Mail Applet in the Control Not Working


Warning: This post deals with editing the registry. If you don’t know what that is stop right here & ask someone else to help you. Using the registry incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall Windows. Use the registry at your own risk.

In Windows 7 x64 or Windows Server 2008 R2 the Mail (32-bit) applet shows a blank icon & does nothing when you click on it.

1 not working (modified)

However if you run it manually using the following command it runs just fine.

c:\Windows\SysWOW64\control.exe mlcfg32.cpl

Use the following steps to resolve the issue.

  • Close the Control Panel.
  • Open Regedit & browse to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control
    Panel\Cpls    .
  • Right click mlcfg32.cpl & select Modify.
  • The current value will be something like C:\PROGRA~2\MICROS~2\Office14\MLCFG32.CPL. Note that the path may be different in your case depending on where Office is installed.
  • Change any single character in the path then click OK. (e.g. C:\PROGRA~2\MICROS~3\Office14\MLCFG32.CPL.
  • Close Regedit.
  • Now open the Control Panel & notice that the applet is gone.

2 gone

  • Close the Control Panel.
  • Open Regedit & browse to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control
    Panel\Cpls    .
  • Change the value of mlcfg32.cpl back to C:\PROGRA~2\MICROS~2\Office14\MLCFG32.CPL.
  • Close Regedit.
  • Now open the Control Panel & notice that the applet is back & the icon is displaying properly.

3 working (modified)

  • When you click on the applet the Mail Setup – Outlook dialog box opens.

4 mail setup


By: Patrick Hoban