Outlook is a top application used by people to send and receive e-mails, other mailbox items, attachments, calendar, notes, etc. All Outlook data as sociated with your account is stored in Personal Storage file or simply PST files.
If the PST is very big in size or it gets corrupted or damaged, then Outlook will not run properly and can crash at wrong moments. You also won’t be able to access your mails and other data in such cases. To tackle and resolve such issues you should know how to repair Outlook PST file and conduct Outlook OST repair.
Almost every version of Outlook works perfectly when there are no issues with its PST file. You can repair Outlook files either for free or buy using any of the paid tools. In this article we will take a detailed and step-by-step look at how to conduct Outlook PST repair and tackle data loss.
Part 1: Free of Charge | Outlook PST Inbox Repair Tool
PST files are the main storage space for Outlook and store every individual user’s data. Any kind of damage to these files can lead to loss of important data which in turn can hamper your work.
Outlook shows issues like not responding or launching, large PST files, sending out spam mails, etc. when there are problems with PST files. Whenever you experience any problem, react soon to solve it or it can cause more problems for Outlook 365 on your device.
Some Common Outlook Issues
Outlook sending spam e-mails
A common issue Windows 10 users have pointed out recently is the sending out of unnecessary spam mails to your contacts. The exact reason is unknown but it has to do with faulty PST files. You can severe your relationship with certain people or even lose business deals because of sending inappropriate spam mails to contacts.
Loading screen takes a long time
When you click on the Outlook 365 icon, it does not open at all or starts slowly and spends loads of time on loading the application. Sometimes, a PST file has a lot of different types of data and becomes very large in size. This slows down the speed of Outlook 365.
Outlook 365 crashes or isn’t responding
Many users have experienced that Outlook 365 hangs while using it and gets stuck on a single screen. Sometimes, the application just closes altogether and you see the message Outlook has stopped responding. Again, this happens because of corrupt PST files.
Outlook can’t open mails and other data
Another problem you will come across in case of damaged PST files is that Outlook will not be able to open or access certain data on the PST file. If you use your Outlook account on multiple devices then chances are that you may not see every e-mail on some devices.
There are multiple reasons and causes behind corrupt PST files and you need to overcome them to run Outlook properly. Microsoft understands that users come across issues and you can find the Inbox Repair Tool named Scanpst.exe to repair PST files free of cost. Here are the steps to use this tool.
Step 1: Locate the hidden scanpst.exe hidden file
Step 2: Run the Inbox Repair tool and locate the concerned PST file
When you launch the scanpst.exe tool, the first thing it will ask you is the PST file location which you want to repair. C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\ and C:\Users\%username%\Documents\Outlook Files\ are the default location for these files.
If the tool does not locate the PST file in default location, you can manually enter the file location to open the file.
Step 3: Start scanning the PST file
Click on Start to begin the scanning process once you locate the PST file. No changes or repair is made to the file during this step and it merely does a scan on the file. There are 8 phases of the scan which can take a long time based on the level of damage and size of the concerned PST file.
Step 4: Check out the scanning report
Once the scan and analysis finishes, you will see a detailed report of the scan. Click on Details and know more about the type of faults and errors inside the file’s data. Repair is easy when you know about the errors and other issues.
Step 5: Start the Repair process
Make a backup of the file and then click on Repair to start with the repair process using Inbox Repair tool. Again, the repair process takes part in 8 phases and can take upto half an hour or even more if the file size is more than 4 GB.
When the process finishes properly, you will see a Repair Complete prompt and can press OK now. When the PST file is repaired, you will have access to the data inside it and Outlook 365 also works efficiently and fast after this.
Part 2: Repair Outlook OST for Free
OST files for Outlook are similar to PST files and have some points of difference. These are offline Outlook files serving as copies of Exchange Mailbox data. You can access this data offline whenever you cannot connect to the Exchange server.
Method 1: Repair OST file with scanpst.exe
You can use Microsoft’s in-built Inbox Repair tool to scan and repair both PST and OST files. The tol will scan the complete file for errors and issues, then proceed to repair them.
Method 2: Disable Anti-Virus and Firewall settings
Sometimes, users enable Antivirus and other firewall settings while using Outlook. You can try disabling everything and then restarting Microsoft Outlook.
This issue does not work everytime but it does help to repair corrupt OST files in some cases. You can launch Outlook in safe mode to disable all plugins and antivirus.
Method 3: Just Regenerate OST file
Step 1: Open Control Panel and click on Mail. You can choose Show Profile and click on Properties to select a different profile.
Step 2: Look at E-Mail Accounts and click on it to proceed.
Step 3: Under E-Mail tab, you will see Exchange account. Select it and click on Change.
Step 4: Tick Use Cached Exchange Mode and proceed by clicking More Settings
Step 5: After checking the box, just click OK and then Finish to repair the OST file.
Part 3: Most Effective | Using Professional Outlook Repair Tool
Outlook will not work properly if there is some issues in the PST/OST file. If you are looking for a Outlook PST/OST repair tool free, then Wondershare Repairit for Email is what you are looking for. It helps recovers e-mails, attachments, tasks, notes, etc. You can even preview the data inside the PST/OST file before you repair and save it.
Whenever you come across any issues while using Outlook, Repairit is going to help you out. Large PST/OST files over 4 GB can also be repaired using this tool.
-
Repair damaged PST & OST Files in Outlook in all Email corruption scenarios, such as hard disk crashes & bad sectors, virus attacks & tojan horse, outlook corruption & malfunctions, improper shutdown procedure, etc.
-
Restore Outlook emails deleted for a long time and extract the email messages, folders, calendars, etc. within seconds.
-
Restore Outlook Emails deleted for a long time with a very high success rate.
-
Repair emails in bathes without size limits and support to preview all of them before saving.
-
Compatible with Windows 7/8/8.1/10/11, Windows Server 2012/2016/2019, and MacOS X 10.11~ MacOS 12 (Monterey).
Here are the steps to install and use Repair for Email.
Step 1: First of all, you need to download Repairit and install it on your device, then click the "+Select File" button to upload your corrupt files.
Then select the corrupt PST/OST file by clicking the "Repair" button to start the PST/OST repair process.
Step 2: Repair the corrupt PST/OST files.
Repairit is now fixing the uploaded PST file, you can see the repairing progress and just wait for a few seconds. Any lost data will be restored and when the process finishes, you will see a Repair Complete screen.
Step 3: Before saving any data or repaired file, Repairit will allow you to preview the content inside the file. Click on "Save" to save the repaired file at your desired location.
Conclusion
PST files are what store the data and content of your Outlook account. All mails, attachments, and other stuff are stored here. OST files are nothing but just offline copies of the online Outlook data. Users come across a variety of issues when there is any issue with PST files and need to repair Outlook PST file
You will need to repair the PST and OST files if you want Outlook to function properly. Use a reliable tool like Wondershare Repairit for Email to easily scan PST files and repair it. You can restore all the data inside the PST file and save it to a new location. In the above article we saw various ways to repair both OST and PST files.
