Offline Storage Table aka OST is used by Microsoft Outlook application to store email messages and other attachments like notes, contacts, calendars, etc. These OST files are highly secured and safe but sometimes these OST files show different behavior like corruption, inaccessibility, and sync issues due to errors, virus, malware, power failure, improper Outlook or system shutdown, etc. in such situations user needs to reset/recreate OST file in Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, etc. So, to know how to delete and recreate OST file in different versions of Outlook read this post till the end.
Prime Reasons behind OST file corruption and damage
There can be multiple reasons behind corruption and damage of an OST file and once the OST gets infected then it became inaccessible and unreadable. Below mentioned points are the following causes for the defect in OST file due to hardware as well as software errors.
- Sudden power outage during OST file synchronization.
- Inappropriate closing of MS Outlook in-between session.
- Due to oversized OST files.
- Malware or Virus attack on the system.
- Bad network connection issue during OST sync.
- Bad sectors in the OST file location in the hard drive.
- Bugs in MS Outlook application.
- Issues with the whole storage device.
How to Recreate OST file in Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002, 2000?
If your OST file becomes inaccessible due to one of the above-mentioned reasons then it is mandatory to delete and recreate the OST file in Outlook. Follow the steps to delete the corrupt OST file.
How to delete OST file in Outlook?
- Terminate running MS Outlook
- Press Win key + R to open the run window.
- Here type %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Outlook and click Ok.
- This command will lead you to the OST file location in all versions of Outlook.
- Select the OST file you need to delete and press Delete key from the keyboard.
How to Rebuild OST file in Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007 manually?
- Open MS Outlook, click file >> Info >> Account settings.
- Next, choose the E-mail tab and Microsoft Exchange. The change E-mail account will be displayed.
- Hit More settings.
- In the Exchange, window choose “Advanced”
- Elect Offline Folder File Settings.
- Now type the path location of OST.
- Next click OK. System name OST as Outlook.ost. If the name already exists then you will be asked for a new name.
- Hit OK and click finish.
How to Rebuild/Recreate OST file in Outlook 2000, 2002, 2003?
- If you are using Outlook 2000, 2002, or 2003, navigate to Tools menu and hit on E-mail account.
- After that click View or Change Existing Mail Account,>> Next.
- Now Locate Outlook process email for that account in following order wizard and hit a click on Microsoft Exchange Server >>
- In the Next window, click on More Settings and choose the Advanced tab
- Here click on Offline Folder File Settings options.
- In the File section, choose a location where you want to save the OST file and click
- Now if the resulting error puts up then, solely hit the OK
“ .ost could not be found. Would you like to create it?” - At last hit, Next then click Finish.
How to Recover OST file in Outlook?
You may lose your OST file data during the recreation process. So it is recommended to recover the corrupt OST file before recreating the OST file in Outlook 2019 and all lower versions, you must try to save your existing data either with the help of OST Recovery tool or OST to PST Converter software. It is designed to fix issues with inaccessible, corrupt, or damaged OST file. Using this you can repair and recover your Outlook OST file and restores its data back to your computer in PST, EML, MSG, DBX, etc file formats.
Time to bring all the things together
How to recreate OST file in Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, etc is the most frequently asked question by the Microsoft Outlook users. So, we have come up with this technical solution to answer how to rebuild/recreate OST file in Outlook editions.
