How to Repair Damaged PST File? Step-by-Step Guide

Most people who use Outlook email clients to send and receive email messages have PST file(s) stored in the local system. What happens when these PST files get corrupted? Is it possible to repair damaged PST file?

Yes, it is possible to fix the PST files that are corrupted or damanged. Here, we are describing some viewpoints on this topic. Keep reading and you will definitely get a relevant solution for the same.

At the beginning of this article, we are introducing an inbuilt tool of Microsoft Outlook ie. scanPST.exe. also named as Outlook Inbox Repair tool. Subsequently, we will see how to repair a damaged Outlook PST file using this executable program. Later, we will elaborate on its drawbacks and how to overcome those limitations.

How to Repair Damaged PST File With Outlook Inbox Repair?

Microsoft Outlook Inbox Repair tool automatically gets installed while installing MS Outlook. It validates PST database files and rectifies error codes of Outlook.

If your Outlook account is configured with IMAP /POP3 and pst files got corrupted. This tool might assist you to fix it absolutely free.

Let’s begin with its step-by-step manual process to repair damaged PST File.

1. Open the Run command
2. Enter the path: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office
3. Double-click on the SCANPST.EXE file.
4. Enter or browse the path of your .pst file and then click Start.

Alternatively, simply search for ScanPST in your Windows file explorer and perform 4th step.

Shortcomings of Inbox Repair Tool

The Inbox Repair tool needs to be run multiple times to completely repair damaged PST file. It consists of scanning in eight phases and generates three files such as .bak,.log, and .pst. Sometimes the user gets annoyed while executing this method as it is very slow and complex. Also, there are some other limitations that are mentioned below.

• It can’t recover highly corrupted PST files.
• It can only fix the header section.
• It is unable to repair a huge size Outlook data file.

Emails are important. Especially for business sectors, email messages can be a lifeline. So, the Inbox Repair tool isn’t a reliable option for many users.

We have another solution to the query – How to repair a damaged Outlook PST file? As this manual method is not enough to remove corruption from the Outlook data files. So, we have a solution to completely repair the .pst files with an automated tool.

You will get more knowledge about this tool in the below section.

How to Repair a Damaged Outlook PST File Using Automated Tool?

To overcome all the limitations of the above-mentioned manual method, we are introducing the SysTools Outlook Recovery Tool.

This software supports PST files of Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007 & 2003. It has a quick and advanced scan option to repair damaged PST file data. In addition to this, it can also recover highly secured files by decrypting SMIME(Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) and OpenPGP encryptions.

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Some of the key features that are supported by the tool are as follows:

1. The software helps to repair large-size Outlook PST files.
2. It can also fix highly corrupted files with ease.
3. This tool can also decrypt and remove OpenPGP and SMIME encryption from multiple Outlook PST files at once and also repair damaged Outlook PST file.
4. It helps to recover the Outlook distribution list.
5. It can even recover deleted data from Outlook.
6. The tool can recover data from password-protected PST files.
7. It can even recover permanently deleted Outlook emails from a PST file.

Users have left some remarkable reviews for Outlook repair software on TrustPilot:

How to Repair Damaged PST File Using Outlook PST Repair Tool?

First, download the tool, and follow these step-by-step guidelines:

1. Install and run the tool, then click on Add File button.

2. Select or Search corrupt PST files from the system

3. Click on Quick Scan if you want to repair minor corruption. While clicking on Advanced scan allows you to repair damaged PST file (highly corrupted).

4. Now preview the emails of the imported data file within the software

5. Click on the Export button to successfully repair the corrupt file.

The tool displays all your emails, calendar, contacts, tasks, notes, and journals within the interface. You can save all these recovered data into multiple formats like PST, PDF, MSG, EML, and HTML, and even migrate it to Office 365.

Final Words

Corruption of important data can cause havoc in business environments. Thankfully, Microsoft provides a native tool to take care of corrupt PST files of its Outlook email client. However, depending on this tool can cause a serious problem. The Outlook inbox tool can’t repair the major corruption in PST files.

As a result, the user needs to try professional alternatives to get the job done. The suggested application is easy to use and can repair damaged PST file without any size limitation. It has the ability to fix corruption irrespective of its status (high/low). Reading the article makes it clear why such a tool is a necessity to counter corruption in PST files.