Outlook shows Out of memory error, but there is a fix

Microsoft acknowledged a new issue with Outlook Classic. Apparently, after you open 60 emails and have all of them open, you will get an error with the following messages:

Sorry, we’re having trouble opening this item. This could be temporary, but if you see it again you might want to restart Outlook. Out of memory or system resources. Close some windows or programs and try again.

or

Out of memory or system resources. Close some windows or programs and try again

How do I fix Outlook’s Out of memory error?

Microsoft is working for a permanent fix for this error, but in the meantime, they also issued a few workaround.

The first is, obviously, to avoid opening 60 or more emails at the same time in Outlook.

If you really need to open 60 emails or more, you may still do that by changing the value of the USERProcessHandleQuota in the Registry. Here’s how to do that.

1. Press Win + R, type regedit and press Enter to start the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows
3. Double-click the USERProcessHandleQuota, check Decimal and enter the value 10000.
4. Save and exit the Registry editor.

See if you can now open 60 or more emails in Outlook. If it still doesn’t work, repeat the process and increase the number. The maximum is 18000.

Hopefully, Microsoft will find a permanent fix for this problem although, as you know, Outlook Classic has its days numbered. Until then, if you can’t access Outlook Classic, click the highlighted link to fix this problem.

We hope that you don’t come across this Outlook issue, but if you do, now you know how to fix it. Let us know about your experience in the comments below.

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