Preventing Entourage from Crashing on Receiving Mail

Entourage crashing on launch or receiving mail is a critical problem with a fairly simple solution. If Entourage crashes when you try to receive your e-mail, it is probably because there is a corrupt message on the server that is causing Entourage to crash.

Entourage 2004

Download and install the latest Office 2004 update.

Entourage X

Download and install the latest Office X update. If that doesn't work, see the alternate troubleshooting method.

Entourage 2001 & Alternate Troubleshooting Method

You will need to delete the offending message from the server in order to keep Entourage from crashing when you download e-mail. First, you need to know what account is causing Entourage to crash. If you don't know, launch Entourage, and go to Tools > Send & Receive > first account. Repeat for each account until Entourage crashes. When it does crash, you'll known which account has the problem message.

Now, launch your web browser, and go to the web mail site for that account. If you don't know what the web mail site is for that account, go to a generic web mail site like Mail2Web. Open your account, and delete the oldest message and any junk mail. Next time you launch Entourage, it shouldn't crash any more.