Outlook cannot open the file because it’s not associated with default identity – Error Fixed

The outlook is one of the oldest and popular email client and it is avidly used by the professionals and individuals as well. This Microsoft product is one of the most popular product among Mac users. Just like Windows, it comes for Mac and people from all professions use this on their Mac. Generally, it performs very well on both the systems but sometimes it shows errors like Outlook cannot open the file because it is not associated with the default identity. This error could occur due to various reasons if you have encountered this error and are looking for a solution then you’ve come to the right place. 

Outlook uses two file formats named OST and PST to save all the data of the mailboxes you set up. Because of these two files, you are able to use the outlook even when you are offline and it syncs with the mail server once you are connected to the internet.

There are many ways to fix this kind of error in the outlook and here are the ways you can do it.

Steps to fix the Outlook error ‘Cannot open file’

There are many ways to fix this kind of error occurred in the Outlook and we have compiled all the solutions here. Sometimes the OST file is corrupted and you need to convert OST file to make it work. But anyway, here are few other methods you can try to remove this error.

Make sure Outlook is up-to-date – Before begin to troubleshooting the problem, make sure you have installed all the updates for the version of Outlook you have. Fixes for issues with Outlook are released every month. For e.g. If you have Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010, there can be issues while using them with Windows 10, but that can be easily fixed by installing the latest service packs and updates. To get the updates, you can use Microsoft Update to install the latest updates for both Windows and Office. Also, Microsoft Update must also be configured to check for Office Updates.

Deleting the other Outlook profiles or identities – Deleting the Outlook profiles could also solve all the errors and to delete the Outlook profiles you can follow these steps.

• First, you should close the open Outlook application.
• Then you need to click on the Go and then ‘Applications’.
• In the applications folder, you need to select the Microsoft Outlook and then right-click on it.
• Then click on the Show Package Content from the menu.
• Where you need to expand Contents, to Shared Support and lastly open Outlook Profile Manager.
• Where you can choose the profile, you need to delete and then click on the minus sign.

Excluding the other outlook profiles from spotlight search indexing – By excluding the other outlook profiles will solve this problem and here is the step to exclude the outlook profiles from the spotlight.

• First, open the System Preferences from the Apple menu.
• Then you need to click on the Spotlight and choose privacy subsequently.
• Now, click on the plus sign and locate the outlook directories and then select the profile you want to exclude. And then repeat the steps if you want to exclude more profiles.

Use Converter tools

Use OST to PST converter to convert the corrupted OST files to new PST files. Sometimes there is corruption in the OST files and you would need to remove it by using the OST to PST converter software. These tools are very effective and easy to use for everyone, you just need to find the right converter tool and download it off the internet.

You can start with the demo version that is completely free of cost and allows the user to check the usage and ability of the software before getting the complete licensed version.