Last Updated on March 26, 2026
Disable those faulty Outlook add-ins that cause slow startup and crashes
Microsoft Outlook has been the premiere email program for many years now and with every edition comes more improvements and added functionality and features. But one of those features that has been around for many versions of Outlook is the ability to use add-ons to add even more functionality to the program.
Outlook add-ons are used by Microsoft and third party software developers to add additional features into Outlook. They help integrate it with other programs such as Exchange, Office, and Adobe. Outlook comes with a bunch of them already included. You will find default add-ins for Exchange, OneNote, SharePoint and Skype. If you don’t use any of these other programs, they just load with Outlook for no reason. This slows down your boot times significantly.
Managing Your Outlook Add-ins
1. Open the Add-ins Menu
To get to your Outlook add-ins, go to the File tab and then click on Options. Then click on the Add-ins section on the left sidebar. This will show you a listing of your active, inactive and disabled add-ins. It displays their exact location and their file type. Down at the bottom you will see a Manage button with a drop down list next to it. From here you can select to see your disabled add-ins or COM add-ins.
2. View Disabled Items
If you choose Disabled Items and click on Go, you will be presented with any add-ins that Outlook has disabled. The system automatically turns off extensions that crash your client. You will have the option to re-enable them if it is something you want to use. Think carefully before overriding this built-in safety block.
3. Manage COM Add-ins
If you choose COM Add-ins and click on Go, you will see what add-ins are available and which ones are enabled. You can easily disable or remove one that is giving you problems or is something you do not need. Uncheck the box to disable it or highlight it and click the Remove button to get rid of it altogether. You will also notice that when you highlight one it will tell you the location of the add-in. This file path helps you greatly in troubleshooting system errors.
Troubleshooting Slow and Crashing Add-ins
1. Access Account Information
Another place to look for troublesome add-ins is under the File tab itself. Click this tab to open your main account settings. There you will see an item called Slow and Disabled COM Add-ins. This menu will show you exactly which add-ins are causing a slow down in Outlook or causing it to crash.
2. Review the Problem Screen
As you can see, there are two listed here that are giving us trouble. The TeamViewer Meeting Add-in is disabled as you can see from the Disabled Items screenshot from above. Outlook automatically disabled this add-in because it knew it was causing slow downs or crashes. If you really want to use the add-in, you can click the button that says Always enable this add-in.
3. Disable the Slow Extensions
You will also notice that the Microsoft Office Configuration Analyzer Tool Add-in is guilty of making Outlook start slowly. The system tracks the exact load time in seconds. If that is something you do not need, you can disable it directly from here. Removing heavy extensions keeps your application running smoothly.
