Unable to load the information service msncon.dll

When starting Outlook I get the following error;

"Cannot open your default e-mail folders. An unexpected error has occurred.
MAPI was unable to load the information service msncon.dll. Be sure the service is correctly installed and configured."

How do I solve this?

The Outlook Hotmail Connector is used to connect to Outlook.com (previously known as Windows Live Hotmail) accounts. There are a certain scenario’s in which you could get this error.

Cannot open your default e-mail folders. An unexpected error has occured.
The msncon.dll error refers to an issue with the Outlook Hotmail Connector add-in.

The Outlook Connector is no longer installed

When you still have an Outlook.com account configured in Outlook but no longer have the Outlook Hotmail Connector installed, then you either need to remove the Outlook.com account from your mail profile or reinstall the Outlook Hotmail Connector again.

Download: Outlook Hotmail Connector (I list the latest versions here)

The latest version of the Outlook Connector is already installed

When you already have the latest version of the Outlook Hotmail Connector installed and you still get this issue, then try the following troubleshooting steps. After each step verify if it is working, if not; continue to the next step.

  1. Enable the add-in manually.
    More details about how to do that can be found here.
  2. Reinstall the Outlook Hotmail Connector.
  3. Remove the Outlook.com account, restart Outlook and then add it again via the Outlook Hotmail Connector menu (Outlook 2003/2007) or via File-> Add Account (Outlook 2010). For step-by-step instructions see: Adding an Outlook.com account to Outlook
  4. Do a repair or diagnostic on Office.
    You can initiate that either via;
    • The Help menu in Outlook.
    • By inserting the Office CD and run setup.
      • Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8
        Control Panel-> Uninstall a Program
      • Windows XP
        Control Panel-> Add/Remove Programs
  5. Recreate your mail profile.
    More information about how to do that can be found here.
MAPILab
Use "4PM76A8" to get a discount when ordering!