What is an OST File? Get the Detailed Info

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In the corporate world, a lot is happening around communication, especially through emails. And Outlook is one of the applications widely used for email communication. You can also use it with Exchange Server and webmail. In Outlook, when you start offline work, a local copy of the mailbox gets stored on the system with information like your email messages, calendar, and other items. This local copy of the mailbox is known as Offline Outlook Data (.ost) file.

Users can access these downloaded or synchronized email messages, calendar information, contacts, and tasks without any email server connection. They can also compose messages, add contacts, and create appointments but can’t send or receive new messages. And when the server gets connected, changes made to the OST file will automatically get synchronized with the mail server. Different accounts(such as Outlook 365, IMAP, Exchange, and more)hold the synchronized copy of mailbox information in Offline Outlook Data Files (OST files).

To know more details about what is OST file, read this blog carefully and get the comprehensive and authentic information.

What is an OST File? Brief Definition

Basically, “OST” stands for an offline Outlook data file or Outlook “Offline Storage Table.” In OST, several types of data, such as calendars, journals, and schedulers, are organized to make data available offline. The Outlook OST files are known for storing data offline.

It creates a local copy in the Cached Exchange Mode or works offline to keep a local copy of the data. Once the connection is established, the OST file gets synchronized with the server, as these offline folders are replicas of the folders in the server mailbox. This whole procedure is known as the synchronization of folders.

1. Go to Outlook; select the File tab.
2. A window will appear here; select Account Settings; click Account Settings.
3. Now, in the Account Settings window, click the Data Files tab.
4. Now, select an .ost file and click Open Folder Location.
5. After selecting Open File Location, a window with the file location will appear.

Now we are clear about what is OST file, but sometimes users may encounter some errors while using an Outlook OST file. There can be several reasons behind the error. We will see some of them here.

• Orphaned or Corrupt OST file
  The orphaned and corrupt OST file means when no mailbox is available on the server. Multiple causes lead to corrupt OST files, such as hardware issues, power failure, or the presence of bugs in the system. Some error messages related to the OST file are as follows-
• (0x800CCC0F) Sending / Receiving reported error.
• Cannot start Microsoft Outlook.
• (0x8004010F) OST file cannot be accessed.

If you cannot access your OST file, then you can opt for this solution. Firstly, you need to delete the OST file by browsing its location. Then Outlook will automatically download the mailbox data from the mail server.

1. Open Outlook, find the OST file location
2. Delete the OST file from its location.

Before creating a new outlook profile, close the Outlook application. If you recreate OST file using an existing OST file, always make sure to have a copy of that file in the new location.

1. Go to Control Panel and click on the Mail option.
2. A new window will appear; here, go for the Show Profiles option.
3. Now click the Add option in the appeared window.
4. Now, a New Profile window will appear; here, type the name and tab on the Next button.
5. After completing the above procedure, go for the Change Account settings option and click the Next option again.
6. Select the More Settings option in the Server Settings box.
7. Click the Advanced option from the above menu and select Outlook Data File Settings.
8. Next, to save this new OST file, go to the Browse option to change the OST file location. Finally, click on the OK button.
9. If you want to use your existing OST file, browse and select the copied one, and click on the Open button.

Several times, users enquire us that these manual methods are ineffective in resolving the OST problems. We have the option to convert OST to PST format. By understanding the user’s problem, our experts have designed this OST to PST Converter to overcome the complications of manual methods. The tool quickly and effortlessly recovers all OST items like emails, attachments, contacts, distribution lists, calendars, tasks, and notes and saves them to PST. It also converts OST emails in various other formats such as PST, DBX, MSG, EML, TXT, RTF, HTML, MHTML, & PDF. It works harmoniously with all versions of MS Outlook. OST and PST act like two sides of the same coin. But there are a lot of differences between OST and PST Files.

Conclusion

I hope you find this blog helpful in understanding what is OST file. These files are extremely helpful when a user wants to access email, appointment calendar, or many more offline without any server connection. But sometimes, due to OST errors, our work gets disturbed. And manual methods are not always an effective solution. Therefore, to resolve this problem, users can convert OST to PST by using Kernel for OST to PST Converter.