Researchers estimate that billions of emails are sent worldwide every day, most commonly with Microsoft Outlook’s email software. While email has been around for decades, it’s all too common for emails to go missing or become corrupted, even in 2023. Unfortunately, users might face the risk of missing data and corruption of PST files for numerous reasons, along with virus attacks.
In this guide, we will show you 3 methods that you can use to fix corrupted PST files in Microsoft Outlook.
Table of Contents
Introduction
In today’s digital era, email has become an essential communication tool for individuals and businesses alike. Microsoft Outlook is a popular email client that stores its data in Personal Storage Table (PST) files. However, these files can sometimes get corrupted, leading to various issues such as data loss, inability to access emails or system crashes.
With many of the world’s most important files being delivered over email, users need a way to access vital emails safely and efficiently. The best way to access essential emails accompanied with attachments, personal folders, contacts, notes, etc., is to use Microsoft Outlook Inbox Repair Tool, the Microsoft Outlook Fix PST Software for PC, or Online Service for Recovering Outlook Data Files for any other platforms and mobile devices.
These tools are designed for Outlook Data Files (PST and OST) in Outlook for Microsoft 365, Outlook 2019, Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010, and Outlook 2007.
If you’re facing such problems, don’t worry! In this article, we will explore three effective methods to fix corrupted PST files and regain access to your valuable email data.
// See Also: How to Convert OST to PST for Free.
Method #1: PST File Recovery with the Inbox Repair Tool
If you can’t open your Outlook data file or suspect that the email file is damaged, you can use the Inbox Repair tool (SCANPST.EXE) to diagnose and repair errors in your Outlook data file.
This method works best in the following situations:
- Outlook can’t open your data file.
- Outlook can’t open the set of folders.
- Outlook data files may be damaged.
The Inbox Repair tool will not connect or analyze any data in an Outlook Exchange email box. Instead, the tool only checks for errors (corruption) within the file. If any errors are found, the tool allows you to fix those errors.
You may need to locate your Outlook Data Files in Outlook before repairing corrupt PST files. Here’s how you can do this:
1) Within Microsoft Outlook, select File, then Account Settings, and click on Account Settings.
2) Next, click the Data Files tab.
3) All Outlook Data Files (.PST) and Offline Data Files (.OST) will be listed, along with the account name associated with the files.
To repair an Outlook (.PST) file, close Microsoft Outlook first, and then navigate to one of the following locations based on the Outlook versions that you have:
> For Outlook 2019: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16
> For Outlook 2016: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16
> For Outlook 2013: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15
> For Outlook 2010: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14
> For Outlook 2007: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12
Next, find and launch the SCANPST.EXE tool:
Next, click ‘Browse’ and choose the Outlook Data File (.PST) you want to scan.
Click Start scan.
If the tool finds errors, click the ‘Repair’ button to fix and repair the corrupted File(s).
Once the process is completed, start Outlook with the profile associated with the Outlook Data File you just repaired.
Please note that during the repair process, a backup file is created. If you would like to modify the default name or location of the backup file, you can enter a new name or click “Browse” to locate the desired file.
The Inbox Repair tool creates a backup copy of the original file in the same folder, with the same name but with a .bak extension. If you want to retrieve items from the backup (.bak) file, you should duplicate the backup file and rename it with the bak.pst extension. For example, you can rename it as jack.peter01@outlook.com.bak.pst.
Next, open Microsoft Outlook and import the bak (.PST) File. Go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export > Import from another program or File as shown in the figure below.
You might have to run the Inbox Repair (SCANPST.EXE) tool numerous times to repair your Outlook Data File. If an object was corrupted or erased permanently, it might not be possible to retrieve it. In these situations, you might need to look at a well-known tool for repairing Outlook PST files, called Recovery Toolbox for Outlook.
Method #2: Recover PST Files with the Recovery Toolbox
Recover PST files for Outlook software is a complete solution that enables users to recover corrupted Microsoft Outlook data and save them to a new file. This tool is ideal for recovering corrupted or faulty Microsoft Outlook personal folders from Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft 365 OST files and converting them into PST format.
The PST file recovery tool restores data from damaged Outlook files and can repair errors in email files from Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010, Outlook 2013, Outlook 2016, Outlook 2019, and Outlook for Microsoft 365 in the following scenarios:
- The file Outlook.pst cannot be opened.
- Fatal Error 80040818 when you try to repair the PST file.
- An unknown error prevented access to the file. Error 0x80070570.
Here’s how you can use the Recovery Toolbox for Outlook tool to repair Outlook data files in these scenarios:
Step 1: Download and run the Recovery Toolbox for Outlook software.
Step 2: Install Recovery Toolbox for Outlook on your PC and then run it.
Step 3: On the first page, search for the PST file on your computer.
Step 4: Select Recovery Mode and then press Next.
Step 5: Review the content of the PST file.
Step 6: Select a folder for saving converted data and select the Save as PST file mode, and then click Save.
To repair your Outlook data files, you must have Recovery Toolbox for Outlook installed on your computer with a 64-bit version of Microsoft Windows. This is especially true if you want to recover a large Microsoft Outlook PST file (more than 4 GB).
When the software is installed, Recovery Toolbox for Outlook won’t be limited to the size of operating data that 32-bit systems have. The program can completely fix and save the data in a new PST file when working with the 64-bit versions of Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Windows. If Microsoft Outlook 32-bit is installed on the computer, Recovery Toolbox for Outlook will be limited by the amount of RAM used to restore data.
Method #3: Repair PST/OST Files With Online Option
Recovery Toolbox for Outlook supports the online service of repairing a corrupt PST file. With this option, you don’t need to install any software on your PC. The tool’s functionality allows users to repair a PST File on any platform (PC/macOS) and device (iOS/Android).
All you have to do is to upload a corrupt PST file to the following URL and get it repaired by taking these simple steps:
1) Click the Select File button. Choose an Outlook data file with the extension PST or OST.
2) Enter your valid email address.
3) Click the Next Step button.
4) Wait for the corrupted PST/OST Microsoft Outlook file to be recovered.
5) Download the recovered Microsoft Outlook PST file.
The newly recovered data file from the corrupted Microsoft Outlook file will be saved as a new Microsoft Outlook 2016 file with the PST extension in Unicode format. This makes it possible to recover PST Microsoft Outlook Personal Folder files from any device with any browser.
// See Also: How to Recovery Corrupted PDF files.
With Recovery Toolbox for Outlook, you can fix any PST files of different versions: ANSI (Outlook 97-2003), Unicode (2007 and above), and repair password-protected files. With the Online Outlook Recovery Tool, it’s easy to fix any errors using the online tool from any device. Furthermore, users should have no difficulty repairing encrypted PST files and restoring PST files of any version.
Conclusion
In this article, we showed you three methods that you can use to fix corrupted PST/OST files in Microsoft Outlook.
Recovery Toolbox for Outlook can recover all types of objects from damaged Exchange Server (.OST) and Outlook (.PST) storage files, including email messages with attachments, contacts, notes, tasks, and more. You can also use the Outlook PST fixer as a PST viewer.
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Thank you for reading my blog.
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-Charbel Nemnom-
