Peenie Wallie

I've tried renaming the outcmd.dat file from "%AppData%\Microsoft\Outlook\outcmd.dat" to "%AppData%\Microsoft\Outlook\outlook_sucks_outcmd.dat", but this doesn't solve the issue. Arghh.

I tried Start - Run - outlook /ResetOutlookBar

I got 'Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. The command line argument is not valid. Verify the switch you are using.'

I went into MS Word, and verified that I can make it work correctly in there. I see the Standard and Formatting toolbars there, and I can check the "Show Standard and Formatting toolbars on two rows", no problem. And it works. Still not working in Outlook. Sucks.

This post suggested using a different outlook switch called "cleanviews", so I ran the following:

Start - Run - "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\OUTLOOK.EXE" /CleanViews

And, it actually did something, although I'm not clear what. I didn't get an error at least.

Now, I'm trying to run using the earlier switch, but with MS Office path fully qualified. At least I get a different error now:

Start - Run - "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\OUTLOOK.EXE" /ResetOutlookBar

Now, I get 'The command line argument is not valid. Verify the switch you are using.'

This guy says "Please help before I cut off my arm with a butter knife." I'm thinking he should pass the knife when he's done.

Update: I've finally decided that this guy is right. There is no formatting toolbar in MS Outlook. It wouldn't make sense to have one there. In MS Word? Yes. Of course. But not in Outlook. Or, put another way, what would you want to format in the Outlook main menu? The answer is nothing. Once you start composing an email in MS Word, then you'll see the toolbar there.