Unable to Open PST file Archive in Microsoft Outlook
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Written By Eric Simson
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Approved By Kuljeet Singh
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Updated on 18 Dec, 2020 -
Min Reading 3 Min - Share
One of the best methods to keep your Outlook mailbox size in check is to regularly archive old emails and attachments within a different PST and use a fresh new PST to save new data. That way when you need to access old mailbox items, all you need to do is load the archive PST into Outlook, and you’re done. But what should you do if you are unable to open an archive PST file in Outlook due to errors? This blog post helps you to find and resolve the problem.
Archive PST files should ideally be saved on a system other than the one a user regularly works on. This helps ensure the safety of such files in case any disaster befalls the system. To access an archive PST, all a user needs to do is import the file into Outlook using the Import & Export Wizard. Usually, this process hardly takes a couple of minutes, but sometimes owing to technical issues or corruption of the archive PST, users are unable to open .PST file archive in Outlook.
So what should they do to access their mailbox data?
How to resolve “Unable to Open PST File Archive” problem?
Suppose Outlook users are unable to open .PST file archive, more often than not, the cause behind it is that the archive PST has been corrupted. There could be several reasons for PST file corruption, including:
- Bad sectors on the hard drive where the PST file was located
- Virus infection to the file
- Improper Outlook termination
- Power failure while accessing PST file.
It is the existence of situations like this why Outlook experts emphasize the need for having a backup of all critical PST files. However, if you currently do not have a backup copy of the archive PST you wish to open, here is the few solutions you can try out to overcome the “archived PST not opening” issue:
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Check if you’re able to open the archived data file in a new Outlook profile.
There might be issues with your current Outlook profile. To create a new Outlook profile, import the archive PST into this new profile and then try opening it.
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Try opening any other archived PST files that you may have.
If any other archived PST opens, it means the problem exists only in the current PST file and not in Outlook.
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Repair Archived PST using ScanPST.exe
Microsoft’s inbuilt Inbox Repair Tool ScanPST.exe comes into play in situations exactly like this one. The utility is used to detect and fix minor corruptions within Outlook PST files and get Outlook up and running. Thus, if the above fixes fail to work, repair corrupt Archive PST using this tool as follows:
- Quit Outlook
- Navigate to Outlook installation directory and find ScanPST.exe
- Launch it by double-clicking on it
- Specify the PST file you wish to repair using the tool and click on the ‘Start’ button to initiate the scan
- If the tool finds errors within the PST, it will ask you for confirmation to repair them
- Take a backup of the archive PST as it is and then initiate the ‘Repair’ procedure. You may also instruct the tool to ‘Make backup of scanned file before repairing’ by selecting the appropriate option.
Once the repair is done, restart Outlook, and you should be able to open the archive PST now.
Note: ScanPST.exe cannot repair severely corrupted PST files.
To Open & Find Items in an Outlook PST File Manual Guide
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Repair Archived PST using PST Repair Software
Manual techniques, though readily available for free, often fail to complete the task at hand. If you’re unable to open pst file archive using the solutions mentioned above, avoid wasting more time on futile hit-and-trials and use the sure-shot remedy, Stellar Repair for Outlook. This commercial product is laced with best-in-class features to scan and efficiently repair even the most severely corrupted PST file and facilitate the restoration of all mailbox contents saved within them. Moreover, it is equipped with an interactive GUI which makes working with it extremely simple. With capabilities like support for encrypted PST repair, option to save the repaired file in multiple file formats (supported in technician version), and wide compatibility with various Outlook versions, this software is the ultimate solution to PST file troubles.
Final Words
Always keep a backup of all critical PST files. None-the-less, if you are still unable to open pst file archive, which couldn’t be solved manually, you know you can trust Stellar Repair for Outlook.
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NO About The Author
Eric Simson is an Email Platform Consultant and is associated with Stellar Data Recovery from last 6 years. He writes about the latest technology tips and provides custom solutions related to MS Outlook, MS Exchange Server, Office 365, and many other Email Clients & Servers.
11 comments
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Outlook 2016 won’t open old archives or pst. The files all open in outlook 2007 but 2016 says something about profile issues. It won’t let me import these files. Total is around 32gb of historical files – approx 22 pst and or archives
Have no idea what/where my profile is or how to fix it
You may try repairing the PST files using the ScanPST.exe (Inbox Repair Tool) located in the MS Office installation directory. Then try importing the PST files in Outlook 2016. if this doesn’t work, you can try XSTReader (open source tool) to check whether the files are readable.
At last, if nothing works, you can try the free demo version of Stellar Repair for Outlook to repair the PST files. If the software displays the mail items from your PST after the repair, activate the software and save the repaired PST file into a new PST file. After repairing and saving all PST files, you can import or open them directly via Outlook 2016.
Good luck.
It’s going to be ending of mine day, however, before the end, I am reading this impressive piece of writing to improve my experience.
Thank you Rasjesu, keep reading our blogs.
Great!
Apart from accessing this one file, I also have the option to save in Office 365 file format.
Now, we can easily access all archive PST files i.e. related to our past employees.
The good thing is that you can use this software for the lifetime.
Due to a massive virus on PC, my PSTs had gone corrupt. When I ran the SCANPST.EXE all I was getting an error:
“c\users\robin\appdata\local\microsoft\Outlook\Outlook.pst is not an Outlook data file”
I had almost lost all hope but then I came across your blog post which enlightened me on the Stellar PST Repair tool. Now, I can access 3456+ lost emails again.
Thank You!
Hi Lucy,
Your success story will encourage a vast audience to try free demo of Stellar Phoneix Outlook PST Repair.
After I recently updated my windows, my outlook started to show this annoying error. I’ve even followed your instructions and have run ScanPST.exe on my PST but it gets stuck invariably.
Is any way to access my emails again?
A solution is here