Fix corrupted Outlook .ost and .pst data files: Microsoft has its own Office applications that come in a package called Microsoft Office which consists of all the modules / applications that are required to operate an organization efficiently.
For example, Microsoft Word is used to create documents, Microsoft PowerPoint to create presentations, Microsoft Outlook to provide Calendar, Event Manager, etc.
Microsoft Outlook is one of the most popular Microsoft Office applications. It is an offline personal information manager designed for various platforms such as MS Windows and MAC.
MS Outlook is designed to function as an email application. It also has many other features including calendar, task manager, event manager, diaries, web browsing, etc. It can also be used to share multiple files and documents with multiple users.
MS Outlook stores the copy of all emails, contacts, calendars, journals, etc. All the above data is saved in two file formats which are OST and PST depending on the type of account for offline access.
OST files: OST is an offline folder in MS Outlook. These files allow you to save Outlook data in offline mode and can be automatically synchronized when connected to the Internet. All data saved offline is stored on MS Exchange server. This feature allows the user to read, delete, compose or even send the reply of the emails in the offline mode.
PST files: PST files, also known as Personal Storage Table, is a personal or online storage folder. The data is stored on servers, except on the exchange server (where the data saved in OST files is stored) and on the users’ hard drive.
IMAP and HTTP use PST file folders. Hence, all emails that are sent or received or attached to them are stored in PST format. All emails, journals, calendars, contacts that are stored locally are also saved in .pst format.
PST and OST files are very large. These files can accumulate many years of emails, contacts, appointments, etc. In the early days, PST / OST files were limited to 2GB in size but today they can grow to many terabytes. As the size of these files grows, they can cause various problems over time. The problems that arise can be:
- Files may stop working
- You will have search or indexing problems
- Files can get damaged, corrupted or disappear
To resolve all of the above problems, all desktop versions of Outlook have a repair tool called Microsoft Outlook Index Repair Tool to troubleshoot and fix problems with .ost and .pst files. The index repair tool is available in the Office installation directory.
Fix corrupted Outlook .ost and .pst data files
To fix corrupted Outlook data files: .ost and .pst files and to recover missing items from the inbox, please follow the steps below:
Method 1 – Fix corrupted Outlook data file offline (.OST file)
To troubleshoot problems with .ost files, first close your email application, and then follow these steps:
1. Look for the Control Panel in Windows Search and then click on the search result.
2. Click User Accounts in the Control Panel.
3. Next, click Mail.
4. After clicking “Mail”, if you don’t have any profiles added, the following box will appear. (If you already have any profiles added, then skip to step 6).
5. Click the add button and add the profile. If you don’t want to add any profiles, just click OK. Outlook will be created as the default profile.
6. If you already have a profile added, then in “Mail Settings – Outlook” click “Show Profiles”.
7. All available profiles will appear.
Note: There is only one default profile “Outlook” available here)
8. Select the profile you want to fix from the available profiles.
9. Then click the Properties button.
10.Next, click the Email Accounts button.
11. Now under Account Settings, click on the Data Files tab.
12. Select the corrupted account from the available accounts.
13. Click the Open File Location button.
14. Click the close button for “Account Settings”, “Email Settings” and “Email”.
15. Right-click the .ost file for the account that has a problem and click the Delete button.
16. Once all the above steps are completed, reopen the desktop version of Outlook and recreate the .ost file for the account you want to repair.
This will successfully fix corrupt Outlook data files (.OST) and you will be able to access Microsoft Outlook without problems.
Method 2 – Fix corrupted Outlook Online data file (.PST file)
To troubleshoot problems with .pst files, first close the Outlook application and then follow the steps below:
1. Open the run window with Windows key + R.
2. Type the path below and click OK.
C: N- Program Files (x86) N- Microsoft Office N-Office 16
Important Note: The above path applies to Office 2016, Office 2019, and Office 365. If you have Outlook 2013, instead of the above path, use: C: Program Files (x86) Microsoft Office 15. For Outlook 2010 change Office15 to Office14 and for Outlook 2007 change the path Office15 to Office13.
3. Click the OK button.
4. Double-click the SCANPST file to open the Microsoft Outlook inbox repair experience.
5. The box below will open.
6. Click the Browse button in the Microsoft Outlook Inbox Repair Tool.
7. Locate the .pst file you want to repair.
8. Then click the Open button.
9. The selected file will open in the Microsoft Outlook Inbox Repair Tool.
10. Once the selected file loads, click the start button.
11. The following box will appear showing that the selected file has been scanned.
12. Check “Back up scanned file before repair” if it is not checked.
13. After the .PST file has been scanned, click the Repair button.
14.After the repair is finished, look for the statistics in the program to check whether there are still some errors left or not. If there are, then continue to run Repair over and over again until there are no errors left.
Note: Initially, the repair will be slow but as soon as the error begins to fix the process will speed up.
15.After completing the above steps, Microsoft Outlook Inbox Repair Tool will repair the .pst file you selected earlier. Once the repair is complete, you can now start Outlook and your account problem should be already solved.
So by carefully following the above step-by-step process, you can easily fix corrupted Outlook data files in either .ost or .pst format.
Hope this article was helpful and you can fix corrupted Outlook .ost and .pst data files now, but if you still have any questions about this tutorial, feel free to ask them in the comments section.