You want to open OST files and see the content of the files. But your file is corrupted, so how can you read corrupted OST files? That’s why we wrote this article to solve this issue. In this, we will discuss the reason for your file corruption and the methods to solve it.
First, we understand what an OST file is. The OST file is an Outlook file where you can see or edit your data in offline mode. Although Outlook uses PST files to save the data, when your network connection is lost and you want to see the data, it uses an OST file. The file is created by the IMAP server, and it connects to the Exchange server and updates the changes when the connection is restored.
Reasons for OST File Corruption
Just like a corrupted PST file, there is no particular cause for the issues. Many factors affect your files.
- Any hardware issues can affect your OST file.
- Sudden power failures or system crashes can also be reasons for file corruption.
- Storage issues such as bad sectors or disk errors where your files are stored can damage your files.
- Malware or viruses make your file corrupted and inaccessible.
- Large mailboxes and many email attachments make your OST file oversize. This large file is also the cause of the problems.
- Antivirus software, third-party tools, or Outlook add-ins can affect your data.
- Improperly closing Outlook makes your file corrupt.
- File corruption can also happen when using outdated versions of Outlook.
There are many causes of file corruption; these are the common ones. So, if you want to analyze data from corrupted OST files, in the next section, we will explain a solution to your query.
Method to Read Corrupted OST Files
To solve this type of corruption problem, Microsoft created a few tools to repair corrupted files. ScanOST.exe is used in earlier versions of Outlook to repair corrupted OST files. However, these can only be used to solve the problems of not opening them and seeing the files. To view the corrupted OST files, a professional tool is used.
With this, your OST file is repaired, and you don’t have a problem using the file. However, if we talk about explore corrupt OST data files, even after repairing them, you cannot view them. This is because OST files cannot be opened in Outlook or any other program. So, if you want to analyze data from corrupted OST files, the professional method is the way to do that.
Professional Way to Read Corrupted OST Files
For repairing the corrupt OST file, you can use ScanOST.exe, but if you want to open and view them, then this is the only way. The software we use is an Outlook OST Viewer from FreeViewer. In this way, you can use normal, corrupted, or damaged OST files very easily. It is not difficult to use, just add the files to the tool, and the utility automatically scans your files and displays the data without any issues. There are various features in the software that you can use.
Features of the Tool
- With this tool, you can read entire OST files.
- The software provides different preview modes to help you analyze data from corrupted OST files, such as HEX, HTML, RTF, MIME, normal mail view, properties, and message headers.
- You can explore corrupt OST data files, including emails, contacts, calendars, events, etc.
- Users aren’t required to have an Outlook or Exchange server.
- The tool doesn’t impose size limitations on opening the files.
- It supports OST files from Outlook 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, and earlier versions.
- You can download the tool for all Windows OS versions.
Steps to Read Corrupted OST Files
- Download and install the software.
- Click on the Add File button, and then browse the location of the corrupted files.
- Select the Advance scan option for the corruption issue and press the Add File button.
- The tool scans and loads your data. All the data will be displayed in the center of the screen.
- Click on the file to see the content and also preview it.
Conclusion
Whether your OST file is corrupted or not, you cannot open Outlook. So, that’s why in this article we explain to you a way to read corrupted OST files. We use professional software that can easily open and provide better results than you can use. For corruption issues, there are utilities like ScanOST.exe and ScanPST.exe that can repair your corrupted files.
