MS Outlook has its root spread not only in Windows OS but in Macintosh operating system as well. However, in Macintosh, MS Outlook is designated with the term Outlook 2011 for Mac. At certain instances, it may happen that when a user tries to open Outlook for Mac, following error message is encountered:
Reason behind: "The identity could not be open with this version of Outlook" Occurrence
This error: The identity of Outlook for Mac cannot be opened is mostly encountered in the scenario when MS Office is reinstalled in a machine and when it is not updated. In the next section, you can find the solution that can help you to overcome this error.
Fix This identity Error of Mac Outlook 2011
Note: In case you have installed Service Pack 2 (SP2) installed in your system, the location of some files may differ. To check the type of installation, open Word and in the About Word, check whether the version number is above 14.2 or below. In case, the version is 14.2 or above, then Service Pack is installed in the machine. For SP2, different steps will be followed.
Solution #1 - Install the latest version and update your Office for Mac
Go to the official website of Office For Mac updates and download the latest version. In case the issue is resolved, then the reason behind the error was the incompatibility of your machine with the older Office for Mac version. In case, the issue is not resolved, try the next solution.
Solution #2 - Removal of Outlook Preferences
In this, the first step is to force quit all the active applications. Keep in mind that when the applications are force quit, all the unsaved changes do not get saved. For doing so, follow the below-mentioned steps:
- From the Apple Menu, choose Force Quit option. You can also press Command-Option-Esc together.
- Select all the active applications from the window (Finder cannot be quit).
- Click on Force Quit option.
- Now the next step is to remove the preferences and move them to desktop. For this, follow the next steps.
- Click on Go menu and select Home option.
- Click on Library option. Keep in mind that the Library folder is usually hidden in Mac OS X Lion. For displaying this folder, the OPTION key needs to be held down while clicking on the Go menu.
- Click on Preferences option and drag the enlisted files to the desktop:
- com.microsoft.outlook.database_daemon.plist
- com.microsoft.outlook.database_utility.plist
- com.microsoft.outlook.office_reminders.plist
- com.microsoft.Outlook.SyncServicesPreferences.plist
In case you do not find any of the above listed files, continue with the process. Some of the files may not have been added in case an Outlook feature was not used.
- Log in your Outlook account.
If you do not experience any error, then the error was caused due to the files that you have moved. To know which file is causing the problem, exit Outlook. Move one of the above files back to its original location and start Outlook. In case the error reoccurs, then the same file is causing this error. Drag the file to the trash folder. Repeat this process until all the corrupt files are moved to trash.
In case the error persists, repeat the whole process for below files:
- Outlook Preferences
- OfficeSync Prefs
Solution #3 - Move Office 2011 Identities Folder
In case any of the above methods do not work out for you, you can try moving Office 2011 Identities folder to the desktop. For doing this, follow the below-mentioned steps:
- Quit all the applications running on your system.
- Click on Go menu and select Home option.
- Browse to Documents and select Microsoft User Data.
- Drag the Office 2011 Identities and drop them on the desktop.
- Now, login Outlook account.
Conclusion: We believe, by performing the above-mentioned solutions, you will be able to rectify the error: the identity could not be opened with this version of Outlook 2011 for Mac.