Microsoft Outlook is the most widely used email client application. It supports two typrs of files to store the data, OST (Offline Storage Table) and PST (Personal Storage Table). The OST file is used to work in offline mode, that means, when the systems is not connected with the Internet. You can work in the offline mode and synchronize the changes with the Exchange server once the connection is restored. Somehow, sometimes the OST file gets corrupt due to number of reasons for example virus infections, power outages, header corruption, etc. In all such cases, you should try to repair the OST file using the Scanost tool available with the microsoft outlook. If you are unable to repair it, then you should convert an OST file to the equivalent PST version for which you need a third-party OST to PST conversion software.
Consider a scenario wherein you start MS Outlook on your systems, but it fails to start. Resulting in a message display, that is:
"Cannot open your default email folders. The file xyz.ost is not an offline folder file."
Reason: There could be the following reasons for this error: The OST file gets corrupted and Outlook is unable to recognize it. Hence, the error. The OST file is linked with a mailbox for a particular user on the Exchange server. If the particular Exchange mailbox is inaccessible due to some reason, then this error is reported.
Resolution: To resolve this problem, you should repair the OST file using the OST Integrity Check (scanost.exe) tool. To do this, you should perform the following steps:
Search and open the Scanost.exe file.
Search and select the OST file to be repaired.
Select the 'Repair Scan' check box to automatically repair the inconsistencies found in the OST file.
Click the 'Begin Scan' option to begin the scan. The scan will be completed in a while.
Start Outlook and check whether the problem has been fixed or not.
If the problem is still not fixed then you should use a OST to PST conversion software These OST-PST converters are able to convert an OST file to PST file without overwriting the existing OST file.
Consider a scenario wherein you start MS Outlook on your systems, but it fails to start. Resulting in a message display, that is:
"Cannot open your default email folders. The file xyz.ost is not an offline folder file."
Reason: There could be the following reasons for this error: The OST file gets corrupted and Outlook is unable to recognize it. Hence, the error. The OST file is linked with a mailbox for a particular user on the Exchange server. If the particular Exchange mailbox is inaccessible due to some reason, then this error is reported.
Resolution: To resolve this problem, you should repair the OST file using the OST Integrity Check (scanost.exe) tool. To do this, you should perform the following steps:
Search and open the Scanost.exe file.
Search and select the OST file to be repaired.
Select the 'Repair Scan' check box to automatically repair the inconsistencies found in the OST file.
Click the 'Begin Scan' option to begin the scan. The scan will be completed in a while.
Start Outlook and check whether the problem has been fixed or not.
If the problem is still not fixed then you should use a OST to PST conversion software These OST-PST converters are able to convert an OST file to PST file without overwriting the existing OST file.
