How to repair large .pst files?

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Hello,

I have been using Outlook for the past 4 years, my outlook pst files size is too large. Suddenly i shut-down my system without closing outlook and when i reopen my system i got my pst files corrupted.

How can i repair large pst files?

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How large are your PST files?

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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Because you shut down without closing outlook, it is wrong to assume that the corruption is because the pst is too big. There is a tiny program (I don’t know the name) to repair corrupt psts, but I can’t vouch for it having never used it.

If the email is stored on a server for you for a certain period by your ISP, for example, then you might restore the last-saved pst file from a backup and bring things up-to-date online (depending on whether or not size was the straw that broke the camel’s back) by downloading again. If downloads did create an excess, then restore the old pst file from backup, but not to the same location. You might give it a new name while you are at it, to remind yourself of its importance (and the importance of backups).

If you aren’t archiving (and purging spam and such things), then you might read up on that for future reference.

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The repair program is called scanpst.exe, and it should be in the same folder with the Outlook program. Instructions are at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/272227. It can fix many — but not all — problems in PST files.

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I have used scanpst and found it quite useful, but if you are concerned about the size of your .pst file you should periodically delete, archive or move any messages which are old or no longer needed. After you delete or otherwise remove messages, including emptying the “Deleted” folder, you should then run a “compress” to free up the unused space. This function is to be found under Data File Management. It’s interesting to note the size of the .pst file before and after running the compress, to see how much space is regained. Also a good idea to back up the .pst file before compressing it.

There is another useful and free utility which allows you to see the contents of a .pst file from outside of Outlook. You can find it at http://www.freeviewer.org/pst/ .

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There is no substitute for a proper backup of the PST file – repair doesn’t always work.

cheers, Paul

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Hello,

I have been using Outlook for the past 4 years, my outlook pst files size is too large. Suddenly i shut-down my system without closing outlook and when i reopen my system i got my pst files corrupted.

How can i repair large pst files?

How large is it? And certainly the reason behind this corruption is the sudden system shut down due to which the Outlook was not closed properly. If you have backed up the Outlook data file earlier, then you have fair chances to restore it. But if you have no backup, then you should try to repair the file.

Luckily, Microsoft Outlook has a built-in utility, the Inbox Repair tool aka scanpst.exe. You must try it once.

And if it fails, you can try a third-party recovery tool that can recover your mailbox data from corrupt Outlook data file.

Hope this would be helpful.

One more thing…. if you have no idea how to use scanpst.exe, I can refer you to this blog post: http://wordpress.semnaitik.com/2013/06/13/repair-pst-file-of-ms-outlook/

In this blog post, you’ll learn how scanpst.exe works (screenshots are also available).

Thanks.

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