April 18

Sometimes outlook files become corrupt and/or Outlook begins to act slow. In case that outlook needs to be reset, the first think to try is to delete the identity. If you’re using exchange, this isn’t a problem because all your emails should be stored on the exchange server.

So, to delete your current identity, close down outlook and re-launch it while holding down the *option* key. The Microsoft Database Utility will open up and you should be able to select and delete your identity

Below are some more detailed instructions, including how to back up your identities folder before deleting:

How to rebuild your identity database

Step 1: Quit all applications

You must quit all applications before you continue with the following steps. To quit an application, click the <application name> menu on the toolbar (top), and then select Quit. If you cannot quit an application or do not know how, hold down the Command and Option keys, and then press Esc on your keyboard. Select the application in the Force Quit Application window, and then select Force Quit. Click Force Quit to quit the application.

Note You cannot quit Finder.

When you are finished, click the red close button in the upper-left corner to close the window.

 

Step 2: Determine the amount of space available on the hard disk

Before you perform any database maintenance, make sure that you have at least three times as much hard disk space available as the current size of your Outlook identity. For example, if the identity is 1 gigabyte (GB), there should be at least 3 GB of free space available on the hard disk (not including the space that is needed for virtual memory).

To determine the size of your identity, follow these steps:

  1. n the Finder, click Go, and then click Home. Open the Documents folder.
  2. Open the Microsoft User Data folder.
  3. Open the Office 2011 Identities folder.
  4. Click the Identity folder.
  5. On the File menu, click Get Info, and then click Get Information. Note the size of the database.

When you create an Outlook identity, hard disk space is allocated for the data that the identity receives as you work. When you add and delete messages, appointments, tasks, and notes, the database can develop wasted space.

Step 3: Discover and back up the current identity

To back up your identity, follow these steps:

  1. In the Finder, click Go, and then click Home. Open the Documents folder.
  2. Open the Microsoft User Data folder.
  3. Control-click or right-click the Office 2011 identities folder, and then select Duplicate. A copy of the folder is created.
  4. Quit all applications.

You have created a backup of your identity (or identities) and are ready to continue.

Note This backup can be used by third-party database recovery software, which generally work better on non-rebuilt identities.

Step 4: Rebuild the database 

  1. Quit all applications.
  2. Hold down the Option key on the keyboard, and then start Outlook 2011.Note You can also browse to the Database Utility by opening the Application folder and then opening the Microsoft Office 2011 folder. Open the Office folder, and then double-click Microsoft Database Utility.app.
  3. In the Database Utility window, select the database that you want to maintain, and then click Rebuild.
  4. The Rebuilding Main Identify window will open and show the progress. When the operation is completed, you will receive the message “Your database was rebuilt successfully.”
  5. Click Done.

 

From:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2360509

https://php.radford.edu/~knowledge/lore/article.php?id=400