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daveevans76

macrumors newbie
Apr 9, 2011
11
0
Flower Mound, TX
Funny you posted...yet again another problem today. Was in Outlook and the message popped up about a corrupt database and that it had to rebuild. Could not believe it! Also finding that because I have had to do his so many times now, I am missing emails. So finally after spending a minor two hours rebuilding my identity I was able to access it again. Uggggggggg, real nice product MS.
 

JoelBC

macrumors 6502a
Jun 16, 2012
923
61
I think that one of the benefits / outcomes of this thread is that I will stick to using Outlook 2010 / 2013 in Parallels until this get sorted out as there seem to be too many problems with the OS X version...
 

Black Diesel

macrumors regular
Mar 15, 2011
217
88
Had to have my hdd replaced on my iMac for the recall. Before this I was having the same problems as everyone else is reporting. Well after receiving iMac back with new hdd, I had to reinstall Office for Mac back on computer. Did all updates required and all of a sudden all problems are gone. Actually runs better than it ever did including when I originally installed it. I even brought back in all my previous email boxes without a problem. Have set all preferences back to the way I want them and still no problem. So possibly my suggestion would be, do a back up of the suite, uninstall and then reinstall. And no it was not the hdd replace that solved my problem as all other apps and programs ran like a charm with the old hdd. Just Office suite, in particular Outlook that was a real problem.

Firedept, are you still using Outlook 2011 with ML problem free? Anyone else who is not having issues with Oulook 2011 and MF?
 

firedept

macrumors 603
Jul 8, 2011
6,277
1,130
Somewhere!
Firedept, are you still using Outlook 2011 with ML problem free? Anyone else who is not having issues with Oulook 2011 and MF?

Yeah, my darling wife uses it on our 20" iMac C2D with ML and no issue there. I occasionally watch her using it and it is pretty quick. And my dw is what I call a mail hoarder, saving most emails and receiving a few hundred a day. So large volume saved and so far so good. I also use it on my 27" iMac i7 which is the computer that had the hdd replaced and since the reinstall of MS Office Suite 2011, I am very pleased with how the whole program is running. It opens quicker, it does task quicker and has surprised me as I always thought it should have been quicker right out of the gates. I am pretty sure nothing was changed when the hdd was replaced because all my other programs and apps still run the same as the original installs I did of them. Wish I could tell you why I am having no issues. Even my 5 year old iMac which is a lot less specked than my 27 runs it real well. I upgraded to ML on my 27" first because I had read of these problems, because my wife would have shot me had I messed up her Outlook. I can always use just about any mail app so it did not matter, I would have just switched mail programs. Then did the 20" and has been good since day 1.
 

monkeybagel

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 24, 2011
1,139
61
United States
Yeah, my darling wife uses it on our 20" iMac C2D with ML and no issue there. I occasionally watch her using it and it is pretty quick. And my dw is what I call a mail hoarder, saving most emails and receiving a few hundred a day. So large volume saved and so far so good. I also use it on my 27" iMac i7 which is the computer that had the hdd replaced and since the reinstall of MS Office Suite 2011, I am very pleased with how the whole program is running. It opens quicker, it does task quicker and has surprised me as I always thought it should have been quicker right out of the gates. I am pretty sure nothing was changed when the hdd was replaced because all my other programs and apps still run the same as the original installs I did of them. Wish I could tell you why I am having no issues. Even my 5 year old iMac which is a lot less specked than my 27 runs it real well. I upgraded to ML on my 27" first because I had read of these problems, because my wife would have shot me had I messed up her Outlook. I can always use just about any mail app so it did not matter, I would have just switched mail programs. Then did the 20" and has been good since day 1.

Are you running against Exchange?
 

dianeoforegon

macrumors 6502a
Apr 26, 2011
907
137
Oregon
Try using the process of elimination to find what is causing your problem(s).

1) Is it your Identity? Try testing in a new Identity.
2) Is it your User? Try testing in a new User.
3) Re-index your entire drive. Outlook uses Spotlight's index file for search and listing items.
4) Delete the duplicate fonts installed by Office. Probably doesn't cause the slowdowns but will help odd crashes. Office 2011 Duplicate Fonts to Delete
5) Make sure you have plenty of free space on your drive. 10% minimum required.
6) Delete all com.microsoft plist file, log out/in and let Outlook create new clean files.

Note: Some files have new locations, but old files were still left in original location.

Old location
~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Office 2011
New location
~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/Preferences/Office 2011

7) Normal Template:

a) Track down all instances of pre-2008 Normal template on your computer, and drag them to your desktop. The file is called simply "Normal" and has no extension.

b) Find and drag the file Normal.dotm to your desktop. Unless you have moved it, it should be in

~ /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User Templates/

Re-start computer after removing files.

Never rebuild an Identity with Exchange. Delete the Exchange and any IMAP accounts before rebuilding. Once you rebuild, it's best to move to your "On My Computer" folder and other data to a new Identity THEN add back Exchange and IMAP data in the new Identity. How to move your data to a new Identity

Don't let any folder get over 2GB in size.

Identities created by importing from Entourage might have old crap. Even some preferences that existed in Entourage but not Outlook will be imported with no way to change in Outlook. Export and create a new Identity.

Identities created under SP1 in Outlook then upgraded to SP2, could have lingering issues. Export and create a new Identity.


Exchange Basics

The Inbox syncs more frequently than any other and should be kept as clean as possible. (this is the number one cause of problems with sync). Do NOT make subfolders under the Inbox.

If all else fails.....

1) Some users have reported that re-install Office fixed their issues. This is not a fix that I would normally recommend but if all else fails it's worth a shot. See this article on how to remove Office. Office for Mac 2011: Remove Office

2) If you have the room on internal or external drive, create a 20GB partition. Install Mountain Lion and update. Install Office 2011 and update. Test first without bringing over your Identity. Do you still see the same slowdowns? If no, then bring over your current Identity and test.

Obviously if you have the room make the partition large enough to bring over all your data. Do not use migration. Clone and wipe internal then clone back.
 

Black Diesel

macrumors regular
Mar 15, 2011
217
88
Has anyone noticed that Outlook 2011 when running against an Exchange Server has dramatically slowed down when running on Mountain Lion? This is a fresh install of Mountain Lion and a new install of Office 2011 (been running for a few weeks) and it still hasn't settled down yet. Anyone else seeing this?

FYI - my Outlook was giving me the same issues (slow, unresponsive, and also crashing) but I downloaded a new update last night from MS and it updated my Outlook database. After the update it seems to be working like it should now, you people might want to try to download the updates to see if it fixes your problems. Fingers crossed.
 

monkeybagel

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 24, 2011
1,139
61
United States
FYI - my Outlook was giving me the same issues (slow, unresponsive, and also crashing) but I downloaded a new update last night from MS and it updated my Outlook database. After the update it seems to be working like it should now, you people might want to try to download the updates to see if it fixes your problems. Fingers crossed.

Maybe that will fix it. I went out on a limb and gave it one more shot on Mountain Lion on a new machine that just arrived. It does have power to spare which may be covering up some of the issues, but I installed Office 2011 Standard with SP2 on 10.8.2 and it actually is usable and runs okay on a 12-core Mac Pro with a 512 SSD.
 

Black Diesel

macrumors regular
Mar 15, 2011
217
88
Has anyone else tried the latest Outlook 2011 updates with ML? Mine seems to be working much better but I want to confirm all bugs have been fixed before I make the switch from Entourage to Outlook.
 

CoMoMacUser

macrumors 65816
Jun 28, 2012
1,017
322
Has anyone else tried the latest Outlook 2011 updates with ML? Mine seems to be working much better but I want to confirm all bugs have been fixed before I make the switch from Entourage to Outlook.

I'm running ML and O11 on a 2012 MBA. No problems so far.

BTW, I med the switch from E08 to 011 on two machines. O11 never crashes, unlike E08. However, E08 was superior because 1) you have the option of automatically checking spelling before a message is sent and 2) you can lock the font viewing size, which isn't an option in O11. It's really annoying to have to compose emails in an uncomfortably small font.
 

Isamilis

macrumors 68020
Apr 3, 2012
2,027
926
I have no issues using outlook 2011. ML 10.8.2. MBA 2012. I use the latest update 14..5. Not sure the mid digit :)
 

SSSmart

macrumors newbie
Jan 20, 2013
1
0
Outlook doesn't save any properties

I've just started using Outlook 2011 at my new Mac Air. Issue is that none of the properties in preferences stays after quit. And each time I start Outlook I see Welcome to Outlook window.
Have you seen the same?
 

millipede

macrumors newbie
Mar 27, 2013
1
0
same problem MBP late 2011

Hi Forum,

I can sadly confirm all the below problems ONLY started after upgrading to ML on my MBP late 2011 with 8 GB RAM:
- windows looses focus or cursor jumps to signature - you have to retype whole sentences at times
- very poor performance on search
- poor performance scrolling in folders

I don't understand why all of the above was working fine on Lion. The search feature was actually lightning fast - now it is frustratingly slow.

I have tried a few of the suggestions here, cleared prefs and plists, reindexed, even defragmented the hard disk. no folder has got more than 1 Gig, all folder together even less than 2 Gigs.

I am posting this it got worse over time, since the last couple of days it is literally unusable - even replying to a short email brings up the spinning wheel for a minute after every every third word so that I now have to work using webmail. It's very frustrating and I hope MS or Apple will do something about this...

(BTW all other applications run fast as usual - just office is misbehaving so badly...)


update:
two things helped
1) I removed the 'old' preferences folder completely from ~/Library/Preferences
2) I rebuilt the main identity by starting Outlook holding the ALT/Option key
now it's working fast again - not sure about the loosing focus though...



.
 
Last edited:

EricBrian

macrumors 6502a
Jul 30, 2005
656
7
I am posting this it got worse over time, since the last couple of days it is literally unusable - even replying to a short email brings up the spinning wheel for a minute after every every third word so that I now have to work using webmail. It's very frustrating and I hope MS or Apple will do something about this...

Same here millipede, it has become unbearable. Every few words I type the spinning ball turns and turns. Looging up a name in the TO field takes about 1/2 minute. I am thinking about using the web interface. It is tons faster.
 

mephistomega

macrumors newbie
Jun 22, 2013
1
0
Possible Solution - Disable Autodiscover Feature

All,

I have been experiencing all of the issues listed in this thread (and numerous others), and have had success for the past several days with the solution described below. The issue appears to be an autodiscover feature that is running constantly in the background. it is (endlessly) querying the Exchange server, and causing the delays in the system. I ran the very simple script noted below, and have ceased to have any issues whatsoever. I hope it works for you.


Steps:
1/ Open Applescript from //applications/utilities and paste the below script
2/ Save script
3/ Restart Outlook

Note: Below where it states “NameOfAccount” insert the name of your mail account. This is not your user name. It is the name listed in Outlook Preferences in the Account Description box. ("cmd ," Accounts button)

Script

tell application "Microsoft Outlook"
set background autodiscover of exchange account "NameOfAccount" to false
end tell


Notes:
1/ I have one account in Outlook, and it is a MS-Exchange account. If you are running multiple accounts (gmail, yahoo, etc) I would suggest you first run the script for an Exchange account. Then run additional scripts for each account if the problem persists.
2/ Mountain Lion 10.8.4 (fully updated)
3/ MacBook Pro at 2.3GHz, Intel i7, 8GB 1333MHz DDR3
4/ MS-Outlook for Mac 14.3.4 (updated to 11 June 2013)
 

turbosess

macrumors newbie
Jul 4, 2013
1
0
All,

I have been experiencing all of the issues listed in this thread (and numerous others), and have had success for the past several days with the solution described below. The issue appears to be an autodiscover feature that is running constantly in the background. it is (endlessly) querying the Exchange server, and causing the delays in the system. I ran the very simple script noted below, and have ceased to have any issues whatsoever. I hope it works for you.


Steps:
1/ Open Applescript from //applications/utilities and paste the below script
2/ Save script
3/ Restart Outlook

Note: Below where it states “NameOfAccount” insert the name of your mail account. This is not your user name. It is the name listed in Outlook Preferences in the Account Description box. ("cmd ," Accounts button)

Script

tell application "Microsoft Outlook"
set background autodiscover of exchange account "NameOfAccount" to false
end tell


Notes:
1/ I have one account in Outlook, and it is a MS-Exchange account. If you are running multiple accounts (gmail, yahoo, etc) I would suggest you first run the script for an Exchange account. Then run additional scripts for each account if the problem persists.
2/ Mountain Lion 10.8.4 (fully updated)
3/ MacBook Pro at 2.3GHz, Intel i7, 8GB 1333MHz DDR3
4/ MS-Outlook for Mac 14.3.4 (updated to 11 June 2013)

Has the above solution worked for anyone? I have gone through the most extensive of efforts to speed up my Outlook searches. I have configured spotlight to ONLY search/index the Outlook DB. I am running on a MacPro with 16GB of RAM and a PCI SSD - it's FAST.

I completely removed every single solitary piece of Microsoft software.

I did a combo update for ML.

Then I deleted 50% of all my email on the server before re-installing outlook and re-syncing.

Search is still slow and takes time to load all the results - it's insane.

Brand new identity, everything - you name it....
 

tupelojr

macrumors newbie
Jul 8, 2013
1
0
Performance hit when using Mountain Lion

So it seems that more than just me is having this issue after upgrading to Mountain Lion and using outlook on the exchange server.

Can someone describe the process to downgrade to lion until Apple can get this fixed?

I know that some want to put this on MS but Outlook worked on the Exchange server before the upgrade to Mountain Lion. So it seem to be on Apple.

Thanks In Advance

Jim Rich
 

qmemphis

macrumors newbie
Dec 23, 2008
3
0
Change to Mac Mail

I was seeing slow performance with Multiple IMAP email accounts configured in Outlook. In fact it dropped my internet from 6MBs to 0.5Mbs.

I stopped using Outlook and am using Mac Mail, again, and I have my internet speed back to normal.
 

monkeybagel

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 24, 2011
1,139
61
United States
I was seeing slow performance with Multiple IMAP email accounts configured in Outlook. In fact it dropped my internet from 6MBs to 0.5Mbs.

I stopped using Outlook and am using Mac Mail, again, and I have my internet speed back to normal.

This seems to have returned to normal in the latest builds of Outlook 2011 and 10.8, as well as the 10.9 betas.
 

Eng1n33r

macrumors newbie
Aug 5, 2013
1
0
I hate ML

I just moved my MacBook Pro from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion as our IT department pushes people to leave SL. Worst decision I made in recent times. It used to be such a quiet, nice and fast machine, smooth running all Office including Outlook. Now I can't even write a single email. Bloody Apple, turned my Leopard into a woodchuck..
 

CoMoMacUser

macrumors 65816
Jun 28, 2012
1,017
322
I just moved my MacBook Pro from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion as our IT department pushes people to leave SL. Worst decision I made in recent times. It used to be such a quiet, nice and fast machine, smooth running all Office including Outlook.

Agreed. ML blows compared to SL. ML is packed with unnecessary features. I wish I could have gotten my 2012 MBA with SL.
 
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