How to Repair Pst File in Outlook 2010

How To Use The Inbox Repair Tool (scanpst.exe)

Article ID: 2164 Last updated on 9/29/2021 11:44:17 AM Product: Exchange

You can use the Inbox Repair Tool (scanpst.exe) to repair corrupted Personal Folders (.pst) and Outlook Data (.ost) files. This is useful when your OST file is relatively big (more than 5 GB) and it would take a long time to recreate it. Also, it can be useful when you are getting errors when importing data from a PST file.

Important: you may need to run the scanpst.exe file several times (5-8). Keep doing this until it says that no errors were found in the file.

To run the Inbox Repair Tool, follow these steps:

Make sure Outlook is closed.
Make sure that theShow hidden files and folders option is enabled in yourFolder options. The file scanpst.exe is a hidden file, so you need this setting to be enabled to locate it.
To check this setting, follow these steps:
1. ClickStart, thenControl panel.
2. Double-clickFolder options, then switch to theView
3. UnderHidden files and folders, make sure theShow hidden files and folders option is selected, and then clickOk.
ClickStart, and then clickSearch.
In the search box, typeexe. If you cannot find the scanpst.exe file usingSearch, try to locate the file manually. Check the following locations for the file (location depends on which version of Windows you are using):
- 64-bit Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10
  - drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16
  - drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16
  - drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15
  - drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office15
  - drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14
  - drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12
- 32-bit Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10
  - drive:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office16
  - drive:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16
  - drive:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15
  - drive:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office15
  - drive:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14
  - drive:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12

Note: if scanpst.exe file still cannot be located, try to Download Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant.

Double-click the scanpst.exefile to open the program.
ClickBrowseto locate the corrupted .pst file
By default, the .pst files can be located in the following folders:

drive:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook
drive:\Users\<username>\Roaming\Local\Microsoft\Outlook
drive:\Users\<username>\Documents\Outlook Files
drive:\Users\<username>\My Documents\Outlook Files
drive:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

ClickStart. The Inbox Repair Tool scans the file and reports whether it found any errors. ClickRepairif any errors were found.

Note: When the repair procedure starts, it could appear as if the process is frozen (Not Responding in the Title Bar). In reality, it is not hanging but making a copy of your .pst file in the background or already has started the repair process. Depending on the size of your .pst file and the speed of your hard disk, this can take a while.

If it is still frozen after 10 minutes (no hard disk activity either) and still hasn't begun the actual repair process, you might want to abort the scanpst.exe process via Task manager (CTRL+SHIFT+ESC > Processes). Then, make a copy of your .pst file manually and restart the Repair process, but this time with the Backup option disabled.

8. If everything goes correctly, you'll get the Repair complete dialog after some time. You can then click OK to close it and start Outlook again.

If the repair process fails, try running it again. If it fails repeatedly, but you can still access the file in Outlook, you can create a new .pst file in Outlook and copy over its contents. For step-by-step instructions, see: Scanpst.exe keeps finding issues.

If you can no longer access the .pst file in Outlook and the .pst file is beyond repair for the Inbox Repair Tool, you'll have to restore it from backup or use a 3rd party recovery tool.

Note: Using scanpst.exe tool not always guarantees 100% recovery of corrupted .ost files. If the tool did not help, you may try to perform a complete profile reconfiguration, Outlook repair, or contact Support.

How to Repair Pst File in Outlook 2010

Source: https://kb.intermedia.net/article/2164