The operation failed error on Outlook is a common error that can appear in several variations, such as “The operation failed. An object could not be found” or “The operation failed because of a registry or installation problem.” You can encounter such errors, especially when sending/receiving emails, sending a meeting request to a shared calendar, or sending an email with attachments.
In some cases, the error message itself recommends restarting the app to resolve the issue, and sometimes it works successfully. But, since each error message can originate due to several reasons, you may have to apply various solutions for your specific problem.
How to Fix “Operation Failed” on Outlook?
Before you apply the fixes, always consider exiting the Outlook app except when you need to change an Outlook setting. Also, restart your PC after each fix so that changes are made successfully.
Meanwhile, check if you get any errors in the Outlook web version and keep using it until the error message is resolved on the desktop app.
Update the Outlook App
Some Outlook versions have been known to have issues that can cause the “operation failed” error. However, they all have been patched in the updated version. So, you may easily resolve the issue by downloading the latest updates for your Outlook application.
Disable Outlook from Running in Compatibility Mode
While enabling the compatibility mode helps run programs made for earlier versions of Windows, it can prevent certain features in the newer Outlook versions and give you the above error. So, check if Outlook is running in compatibility mode and disable it if it’s enabled.
Create a New Outlook Profile
One of the main reasons behind the “operation failed” error is due to acorrupt Outlook profile. When this happens, you may get an error such as“The operation failed. An object could not be found.”In this case, you can resolve the issue by creating a new profile and using it instead of the old one.
Repair Outlook Data File
Similar to the corrupt Outlook profile, your Outlook Data File (PST) can also get corrupt. Luckily, Outlook has a built-in tool called “ScanPST.exe,” which detects issues in a PST file and automatically repairs them. Depending upon which Outlook version you have installed, its location can vary slightly.
Nonetheless, here’s how to use it torepair your corrupt PST files.
Remove/Disable the Conflicting Add-Ins
Although add-ins provide various useful functionalities to perform a certain task faster, they can cause issues with the Outlook app. This happens when one of your installed add-ins is either incompatible or corrupted. Likewise, they can even conflict with the app and cause the above error.
To know if the add-ins are causing the issue, you can run Outlook in safe mode. Then, you can either disable or remove the problematic add-in.
Use the HTML Text Format
Sometimes you can get the “operation failed” error while sending/saving a message inside the Drafts folder or if that message contains lots of inline images. In this case, you need to use theHTML text formatto fix the issue.
