How to Open OST Data File in Outlook PST File?

Microsoft has always been the commonly used desktop email application that is being used by numerous organizations. If you are a common user of Microsoft Outlook, you must be friendly with the two data files that are related with Outlook application i.e. OST files, and PST files. All the email messages and other data items of the Outlook configured email account are stored in the PST file format. Alternatively, OST file includes the replica of data stored in Exchange Server that comes into action when the user needs to work with Microsoft Outlook in an offline mode. All the data changes are updated once there is an active connection where the OST file becomes synchronized with the MS Exchange Server. In this post, we will discuss how to open OST data file in Outlook PST file with complete data and perform the OST to PST conversion process.

How to Find the OST File Location?

Knowing the location of the Outlook PST file is required to access the data of the file in the system. Here are the steps mentioned to locate the proper location of the OST file:

1. Open MS Outlook in your old system where the OST file is available. All the configured data items including emails, attachments, contacts, etc. will be presented.
2. Select the configured account name and then right-click on it to choose ‘Data file Properties’ of the machine.
3. In the new window that shows with all the items of configured account, choose the ‘Advanced’ option.
4. The file location will be seen in the Data File settings that show like the following given path i.e. “C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\”.
5. Now, copy the location of the file, and then paste it into the Run command search box & press the Enter button.
6. Choose the OST file for which you want to access the items in another machine.

How to Open OST Data File in Outlook PST File?

If you have an OST file that requires to be accessed in another system, moving of a file from one system to another is important. The file can be accessed or opened in two different methods:

Manual Method – After moving the OST file, try opening the file in the new system using Outlook. It will provide you an error message that shows- 

“The FileC:\Users\admin\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\abc.ost file cannot be opened.”

As we can see the above given manual procedure cannot open the OST data file in the Outlook PST file, so this method is not compatible and it may also lead to damage or corruption of the file.

Automated Method - The reliable process to open the OST data file is to use an automated tool such as - OST Converter. It will easily convert and move all the items from OST file to PST format, which can then be easily accessed on any MS Outlook account. The OST Converter software supports all the versions of MS Outlook (2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, etc.) making it easy to migrate any OST data file to PST file.

Here are a few of the advanced features of the tool:

• Allows multiple files conversion from OST to PST in a single process.
• Provides 3 options to load OST files - Add OST Files, Add OST Folder, and Load Outlook profile for performing OST file to PST conversion.
• Supports to convert all emails, contacts, and calendars from OST data file to PST file.
• Provides not only PST as a saving option, even it offers a number of saving options such as- PDF, EML, MSG, MBOX, Lotus Notes, Thunderbird, Mac OLM, EMLX, Windows Live Mail, Gmail, Office 365, G Suite, Yahoo, etc.
• Keep retains all the email properties of the OST files in the same manner.
• Windows-based solution - easy to launch on Windows 10, 8.1, 8., 7, XP, etc.

Conclusion

If an OST file cannot be accessed in Microsoft Outlook by default in any profile such as either corrupted or maybe exceeded from size limit, in such a situation only possible way out is to open an OST file in PST file format. As you know that the above mentioned manual way is only suitable for Outlook 2007 and older versions. It is not supportable for MS Outlook 2010 and the latest editions. So, in this blog, we suggested users make use of the third-party tool - OST Converter Software. It allows users to move all data items from the OST file to Outlook PST file with attachments.