Compact, Reduce & Manage Oversized Outlook OST File Problem in Seconds

Admin | Email Conversion File Repair How to's Software Technology | 3 minutes read | Last updated on February 8th, 2023,

Both OST files and PST files carries importance details of Outlook users. Corruption arise in any of these will ultimately cause Outlook to suffer. OST file is a copy of data backup of Exchange Server configured with MS Outlook with some predefined size limitations. The file storage capacity depends on installed version of MS Outlook application.

How OST files get oversized?

OST files contains all the data that was generated or received since account is activated on Outlook. It includes all emails (different folders), calendar schedules, attachments, tasks, contacts, notes, hidden, public folders etc. When you forgot to remove unnecessary data then it gets piled up, exceeds the storage limit of file and results in OST file corruption and create troubles in Outlook. Large-sized attached files are special to indicate oversized OST file.

Issues occur in Outlook due to Oversized OST file:

  • Unable to load or open .ost file document.
  • Problem in adding data to existing Exchange OST file.
  • Pauses in MS Outlook program.
  • Error messages arising frequently during synchronization process.
  • Not able to synchronize between OST file and MS Exchange Server.

Manual Ways to Fix Errors of Oversized OST Files

Disabling all Add-ins: Outlook add-ins may disturb or affect the normal working performance of MS Outlook, so it is better to disable Add-ons. To implement this, follow the steps:

Step 1. Open Outlook, go to File, choose options and click on Add-ins.

Step 2. Now, in the right-below section of window, Manage is appearing with drop-down arrow, click on the same and select COM Add-ins option.

Step 3. Deselect all the add-ins which are not in use anymore and click OK.

Archiving OST files: Archiving Outlook Offline data file folder i.e. OST can also help in reducing the OST file size and make some space which was unnecessary occupied on server. You can change the location of archive OST file in your system. Archiving OST file can prevent OST file to cross predefined size limit. To archive file, follow the steps:

Step 1. Open Outlook, go to File, select Cleanup Tools and choose Mailbox Cleanup.

Two options will appear on the screen,

  • Click AutoArchive option and move previous old mailbox items to an archive folder.
  • Click Empty and remove items from Deleted Items folder.

Compress Outlook Data File: Size of OST file can be reduced using in-built application in Outlook. Dropping the file size can help in enhancing the performance of Outlook provided to that user has deleted number of items. To compact OST file, follow the steps:

Step 1. Remove those items which are not necessary further.

Step 2. Open folder list view and right click on the folder in navigation pane, click Deleted Items and select Empty folder.

Step 3. Go to File tab of Outlook, select Account Settings by clicking on Account Settings.

Step 4. Click on Data Files tab and select data file to be compacted and click Settings.

Step 5. New dialogue box will appear, click Advanced tab and select Outlook Data File Settings.

Step 6. In Outlook Data File Settings dialogue box, press the option Compact Now.

The above described steps could help in managing OST file size or make some space on the server by transferring unnecessary files to different location. But for large OST file corruption, possibility of data loss is involved. And a third party application is needed to overcome these issues.

OST Converter is the solution which fix OST file entirely and converts OST to PST, OST to Office 365, OST to Gmail, OST to PDF, OST to MBOX and more. Also supports the conversion of contacts and calendar into respective formats. Features such as file naming options, preview facility, dual mode facility etc. can be easily utilized using this application. Get the free version of the software and analyse the working with features without trouble.