How to Repair corrupted Outlook PST File?

PST (Personal Storage Table) files stores emails, tasks, contacts, calendars, notes, journals and other items of MS Outlook. PST files are more vulnerable to corruption than normal data files. A small corruption can damage the file header and other data objects, leaving the PST practically unusable.

There can be several reasons for corruption of a PST file such as unexpected or improper shutting down of Outlook, improper/interrupted compaction of PST, virus/malware infection, contradiction with newly installed hardware/software, file system corruption, operating system malfunction etc.

How would you know that your PST file got corrupted?
You may get some error messages while trying to read, delete, send or receive mails. These error messages are the clear indication that your PST file got corrupted and need to be repaired.

Below mentioned are common error messages that render PST file corruption:

• Xxx.pst cannot be accessed – 0x80040116.

• The file xxx.pst is not a personal folders file.

• The file xxx.pst could not be found.

• Unable to display the folder. The file xxx.pst could not be accessed.

• Microsoft Outlook has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

• File could not be accessed. Data error. Cyclic redundancy check.

• Errors have been detected in the file xxxx.pst. Quit Outlook and all mail-enabled applications, and then use the Inbox repair tool (Scanpst.exe) to diagnose and repair errors in the file. For more information about the Inbox repair tool, see Help.

PST files are the basic storage units of Outlook and store various email components locally. Therefore, if any problem occurs with PST file then all your mailboxes and other information in Outlook become completely inaccessible.

Here, comes the need to rebuild damaged PST files with the PST repair tool. You can use inbuilt Microsoft inbox repair utility (scanpst.exe) for repairing your PST.

 What if inbox repair utility fails to repair the PST file?

Here are some situations when Scanpst.exe does not work:

• It fails to resolve oversize PST issues

• Fails to resolves major corruption issues of outlook

• Takes a long time in repairing corrupted PST

Scanpst.exe is useful only in case of minor outlook corruption issues. It deletes all contents that are difficult to process, resulting in serious data loss. Thus scanpst utility cannot be used in that case. To prevent data loss during PST repairing, you can use third party PST Repair Tools to repair corrupted outlook PST files in an easy and safe manner. You can also enhance the overall performance of outlook application.