Invoke Code VB - to open outlook minimized

Hello There, I was trying to invoke the following VB.Net code and run into an very non-descriptive error message. Any idea where i am doing it wrong

Dim Outlook As Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.Application
Outlook = New Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.Application
Outlook.Application.ActiveExplorer.WindowState = OlWindowState.olMinimized

Here is the Error: Invoke code: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.

The code fails because there’s no Outlook window. New Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.Application starts Outlook but doesn’t seem to create any (active) window.

image

Dim Outlook As Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.Application
Outlook = New Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.Application
Try
	Outlook.Application.ActiveExplorer.WindowState = OlWindowState.olMinimized
Catch e As System.Exception
	Console.WriteLine(e.Message)
End Try

Hello ptrobot,

Thank you for the response. There is no error now, but cant seem to open outlook. Could you please tell me how do i open outlook (in a minimized state). Appreciate your help

Hi @Hara_Gopal,

You will need Process.Start() to start Outlook and then use your code to minimize it.

Dim pOutlook As ProcessStartInfo = New ProcessStartInfo("OUTLOOK.EXE")
pOutlook.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Minimized 'Seems to only minimize the Outlook splash window
Process.Start(pOutlook)

Dim mOutlook As Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.Application
mOutlook = New Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook.Application

For index As Integer = 1 To 30
		Try
			mOutlook.ActiveExplorer.WindowState = OlWindowState.olMinimized 'Minimize the actual Outlook window
			Exit For
		Catch
			Threading.Thread.Sleep(100)
		End Try
Next

The above code will start Outlook and try to minimize Outlook (it will time out after about 3 seconds if there’s no Outlook window).

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