PST file corruption is a common scenario to observe and can happen for several reasons. Hence, it is quite important to fix corrupted Outlook PST file to be able to work with them. The PST file is an MS Outlook data file that can manage data items like contacts, calendars, emails, etc. If your PST file is corrupt, then it becomes a difficult task to work with them and access its data.
The various reasons leading to corruption of Outlook PST files are failure of hard disk, virus or malware attacks, or network issues, etc. You must take care of a few things to avoid damaging your PST files like avoiding storing PST files on a network or a server. Also, large PST files are prone to corruption so, you must maintain small PST files.
User Query: “My colleague sent me Outlook emails to my computer in the form of a PST file. As soon as I opened them on my system, they are crashing. I am unable to fetch its data and my computer is freezing constantly. Why is this happening? The PST files seem to be damaged since they are not displaying their content. How can I fix them and read their data?”
To know how you can fix such corrupted files, you must refer to this article where we will discuss the top tricks.
How to Fix Corrupted Outlook PST File?
There are manual as well as automatic methods to help you repair the PST files. To manually complete this task, one can perform the following steps:
1. Exit Outlook and launch the Inbox Repair Tool
2. After starting the Inbox repair tool (scanpst.exe), choose to Open OR Run from the File Download Dialog box.
If you cannot start scanpst.exe automatically, then locate any one of the following folders using Microsoft Windows Explorer. Then, continue to double-click on the .exe file.
2019: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16
2016: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16
2013: x`C: \Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15
2010: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14
2007: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12
3. Open .exe and the dialog box will appear.
4. Click on browse and locate the PST files to scan and click on Start.
5. If corruptions are encountered, then click on Repair to continue fixing them.
6. At last, click on the OK button to finish.
7. Automatically Fixing of Corrupt Outlook PST Files
The scanpst.exe option sometimes may cause failure because it is not advanced enough to resolve a high level of corruption. Another drawback is its inability to work on files exceeding 2 GB of size and cannot maintain data integrity.
Smart Fixing Corrupt Outlook PST Files
To overcome all such failures, users often choose direct automated software. They are specifically developed for such purposes. SysTools has built one such remarkable and the best tool to repair PST file. It offers multiple benefits such as:
- Fixes any level of corruption easily
- Can export the files in other formats too
- Repairs password protected PST files
- It supports all versions of MS Outlook
- Provides many preview options to view file data
- Option to fix the Outlook BAK files as well
- Feature to break large PST files
- Date filter option to selectively repair files
Read More: Import Contacts from PST to Gmail
Frequently Asked Questions
- Which version of Outlook does this tool support?
It works with MS Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, and its other versions. - Does this tool remove encryption from emails?
Yes, this software fixes corrupt PST files and decrypted S/MIME & OpenPGP encryption from PST emails. - Will this tool help restore the distorted structure of corrupted PST files?
Yes, this PST file repair tool can fix severely corrupted Outlook data files with ease. - Is scanpst not a good method to process the corrupt files?
Scanpst.exe is a great utility offered to fix the PST files that have been mildly corrupted. However, it has major drawbacks that disables it from working with largely corrupted files. In such cases, we have to opt for another solutions.
Conclusion
In this article, we have learned two different ways to fix corrupted Outlook PST file. Users can choose manual or automated solutions to effectively repair their files with ease. The software recommended offers easy to use interface with advanced features to repair the PST files quickly. It ensures safety of your source files and maintains the data hierarchy.
