How to Fix “MAPI was Unable to Load Information Service Msncon.dll” Error Message in Microsoft Outlook?

As we all know Microsoft has released a free Customer Preview build of its upcoming Office suite “Office 2013” to public. I was using Microsoft Office 2010 in Windows 7 and I decided to test this new version of Office. So I uninstalled Office 2010 and also uninstalled Outlook Hotmail Connector which is used to access Hotmail account in Outlook.

After uninstalling previous Office suite, I installed the new Office 2013. Everything was running fast and fine but when I tried to run Microsoft Outlook 2013, I got following error message:

Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window. The set of folders cannot be opened. An unexpected error has occurred. MAPI was unable to load the information service msncon.dll. Be sure the service is correctly installed and configured.

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Microsoft_Outlook_Startup_MAPI_Error_Message.png

No doubt, the error message was not very helpful so I decided to search on Internet. I found a few topics at Microsoft Answers and I found that its a known problem and can occur in almost all Outlook versions such as Outlook 2003, 2007 and 2010. And now the same error message was appearing in latest Outlook 2013 version.

I found that this problem is related to “Microsoft Outlook Hotmail Connector“. If you uninstall the connector or a few files or Registry settings of Hotmail Connector get corrupted in Windows, you might face this annoying error message at Outlook startup.

So what’s the solution? The solution is to repair “Outlook Hotmail Connector”. You can either repair it using “Control Panel -> Programs and Features” (aka Add/Remove Programs) window or run its setup again and it’ll repair the connector and you’ll be able to start Outlook without any problem.

Fine. This solution will work in previous Outlook versions but “Outlook Hotmail Connector” doesn’t support the new Outlook 2013 version. When I tried to run the installer, it showed error message that Outlook Hotmail Connector requires Outlook 2003, 2007 or 2010 versions.

So repairing Outlook Hotmail Connector didn’t help in Outlook 2013. Further research revealed that sometimes deleting a file “MSMAPI32.DLL” present in “C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033” folder can also fix this problem. So I tried to delete the file and re-launched Outlook 2013. It took a few seconds and then showed the same error message again. When I checked, the MSMAPI32.DLL was created again by Outlook.

At last I extracted the EXE file of Outlook Hotmail Connector using 7-Zip and I found an MSI file in it. Again I extracted the MSI file and I found a DLL file “MSNCON32.DLL” in it.

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Without wasting time, I copied this new DLL file in “C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033” folder. Surprisingly, the trick worked. Now Outlook 2013 didn’t show any error message and started without any problem.

So if you also face this error message problem in Microsoft Outlook, do as following:

  • Reinstall or repair Outlook Hotmail Connector.
  • If it doesn’t work, extract the connector setup file and copy the DLL file to above mentioned folder.

Have you also faced this problem while using Microsoft Outlook? Feel free to share your experience in your comment…

Published in: Microsoft Office, Troubleshooting Guides

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

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  1. Vishal can u tell me where i can download khanda cursors for xp please tell me

  2. ^^ I have never heard about it.

    @amiel sydfrey
    The DLL file might be different for 32-bit and 64-bit systems. Better to download Outlook Hotmail Connector and extract it using 7-Zip. 🙂

  3. I replaced the file, but it still didn’t work… I use a 64 bit Windows 8 Release Preview.

  4. I fixed it in Windows 8 Release Preview by going to the Control Panel, searching for ‘mail’, choosing “Mail (Microsoft Outlook 15) (32-bit)”, going to Data Files and changing the default data file.

  5. Just wanted to say thank you Vishal. I had no idea how to work this Outlook problem out. I followed your advice. And hey presto it works! Cheers Vashal.

  6. I used Trey’s advice and it did the trick – looks like outlook was trying to use my Google Apps sync but as I was using Outlook 2013, this wasn’t compatitbale.

  7. Hi VG,
    Thanks for the article – yours is the only one I have found that relates to the problem.
    Only difference is I’m running Windows 8. The file/folder address you have (“C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033”) does not exist. Nor does the file name.

    I have the same as you – windows 7, office 20`0 with Hotmail connector. I upgraded to Windows 8, uninstalled office and all attachments and then added the 2013 preview. I have repaired the installation twice (which is basically an uninstall/re-download/re-install process. I have not been able to open outlook once. Get the error message as above, every time.

    Any suggestions please?

  8. All goo – here is the fix:

    1. Open your Control Panel, on the search box type in “Mail”

    2. Click on Mail

    3. On the new dialog box, click Data Files

    4. Either change your default email account, try to delete them; and then try open Outlook again.

    You’ll need to setup your hotmail/outlook email using the ‘hotmail activesync’ option when adding an account – but you no longer need a separate ‘outlook hotmail connector’.

    Cheers.

  9. came across this problem, after uninstalling office 2010, and hotmail sign in assistant, to move to office 365 for my work, I then was unable to use the live sign in assistant so I had to google and download that again then I had this problem with MSNCON32.DLL so I google’d for Microsoft Outlook Hotmail Connector and installed and it works, still had my old hotmail account configured when I started outlook for the first time aswell…

  10. I have window 7 and outlook 2013. I see the extracted file and copied the msncon32.dll to the hotmail connector. Deleted msmapi32.dll. Restarted and the msmapi32.dll is back on. still cannot run outlook. My hotmail account works. I’m running 64 version. Is there a msncon64.dll? I tried to change data files thru control panel but could not remove hotmail account.

  11. hii
    i have experienced this problem. it occurs because the app sync is already synchronized with the previous version.

    simply reinstall the app-sync and it will work

  12. hello ser my problam is this file i can’t able to delete the file( MSMAPI32.DLL) plz halp me

  13. The solution to recover…

    Go into the control panel and open “Mail” (might be displayed as “Mail (32-bit)”), then go into Profiles and see if the default Outlook profile (or any others for that matter) is already listed. If so remove the profile, close Mail and try opening Outlook again. It should start afresh and allow you to go through the normal process of setting up your first email account.

  14. Thanks. This is a good page to get your outlook 10 (in my case working again). All I did was delete/reinstall and it re synced, thankfully. Thanks again.

  15. I tried this and works!!! THX

    So repairing Outlook Hotmail Connector didn’t help in Outlook 2013. Further research revealed that sometimes deleting a file “MSMAPI32.DLL” present in “C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033” folder can also fix this problem.

  16. This worked awesome! Thank you

    1. Open your Control Panel, on the search box type in “Mail”

    2. Click on Mail

    3. On the new dialog box, click Data Files

    4. Either change your default email account, try to delete them; and then try open Outlook again.

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