» Office » 2 Ways Repair Corrupted Outlook Data File
If you find the email can't sync with Outlook.com, what's Outlook program is crashed, it doesn't work after restarting Outlook. Don't worry! This may indicate that Outlook data files (.pst) are damaged, generally, corruption of PST file makes Outlook users inaccessible to its items such as e-mail, contacts, notes, calendar etc.
There are two solutions to repair .pst file corruption problems.
If you meet the corruption event, you can use the Inbox Repair Tool (Scanpst.exe). It is a built-in feature of Microsoft Outlook and is mainly used to fix minor PST corruption issues.
Step 1: Exit Outlook, then locate to the drive: \Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE15 folder. To find Scanps.exe, and then double-click on it.
Tips: If you don't use outlook 2013, refer to the following information:
For Outlook 2016: \Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE16 folder.
For Outlook 2010: \Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE14 folder.
For Outlook 2007: \Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE12 folder.
Step 2: Enter the name of the .pst or .ost file that you want to check, or click Browse to select the file. To specify the scan log options, click Options, and then click the option that you want, click Start.
Step 3: If errors are detected, you are prompted to start the repair process to fix the errors. You can press the Detail button for more information about the type of corruption before clicking Repair.
Tips: A backup file is created during the repair process.
Step 4: If everything goes correctly, you'll get the Repair complete dialog. You can close it by clicking OK.
Now, you can run Outlook program. If the repair process fails, try running it again. If it fails repeatedly, but you can still access the file in Outlook, you can refer to Way 2.
If the inbuilt Scanpst.exe tool is not successful in repairing serious PST file corruptions, you may have problems with an offline Outlook data file (.ost) that can be re-created by downloading a copy of your items again. Re-create one, follow steps below:
Step 1: Open Control Panel. Type mail in the search box and then click Mail (Microsoft Outlook 2013).
Step 2: In Mail Setup dialog, Click the Data Files tab, select the Exchange account, and then click Open File Location.
Step 3: In the file explorer window, right-click the Exchange data file and then click Delete.
The next time you start Outlook, a new .ost file is created for the account.
Step 4: Then return to Account Settings. click Add to open the backup pst file.
Step 5: Select it, and then Set as Default, and then click Close, restart Outlook program.
You can use your Outlook normally.
Tip 1: Exit Outlook properly.
Tip 2: Check the size of PST file.
Tip 3: Protect PST file against virus attacks.
Tip 4: Save your PST files on a secure drive other than your network drive, and back up your PST files regularly.
Be always prepared against unforeseen accident. Keep backups regularly, and organize .pst folder is very essential if you want to keep your email communication uninterrupted.
