Most of the MS Outlook users must be aware of PST file, which is the main storage repository of each Outlook account containing emails, contacts, calendars, etc. Since all the data items are stored in a single file, maintenance becomes difficult when the file size increases. It makes the PST file prone to corruption that can lead to loss of data items. In such situations, the user needs to have a PST recovery solution to restore the corrupt file and recover Outlook data from it.
Issues related to Outlook PST file
- Large-sized PST file can increase the chance of making the file corrupt
- Virus Attack can infect the contents of PST file making it inaccessible
- Failure of data storage location in the system where PST file was kept
- Creation of new PST File while migrating from previous Outlook version to other
- Unexpected Outlook Shutdown while user tries to open & access the PST file
PST Recovery – Recover Data from Corrupt PST file
-
Manual Approach
MS Outlook provides an inbuilt repair utility named scanpst.exe, built to analyze and fix damaged PST file. This will scan the corrupt PST file and recover the contents of the file to some extent. However, it has some limitations that it cannot repair highly corrupted PST files and it only repairs the header part of the file contents if corrupted.
-
Third-Party Tool
As the previous method cannot recover restore data from damaged PST file, the user can opt for better alternative solution i.e., PST File Recovery Software. The tool has been designed to recover data from less to highly corrupt Outlook PST file and saves the recovered data in multiple file formats PST, MSG or EML. It also has the ability to recover the permanently deleted emails and imposes no size limit on the PST file. The best feature of the software is that it does not require an installation of Outlook in the system for recovery.
Conclusion
As discussed above, the manual method does not give satisfactory results as only some part of corrupt PST data can be recovered. Hence, the third party tool PST Recovery is recommended option.
