If you are having problems with Outlook 2013 not responding frequently it could be caused by one of a few reasons.

• A faulty Outlook Add-In
• Your mailbox is too large
• Office 2013 may need repairing
• Your Outlook Data file may be corrupt
• Antivirus Software may be conflicting
• The Computer’s performance may be slow

Outlook 2013 Not Responding due to Faulty Outlook Add-Ins

To test whether an Add-In is causing the problem you will need to open Outlook 2013 in safe mode.  To do this:

• Windows 7 – Click on Start and type outlook /safe in the search box, press enter
• Windows 8 – Click on the Windows Key, type outlook /safe and press enter

If the issue is resolve you will need to disable any Outlook Add-Ins and then reactivate them one by one until the culprit is found.

To Disable Outlook Add-Ins

1. Whilst Outlook is open click on File, click on Options and then Click Add-Ins
2. Select COM Add-ins and then click on Go
3. Clear All the checkboxes and then click on OK
4. Restart Outlook

Outlook 2013 Not Responding due to Mailbox Too Large

Good folder management is essential when using Outlook 2013 as the more emails that you have in each folder the longer it will take to perform tasks such as switching folders.  Having too many emails in your Inbox folder will also slow down the length of time it takes to synchronize the folder particularly if you are using Microsoft exchange or IMAP.

A good rule of thumb should be to keep the Inbox as clean as possible and limit the quantity of emails in each other folder to less than 5000.

Outlook 2013 may need repairing

To repair Outlook 2013 go to the Windows Control Panel, Programs and Features and right click on Office 2013.  Choose Repair and then click on Continue.

Outlook 2013 Not Responding due to Corrupt Data File

How you repair your Outlook 2013 data file will depend on whether you are using Microsoft Exchange or not.

If you are using Microsoft Exchange

1. Exit Outlook
2. In the Control Panel click on Mail
3. In the Mail Setup click on Email Accounts
4. Click on Data Files, select the Exchange account and then click on Open File Location
5. Close the Accounts Settings and Mail Setup Boxes and then return to the file explorer window which was just opened
6. In the file explorer window right click on the exchange data file and then choose delete.  The next time you start outlook a new .ost file will be created

For Non Microsoft Exchange Accounts

Use ScanPST.exe to fix a corrupted Email File

1. Close Outlook
2. Open Windows Explorer
3. Browse to c:\Program Files OR c:\Program Files(x86) depending on whether you have a 32 Bit or 64 Bit Version of Outlook 2013 installed.  In the search box up the top right type in scanpst.exe
   
4. Open the file and follow the prompts to scan your Outlook file.

Antivirus Causes Outlook 2013 to Not Respond

Try disabling your antivirus temporarily and see if it fixes the problem.

Slow Computer Causes Outlook 2013 to Not Respond

Is the computer generally slow performing other tasks as well?  It might be time to clean up the computer or have it looked at by a technician for any hardware faults such as a faulty hard drive.