Use Scanpst.exe To Repair Outlook Personal Storage Folder Issues

Microsoft Outlook automatically stores messages, contacts, appointments, tasks, notes, and journal entries in one of the following two locations:

• In a personal storage folder, also known as a .pst file, on your hard disk drive.
• In a mailbox that is located on the server. Your mailbox will be on a server if you use Outlook with Microsoft Exchange Server.

You can use a backup of your .pst file to restore or move your Outlook data if you experience a hardware failure or lose data unexpectedly.

Microsoft Outlook troubleshooting

In case you have problems opening the Personal storage folder file (.pst) or your Offline folder file (.ost), you can use the Outlook Inbox Repair tool to diagnose and repair the error. The Inbox Repair Tool scans only the .pst or .ost file, not your mailbox on the server running Microsoft Exchange.

Instructions

• Close Microsoft Outlook if it is open.
• Launch the Inbox Outlook Repair tool Scanpst.exe by going to drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE12.
• In the scan box, enter the name of the .pst or .ost file that you want to check. Alternatively, you may click Browse to search for the file.
• If you want to specify the scan log options, click Options, and then click the option that you want.
• To begin the scanning, click Start.
• The scanning will locate the errors and once it is finished, you will be prompted to start the repair process to fix the errors.
• Inbox Repair tool will create a backup file during the repair process. If you want to change the name and location of this backup file, you can provide a desired file name and location to save the file.
• Now click Repair.
• Open Outlook by using the profile that contains the .pst file that you tried to repair.
• Now click on the Go menu and select Folder List.
• Under the Folder List, you will find the folder named Recovered Personal Folders that contains your default Outlook folders or a Lost and Found folder. Usually the recovered folders are empty, because this is a rebuilt .pst file. One problem that you may find is that the items that are missing from the Lost and Found folder cannot be repaired.
• Create a new .pst file, and drag the items in the Lost and Found folder into the new .pst file folder. When you have finished moving all the items, you can delete the Recovered Personal Folders file, including the Lost and Found folder, from your profile.

Using this Outlook repair tool, you should be able to fix the problem of your Outlook Personal Storage Folder. If this does not fix the issue, contact the Outlook Support team and get advanced assistance.