How To Open OST File With Outlook Whose File Integrity Has Been Damaged?

Outlook doesn’t open OST file manually. The default file extension of Outlook is PST, all the data get stored in this Personal Storage Table.

If OST is not the file of Outlook, how does it get created?

Actually, Outlook is capable of storing PST as well as OST files. But, by default it is PST. OST files are Offline files created when Outlook is configured with Exchange Server environment in “Cached Enhanced Mode”. This file renders the service of working with Exchange mailboxes even in less or no network connection. OST file is said to be exact replica of mailboxes. However, there are situations that lead to the inaccessibility of OST file. You won’t be able to access the file and work with the server mailboxes. This page discusses with you the reasons for the integrity of the OST file and also keeps the focus on how to open OST file with Outlook when the file integrity is lost.

Let us have a look on the reasons that contributes to the inaccessibility of OST file.

Reasons For Damage

The main reason for the damage to the file integrity can be corruption. And the causes for corruption can be many. OST file can get corrupted either due to hardware or software failures. Visit- 

http://www.freeosttopst.in/article/cannot-open-offline-ost-file.html

Some of the commonly seen causes are;

• Improper shutdown of system or Outlook
• Hardware crash
• Bad sectors in the disk
• Malware or virus attack
• Synchronization failure
• Sudden power loss
• Network failure

Since corruption or damage leads to the inaccessibility of OST file, it is always recommended to take prevention. Once if the file is corrupted, it is difficult to open an OST file in Outlook. You will have to rely on Scanost.exe utility.

Scanost.exe: To Check OST File Integrity

Scanost.exe is an in-built utility of Outlook that enables to recover damaged OST files. It resolves the issues with the synchronization without any changes to mailboxes.

You can find this utility at;

Steps to scan:

1. In-order to run the utility, you will have to close the running of Outlook first.
2. Run scanost.exe.
3. Select the ‘Profile Name’ according to the corrupted OST file.
4. Click ‘Connect’ and choose the provided option wisely.
5. Go for ‘Repair Errors’ and proceed with clicking on ‘Begin Scan’ option.

Scanost.exe utility repairs OST file. However, this utility is limited to Outlook 2013 OST repair and moreover, there are chances of losing data during the repairing. Apart from these limits, if the damage is severe, Scanost.exe utility won’t function. The best way to open OST file with Outlook is to go for the recovery of file using third part tool.

As the saying, prevention is better than cure, changing OST to PST will work perfectly. Whenever OST is created, try to keep the copy in PST. This will help you to work with the emails when there is any synchronization issue.

How Third Party Makes A Way?

OST Recovery software renders the service of transferring OST file to PST. The main focus of the tool is to recover the OST file that are corrupted or damaged. The software recovers data that are lost due to severe corruption and allows exporting the restored file to PST/EML/MSG formats. For converting large OST file to PST, it facilitates splitting of PST as well. The demo version acts as free software to open OST file but, is restricted to the export of 25 items from each folder. The tool supports large OST file and keeps note on not to change the Meta data during exporting. Users can get the tool online once if the performance strikes you well.