Outlook as if it were run for the first time.
/hol holfilename	Opens the specified .hol file.
/ical icsfilename	Opens the specified .ics file.
/importprf prffilename	Starts Outlook and opens/imports the defined MAPI profile (*.prf). If Outlook is already open, queues the profile to be imported on the next clean start.
/launchtraininghelp assetid	Opens a Help window with the Help topic specified in assetid displayed.
/m emailname	Provides a way for the user to add an e-mail name to the item. Only works in conjunction with the /c command-line parameter. Example: Outlook.exe /c ipm.note /m emailname
/nocustomize	Starts Outlook without loading outcmd.dat (customized toolbars).
/noextensions	Starts Outlook with extensions turned off, but listed in the Add-In Manager.
/nopreview	Starts Outlook with the Reading Pane off.
/p msgfilename	Prints the specified message (.msg).
/profile profilename	Loads the specified profile. If your profile name contains a space, enclose the profile name in quotation marks (" ").
/profiles	Opens the Choose Profile dialog box regardless of the Options setting on the Tools menu.
/recycle	Starts Outlook by using an existing Outlook window, if one exists. Used in combination with /explorer or /folder.
/remigratecategories	Starts Outlook and and initiates the following commands on the default mailbox: Upgrades colored For Follow Up flags to Office Outlook 2007 color categories. Upgrades calendar labels to Office Outlook 2007 color categories. Adds all categories used on non-mail items into the Master Category List.  Note   This is the same command as Upgrade to Color Categories in each Outlook mailbox properties dialog box.
/resetfolders	Restores missing folders at the default delivery location.
/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 in Outlook by 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 you change the user interface language or install a different language version of Outlook.
/resetformregions	Empties the form regions cache and reloads the form region definitions from the Windows registry.
/resetnavpane	Clears and regenerates the Navigation Pane for the current profile.
/resetsearchcriteria	Resets all Instant Search criteria so that the default set of criteria is shown in each module.
/resetsharedfolders	Removes all shared folders from the Navigation Pane.
/resettodobar	Clears and regenerates the To-Do Bar task list for the current profile. The To-Do Bar search folder is deleted and re-created.
/rpcdiag	Opens Outlook and displays the remote procedure call (RPC) connection status dialog box.
/safe	Starts Outlook without Microsoft Exchange Client Extensions (ECE), the Reading Pane, or toolbar customizations. Component Object Model (COM) add-ins are turned off.
/safe:1	Starts Outlook with the Reading Pane off.
/safe:3	Starts Outlook with Microsoft Exchange Client Extensions (ECE) turned off, but listed in the Add-In Manager. Component Object Model (COM) add-ins are turned off.
/safe:4	Starts Outlook without loading outcmd.dat (customized toolbars).
/select foldername	Starts Outlook and opens the specified folder in a new window. For example, to open Outlook and display the default calendar, use: "c:\program files\microsoft office\office12\outlook.exe" /select outlook:calendar.
/share feed://URL/filename /share stssync://URL /share web://URL/filename	Specifies a sharing URL to connect to Outlook. For example, use stssync://URL to connect a Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 list to Outlook.
/sniff	Starts Outlook, forces a detection of new meeting requests in the Inbox, and then adds them to the calendar.
/t oftfilename	Opens the specified .oft file.
/v vcffilename	Opens the specified .vcf file.
/vcal vcsfilename	Opens the specified .vcs file.
/x xnkfilename	Opens the specified .xnk file.