How to fix Windows cannot find C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\outlook.exe

hile going through several forum sites we have concluded that a large number of users are frequently reporting “Windows cannot find C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\outlook.exe” when they try to open Outlook on their Windows PC. And some of the users have also claimed the same error while opening other Microsoft Office application such as Word, Excel.

Well as per the reports we can say that the error is associated with Microsoft Suite, so we have to focus on the Microsoft Office Suite in order to resolve the issue. But apart from this we also need to pay attention on other factors that are equally important for prompting the error message on the user’s screen such as outdated Windows and interference of Antivirus software. Now let’s get started with the discussion.

How to Resolve Windows cannot find C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\outlook.exe

Method 1: Modify the Registry Settings

In this method we suggest you to modify the Registry Settings but kindly take a backup of your registries entries before proceeding with the method. In case if something goes wrong, you can import the old registry settings from the backup that you take.

Once your back is ready then proceed with the following steps:

Step 1: Launch Run dialog box by pressing Windows + R keys, once the Run dialog box appears, you need to type in or copy/ paste regedit and press Enter key.

Step 2: Once the Registry Editor Window opens go to the following location:

You can copy and paste the below mention location under the navigation bar and press the Enter key to navigate to the same.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options

Step 3: When you are at the Image File Execution Options folder, then right-click on the applications that is prompting you the error and then press the Delete button to delete the entire folder.

Note: Select the application with which you are facing the issue. Any application present in the Image File Execution Options folder can cause an issue. Here we have taken Outlook.exe as an example.

Step 4: Once you get the following Confirm key Delete window, press the Yes button to proceed with the delete operation.

Once done restart your PC and see if the issue resolved or not.

Method 2: Temporarily disable your Antivirus

As we have earlier mentioned that Antivirus often interferes while launching certain apps on our PC so it is highly recommended to disable your Antivirus. You need to disable your Antivirus because it is quite possible that your Antivirus software is considering Outlook as a threat and blocking it from getting launched. Well you can also try to add Outlook.exe as an exception to your Antivirus.

Method 3: Repair Office

If you are still struggling with Windows cannot find C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\outlook.exe . We suggest you to repair Office and to proceed follow the below mention guidelines:

Step 1: On your keyboard press Windows + I keys to open Window Settings > from the left side, Select Apps

Step 2: Now search for Office> tap on the 3 dots to open More options

Step 3: Select Modify > from the pop up select:

Quick Repair or
Online Repair

Step 4: Once the process gets completed, finally Restart your System

In Windows 10, you will see the following UI:

When you select repair you might get two options. It depends on how the Microsoft Office was installed i.e, Web Installer or Offline Installer (MSI Based)

#. Web Installer: When prompted “How would you like to repair Office” you need to select Online Repair> Repair. Kindly don’t use Quick repair option here

#. MSI-based: In ‘change your Installation’ select Repair and then click Continue

Method 4: Uninstall and Reinstall Office

Well if none of the above mentioned methods works for you then we suggest you to uninstall and reinstall Microsoft Offices. But note that before you uninstall Microsoft Office; ensure that you have its product key.

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Though all the above mentioned manual methods are quite effective but sometimes only manual methods are not enough to resolve such kinds of errors, you need an expert to scan your system. And considering your need we highly recommend you a PC Repair Tool to scan your repositories and repair the corrupted/missing files in just a single go without any hassles.

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That’s all about Windows cannot find C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\outlook.exe. We hope this article was enough to resolve your issue.