How to Repair OST file which is Showing Error Message?

Posted by Deven Malik on August 17th, 2022

OST is the Offline Storage Table file of Microsoft Outlook which allows you to carry on your work offline. OST file plays a vital role in the working of Microsoft Outlook application. There are situations when MS Outlook may throw errors and fail to open because of a corrupted or damaged OST file.

Whenever you encounter an error in OST file, these errors need to be handled as soon as possible otherwise you may not be able to access your Outlook emails and eventually Outlook may stop working. Such errors might have a direct impact on the stored information. To resolve this issue, there are few troubleshooting methods available. However, if these methods have failed to fix the errors, try to extract the OST file data from Backup or save it by converting it into an accessible PST file format.

Solutions to Fix Errors in MS Outlook OST File

Solution 1: Using Microsoft In-Built Repair Tool

You can try the scanpst.exe repair tool provided by MS Outlook itself to repair the damaged OST file. Follow the steps given below to repair the OST file.

1. Search for SCANOST.exe file in the Microsoft Office Program file, double click on SCANPST.exe file to run it.
2. Select Browse and choose that particular corrupted OST file path.
3. Next, click on Start to begin the process to repair OST file.
4. After the scanning process is over, click on Repair to fix the OST file.
5. A dialog box will appear after the completion of the repair process.
6. Now, re-open MS Outlook application to check whether that error is resolved or not.

Note that this tool is not available for all Outlook versions. Also, it can only repair Outlook data files with minor corruption. Thus, it is highly possible that ScanOST fails to repair the OST file.

Solution 2: Export OST into PST Format

OST file errors can be fixed by converting this file to PST format. The OST to PST converter tool is specially designed to convert corrupt or damaged OST files into an accessible PST file with just a few easy clicks. It ensures the integrity of file structure, which means no harm is done to the original file while retaining other Outlook data such as Inbox, calendars, notes, journals, and other attributes. It is a quick and easy way to repair corrupt OST file. Also, it is advisable to convert OST to PST when your OST file orphan or is very old.

Conclusion

Many issues raised while working with MS Outlook OST file. To fix these errors you can use the inbuilt repair tool available by MS Outlook. It diagnoses and repairs errors in your Outlook data file. If you are unable to repair the corrupted OST file with the tool, try converting the OST file to a readable file format. We have here discussed both the ways, read it and learn how to resolve an OST file error.