How To Repair And Restore Outlook OST Files

Microsoft Outlook, which is a popular email client, stores all its program data either in “.pst” or “.ost” files. Outlook data related to email folders, contacts, calendars - everything is saved in these files. One advantage of this is that you could easily transfer all your Outlook data to a different computer by simply copying these PST or OST files. But there is also a negative aspect to it. If something happens to these files, your entire Outlook data could become obsolete. And that’s if you still retain any of it – there’s a chance you won’t be able to access any of the data, including the email messages. However, Microsoft Outlook lets you repair these damaged or corrupted PST or OST files using its built-in repair tool. Below are some Outlook repair instructions to troubleshoot problems associated with corrupted PST or OST files.

Repairing the .ost file

• Close the Outlook application if it is running.
• Click on the Start button and select the option “Run”. 
• Type “drive:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Mapi\LocaleID\scanost.exe” into the Open text box and click “OK”.
• If you are in United States, you may replace “LocaleID” with “1033”. For others, check your MS Office Help file.
• This will launch the Outlook OST repair tool. Click the option “Scan all folders”. The scanning would take several minutes to complete. 
• Select the checkbox for “Repair errors” and click on “Begin scan”. 
• Microsoft Outlook will start scanning for corrupted OST files, and will repair those damaged files automatically. 

Disabling the .ost file and creating new one

• Open Microsoft Outlook.
• Click on “Tools” menu and select the Email Accounts option. 
• In the Email Accounts window, select the option "View or change existing email accounts" and click “Next”. 
• Proceed by selecting "Microsoft Exchange Server" and click “Change”. 
• Click on “More Settings”. 
• Click on the “Advanced” tab, and select the Offline file folder settings option. 
• Select the Disable offline use option.
• Enter the path of the new .ost file. Microsoft Outlook will now replace the old “Outlook.pst” file with the newly created .pst file.

Once you replace your corrupted .ost file with the new one, you should be able to access all your Outlook email messages, and other features, without any issues. If these Outlook repair steps don’t fix your issue, contact Microsoft Outlook support to get advanced help to fix your problem with the Outlook.