“Unable to expand the folder. The set of folders could not be opened.”
In MS Outlook 2003, the error occurs like the following:
“Unable to expand the folder. Microsoft Office Outlook could not access the specified folder location.”
Symptom
When you try adding another folder to the folders list in Outlook and further open a shared folder by double clicking the mailbox in MS Outlook 2000 or MS Outlook 2002, the error occurs.Root Cause of the Error
If you have encountered the same error, you have simply missed setting an option named ‘Folder Visible’ for the additional mailbox. Other then the settings, the error may also occur if PST file on your system has gone beyond its size limit i.e. 2 GB.
Resolution
You can resolve the problem through the following:1. On the system that contains the mailbox with the folder to be shared, go to the Folders list, right-click the ‘Mailbox’, click on ‘Properties’.
2. Navigate to ‘Permissions’ tab, check the ‘Folder visible’ check box
3. Click ‘OK’
You can assign the permissions to the shared folder by performing the following:
1. On the system that contains the mailbox with the folder to be shared, go to the ‘Tools’ menu and click on ‘Options’.
2. Switch to ‘Delegates’ tab, click on ‘Add’ and select those who can access the folder.
3. A dialog box named ‘Delegate Permissions’ will appear, select the permissions for those who can access the folder. Click ‘OK’.
In Outlook 2000, a shared folder can be accessed from another computer by the following:
1. Go to the ‘Tools’ menu, click on ‘Services’ on the system the shared folder is to be accessed from.
2. Click on ‘Microsoft Exchange Server’ service, and then click on ‘Properties’
3. Click ‘Add’ under the ‘Advanced’ tab.
4. In the dialog named as ‘Add Mailbox’, write the name of the owner of the mailbox that contains the folder to be shared. Click on ‘OK’.
5. The mailbox is now appeared in the Folders list. To open it, double-click the mailbox.
The shared folder on Outlook 2002/2003 can be access from another computer by performing the following:
1. Open Outlook, go to the ‘Tools’ menu, and click on ‘E-mail Accounts’
2. Click on ‘View or change existing e-mail accounts’, and click on ‘Next’
3. Click MS Exchange Server e-mail account, click ‘Change’
4. Click on ‘More Settings’
5. Click ‘Add’ under the ‘Advanced’ tab
6. In the dialog named as ‘Add Mailbox’, write the name of the owner of the mailbox that contains the folder to be shared. Click on ‘OK’
The above provided steps allow you to set ‘Folder Visible’ option; however, if error occurs due to PST corruption, it is not the solution. In case of PST corruption, Outlook offers a free inbuilt utility ‘Inbox Repair tool’, which is an efficient tool for fixing PST corruption issues.
However, this tool has some limitations. It fails to recover major corruption issues in PST file. In such situation you would require some alternative PST recoverysolution that can let you repair the corrupt PST file efficiently and easily.
Faizan Ahmad About the Author:
This article is posted by Faizan who is the Author and Founder of TechSenser. He is a Professional Blogger from India and a passionate writer about Technology, Gadgets, How-to-Guides, etc. You can connect him on Google+.
