Clicking Outlook link in taskbar opens new window

I have Outlook pinned to the Windows 7 Taskbar. All the other apps I have pinned in the taskbar respond to clicking by focusing on the existing open window but Outlook opens a whole new window. Then, if I don't want to open a new Outlook window, I need to click the 2nd icon of Outlook in the taskbar, which corresponds to the active instance, and not the fixed taskbar icon, which is only a stub.

It didn't use to work like this, only after I removed Outlook from the Start Menu. How can I correct this behavior to not instantiate a new window when the default taskbar Outlook icon is clicked but to have a maximum of one Outlook window open, just as is the case with other taskbar items (unless I explicitly request a new window from that application)?

I had the same problem but it proved to be a simple fix.

With Outlook not running, right click and unpin it from the task bar. Then click on Start and scroll to Outlook in the programs list. Right click on the Outlook icon and click on Pin to Taskbar.

Now the new icon opens without creating another window on the task bar. No idea why this has fixed it; just glad it has!

I found the solution here: https://www.msoutlook.info/question/open-outlook-keyboard-shortcut . After you pinned Outlook to the taskbar

1. Right-click on the icon
2. Right-click on the "Outlook" item on the menu & select Properties
3. In the Target field, append " /recycle" to the end of the string
4. Outlook will now reuse existing window instead of opening a new one

Hope that helps.