How to Rebuild and Recover Damaged Offline OST File in Outlook 2019/2016/2013/2010/2007/2003

Admin | Email Conversion File Repair How to's Software Technology | 2 minutes read | Last updated on February 8th, 2023,

OST files are the copies of user mailboxes stored on Exchange Server. OST file saved on the user system. Due to this, it is vulnerable to many issues. They also show undesirable behaviour like sudden corruption that leads to inaccessibility, synchronization issues caused due to unintentional user account deletion on Exchange Server, power failure, virus intrusion etc. Under such kind of situations, the user may need to find solutions to repair inaccessible OST file.

File Repair Options in Different MS Outlook Versions

The OST file repair options are different in different MS Outlook versions. In MS Outlook 2000 and 2003, Detect and Repair Tool was combined for OST file recovery. In Outlook 2007, Detect and Repair Tool gets replaced with Office Diagnostic tool. In MS Outlook 2010 and 2013, Repair option was already present, particularly added to repair installation files of Outlook and registry entries. However, in latest versions such as Outlook 2016 and 2019, there are easier methods to rebuild and repair OST files.

For free OST to PST Conversion, try experts proposed method

Step 1. Export mailbox folder as PST.       

Step 2. Use Archiving to save OST Outlook data file as PST.

Rebuild OST File (Offline Outlook Data File)

OST files are Exchange Server Offline version files. If it gets removed somehow in any case, then user can access the fresh copy by directly downloading it from the server. Now, let’s follow the steps for recreating OST file:

Step 1. Shut Outlook Application.

Step 2. Go to Control Panel and click on Mail option.

Step 3. Mail Setup dialogue box will appear, click Email Accounts.

Step 4. Account Settings window will display containing all Outlook accounts.

Step 5. Go to Data Files tab, select OST file and click Open File Location option and go to the path where OST file is saved.

Step 6. Right-click on required OST file and click Delete option.

Note: Before you delete a file, close both the windows will were opened earlier i.e. Mail Setup and Account Settings, because then an error message could occur.

Step 7. Again start Outlook application and you will find that it automatically generate new OST file for the account (accessing all data from Exchange Server).

Repairing & Fixing OST File

The above process discussed will help to rebuild OST file when Outlook gets synchronized with Exchange Server. If Exchange Server is down or there are some network issues then the method can cause permanent loss of data. So, it is recommended to go for third party automated solution which can easily handle corrupt OST files. And OST Converter, all-in-one solution is there which is most trusted and reliable utility for moving Offline Outlook data file OST to PST, OST to Gmail, OST to Office 365, OST to PDF, OST to MBOX and more.