Convert An Offline File OST to a Personal File PST with Ease

OST files come into existence when the cached mode is enabled from the Outlook profile that will connect it to Exchange Server. Users are allowed to work in offline mode using OST file without any connection. Modifications made in OST file during offline mode will be synchronized with the user mailbox on MS Exchange Server. Unfortunately, due to several issues associated with OST file, users prefer to convert an Offline file OST to a personal file PST files. The article will be discussing on how to convert an Offline file OST to a personal file PST.

Points to Remember Before Conversion

Before converting the Offline OST file to PST, Users need to keep the followings points in mind that are stated below:

MS Outlook must be installed on the local system and is configured with the MS Exchange Server with the presence of valid connection at the time of export od Outlook mailbox from OST to PST

Export process needs to be carry out at the same local system where OST files were originally generated

Creation of new Outlook data file in PST format into which data items from mailbox can be exported or moved

Way to Convert an Offline File OST to Personal File PST

As Outlook supports no direct method for converting Offline OST file to PST, users can use Import and Export option of Outlook to export the mailbox data. This process can only be done when your Exchange Server is up and connectivity of it with MS Outlook is proper. Here are the steps used for the conversion of offline file OST to personal file PST:

1. Go to Start > All Programs > MS Outlook

open option

2. Click on File Tab on the top menu bar and Select Open > Import

3. The Import and Export Wizard will be opened where user will choose ‘export to a File’ and click on Next

Export to a file option

4. Among the available output formats in the list, select Outlook Data file (PST) and click on Next to proceed

5. Browse the mailbox folder from where the data needs to be export from and select Next

6. Specify the destination location where the new PST file need to be saved and click on Finish

7. Verify the presence of new Outlook PST file in the location that has been defined by the user.

Drawback with the Procedure: This procedure is quite complex and single mishandling with the implementation can lead to data loss.

Method 2: Shift OST Mailbox Elements to PST:

In this procedure we just need to drag the selected data one-by-one from offline files and drop them for the process. It’s simple one step drag and drop solution.

Restraint with this procedure: Drawback using this procedure is that only one instance will be transferred on single click, it’s not the best way for shifting group transfer. This procedure will not work well for group transfer to migrate the default folders like calendars, email, contacts, junks etc.

Method 3: Archiving of OST File

In this procedure all archived items(contacts, tasks, notes, emails, etc) are moved to other Outlook data file. Archiving helps in reducing the size of Outlook data file.

Go through "File" menu >> Info >> "Mail box cleanup option" >> choose "Archive" from the drop down list.

Conclusion

In the blog, we have discussed about how user can convert an offline file OST to a personal file PST file. Some reasons why users prefer to convert their OST file to PST has been described along with the manual approach for the conversion using Import and Export Wizard present in Outlook.