Fix Damaged or Corrupt Outlook PST Files or Personal Folder

Updated On - July 11, 2023 by Armaan |

Reading Time: 5 minutes

If you face a PST problem and don’t know how to fix this Outlook Personal Folder PST file error? In this case, this article can help you to fix this error. Read it must.

Commonly, PST Files or Personal Folder Files are used by Microsoft Outlook to store Outlook data, like email files, folders, and contacts or any personal data related to your MS Outlook.

If you have been using Outlook for more than a month, you are likely to get errors like “Unable to open Outlook data file”, “Error in file path was detected”, etc., and you will have to wait a few minutes for Outlook to repair the file. Pretty annoying, but at least you can view your emails after the wait.

Try Regain PST Merge Tool to merge or combine multiple pst files into one PST file. Download Here

However, sometimes your luck is not that good, and your entire data file (PST) becomes so corrupt or damaged that Outlook refuses to open the file fully. In such situations, you can try to repair the corrupted PST file with some free tools. Since Outlook data corruption can occur for various reasons, you may need to try some of the methods below before resolving your problem. Before that, let’s see some common causes of Outlook data corruption –

Most Common Reasons of Damaged Outlook PST File or Folder

• Formation of a New PST File: It generally happens when you upgrade your Microsoft Outlook to the newer version; during the upgrade, a new PST file will be created, and this newly created file takes place and corrupts your old PST file.
•  Huge PST File is created: Generally, the Outlook database is stored in PST files. When you use Outlook regularly, then the size of the PST file will also increase. Eventually, when it crosses the actual limit of data and becomes inaccessible to archive, it gets corrupt or damaged easily. Users can use the split PST file tool to reduce the size of a large PST file.
• During Sharing File on Various Networks: Necessarily, we like to download new software and install it in this advanced technology generation. For safety, we need to install reliable anti-virus software. But still, the system is prone to attack by viruses or malware. It can be a cause of your PST file damage or corruption.
•  Due to Outlook wrong Up-gradation: Sometimes, while you upgrade your Outlook and your PST file becomes damaged, or when you handle it improperly, it will also be damaged.
•  Error during PST Compression: we need to Compress PST files to increase the hard disk space. During compression of PST files, there are chances of error that may damage your PST files.

However, if you are unable to open your old Outlook PST personal folder, emails or contacts, there is a chance of corrupt pst file and you need to repair it. You can also restore Outlook PST from backups, but if there are no backups, you can use the below-mentioned methods to repair the damaged Outlook Personal Folder File.

Manual Methods to Repair Corrupt/ Damaged Outlook PST file

To repair Damaged or Corrupt Outlook PST Files or Personal Folder, you can use ‘Inbox Repair Tool’ or ‘Scanpst.exe’ developed by Microsoft. When using Inbox Repair Tool, be assure that your MS Outlook application must be close and also take the backup of Outlook data file (.pst) which you want to fix and repair.

Manual steps to repair corrupt Outlook PST file :–

Step 1: The first task you have to perform is to browse any of these locations:

For Outlook 2019: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16

For Outlook 2016: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16 

For Outlook 2013: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15 

For Outlook 2010: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14 

For Outlook 2007: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12

Step 2: Go to the SCANPST option and double-click on it.

Step3: In the Microsoft Inbox Repair Tool dialogue box, select the PST file to repair by clicking the Browse button.

If you don’t know the location of the Outlook PST file, open the File Explorer window and enter the following command:% appdata% \ Microsoft \ Outlook.

Step 4: Click Start to start the scanning process.

Step5: While scanning if it finds any errors in the file, click on the Repair option to fix those errors.

Step 6: Finally, when the repair process completes, just click on OK button.

Automated Solution to Fix Corrupt PST File

Regain Outlook recovery software is one of the most efficient PST repair tool that not only recover your corrupted PST files but restore your old deleted emails as well. It has a feature to fix all the items in your MS Outlook like emails, contacts, notes, calendars, journals, and more. Without losing any integrated data. With this tool, you can also carry out the damaged or corrupted Outlook PST files in the recovery process before scanning Outlook data corruption.

Free Download100% Secure Buy NowPrice: $39

After performing the recovery process, you are allow to save your old Outlook data in various output formats like PST, MBOX, MSG, EML, and DBX. This PST Repair tool scans the entire Outlook mailboxes and saves the recovered data properly.

Try Regain PST to Office 365 Migrator tool to Import Outlook PST data to Office 365 account or Exchange Server. Download Here

Software allow you to search a specific file from your scanned result, which is based on criteria defined by the user. It ensures the complete recovery of your mailbox data. The tool supports all Microsoft Outlook versions like 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019; and compatible with Windows 98, ME, 2000, 2003, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, and 10. And helps you recover your lost emails, contacts, notes, calendars, and journals from the damaged PST file.

Repair Outlook PST File in just a few easy steps

1. First, launch this “Regain Outlook PST Recovery” Software on your Windows system
2. On the home screen, Browse and Select Outlook PST file for Scanning
3. After scanning, it will show you a Preview of Scanned items of selected PST file
4. Click to save repaired PST file
5. Here, select the “Destination path” and “File format” to Save Outlook PST file
6. Finally, PST file is successfully repair and save at user select location.

This tool can recover all mailbox items from your damaged or corrupted PST files with both UNICODE and ANSI file formats. With this Regain Outlook PST Repair tool, anyone can add new PST files to their Outlook account without any problem.