How to Fix Corruption Issues with Outlook Offline Data (.ost) files
How to fix corruption issues with Outlook Offline data (.ost) files
When Outlook has complications opening or items are missing
from your inbox, you can use these steps to troubleshoot and fix issues with
Outlook data .ost files.
On any Windows OS, whether you are using MS Outlook 2019,
2016, 2013 or an older version, the application stores a copy of emails,
contacts, and calendars for user account type of offline access.
If you are using an Office 365, Exchange, or Outlook.com
account, the data is stored in the Offline Outlook Data File (.ost).
Generally, these data files are very consistent, but they
can ultimately stop working or get corrupted, and for this reason, all desktop
versions of Outlook bundles a repair application to troubleshoot and fix issues
with Outlook .pst files, as well as the capability to regenerate the .ost file
automatically.
In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through the steps
by steps to repair corrupted Outlook data files, recover missing messages items
from inbox folder, problems opening Outlook 2019, Outlook 2016, and older
versions using a .ost file.
How to repair Offline Outlook Data File (.ost)
Using an Exchange, Office 365, or Outlook.com account, to
fix problems with a .ost file, close the email application, and then procedure
these steps:
Step2: Click on User Accounts.
Step3: Click the Mail option.
Step4: In the "Mail Setup" Outlook, click the Show Profiles button.
Step5: Select the profile with the account you want to fix. (The default profile is called "Outlook.")
Step6: Click the Properties button.
Step7: Click the Email Accounts button.
Step8: Click the Data Files tab.
Step9: Select the broken account.
Step10: Click the Open File Location button.
Step11: Click the close button for the "Accounts Settings," "Mail Setup," and "Mail" windows.
Step12: Right-click the .ost file for the account having issues, and select the Delete option.
Quick Tip: If using only the default profile named as "Outlook," you can type this path: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Outlook to go directly to the destination of the .ost file, and skip to step No. 12. Otherwise, continue with the steps.
Once complete these steps procedure, re-open the desktop
version of MS Outlook to re-create the .ost file for the user account you
intend to repair.
We're focusing this guide on Windows users, but if you're
using any version of Outlook (2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, and 2007), it's still
possible to use these instructions on Windows 8.1 and Windows 7.
