How to change & recover Outlook PST passwords?

Read time 7 minutes

Outlook users often secure their PST files with passwords to safeguard critical personal, financial, and business information. However, there are instances where they may need to change their old password, particularly after temporarily sharing it with someone or for certain business needs.

While Outlook offers an option to change the old password, this feature is only effective if you know the old password. In situations where you’ve forgotten the old password, a professional password recovery tool becomes the essential solution.

Instant Solution

Try Kernel Outlook Password Recovery tool to recover forgotten or lost Outlook PST file password and to set a new password. The software supports Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010 and all the previous versions.

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Changing the PST password is a straightforward process when you know the old password. Here’s how you can change the password in Outlook with just a few simple steps:

Note: If a user has forgotten the password for their Outlook PST file, Microsoft does not offer a manual recovery option for retrieving the password. In such cases, it becomes necessary to opt for a third-party Outlook PST Password Recovery tool.

Step 1: Open your MS Outlook application. Click on the File Tab. Click Account Settings and then click Account Settings again.

Step 2: In the newly opened dialogue box Account Settings, click the Data Files tab. Select your Outlook PST file and click Settings.

Step 3: A dialogue box named Outlook Data File is opened. Click Change Password.

Note: An alternative method to access the Outlook Data File dialog box depicted below is to right-click on the PST mailbox root folder and choose ‘Data File Properties’ from the dropdown menu. From there, in the Properties dialog box, click on the ‘Advanced’ option located at the bottom.

Note: Please note that the ‘Change Password’ option in Outlook may not be available for Offline Storage Table (OST) files used by servers or applications such as Microsoft 365, Exchange Server, and others.

Step 4: You can create a new password for the PST file in the Change Password dialogue box. Enter the old PST file password and then enter any desired new password for the file to reconfirm it.Click OK.

Hence, your PST file is now protected with the password chosen by you. It will ask for the password, whenever you try to access your PST file. So it is convenient if you note your password for future use.

Note: If you want to remove the Outlook PST file password, enter the old PST file password and leave the two spaces blank for the New password and Verify password sections. Then, click on OK.

For Outlook 2003 and earlier versions, Microsoft provides built-in tools like ‘scanPST.exe’ and ‘pst19upg.exe’ to remove passwords from PST files. The process is as follows:

1. Download and install scanPST.zip and pst19upg.zip applications from Microsoft website.
2. Perform scan and repair on the PST file using the scanPST.exe application
3. Run the Command Prompt as an administrator. Execute the command.

C:\backup\pst19upg.exe -x C:\backup\outlook-copy.pst

In the above command, C:\backup is the pst19upg.exe location.

4. To create a password-free PST file at the same location, run this command.

C:\backup\pst19upg.exe -i C:\backup\outlook-copy.psx

5. Perform repair on the newly created password-free PST file.
6. Copy the password-free PST file to the original Outlook PST file location.
7. Now, the password is removed, and the PST file can be accessed in the Outlook application.
   However, this process is for PSF files of old Outlook versions only.

However, this process is for PSF files of old Outlook versions only.

Many Outlook users forget the PST file password. When they try to access the file with a wrong password, a notification displays like this – The password you have typed is incorrect. Retype the password.

To access the emails in this PST file, you will have to unlock the password protection.

When you forget your PST password, the most effective solution is to utilize a password recovery tool. Among these tools, one of the most renowned options is the Kernel Outlook Password Recovery tool. It offers a user-friendly experience, recovering forgotten Outlook passwords with just a click. Additionally, it provides the option to change the password for added convenience.

• Free tool. No need to purchase it to recover the password of PST files up to 500 MB size.
• Simple user interface for the convenience of non-technical users.
• Instant password recovery without any data loss.
• Allows resetting and removing the PST password
• Recovers multilingual passwords too.
• Provides a different working password for highly encrypted files.

1. Launch the tool. Click Add files and select the PST file for which password is to be changed. Click Set New Password. It will open a dialogue box asking to set a new password for the PST file.

Note: To recover the Outlook PST file password, click on the Recover Password option, and an alternative password would be generated for the file. Similarly, by clicking the Remove Password option, you can remove the PST file password.

2. Set a new password for your PST files.

If you know the old password, you can change the PST file password using Outlook. But if you have forgotten the old password, just try the Kernel Outlook Password Recovery tool. It is a simple solution for Outlook password change& resetting in the easiest way possible.

Summary

In this blog, we’ve outlined the manual procedure for changing the Outlook PST password, a process feasible when the old password is known. For situations where the password is lost or forgotten, we’ve also provided guidance on using an efficient and potent PST Password Recovery tool. We trust that you’ve found all the answers on how to change your Outlook password swiftly and effortlessly.