In this technical write-up, we’ll show how to repair severely corrupted PST file. When a POP account is set up in Microsoft Outlook, a Personal Storage Table (PST) file is made. The PST file stores everything in the mailbox, like emails, attachments, calendars, contacts, etc. But sometimes, the PST file gets corrupted because of a sudden system shutdown, a wrong way to shut down Outlook, a Windows crash, a virus attack, etc. When the PST file gets corrupted, your Outlook app may not work right or give you errors. Because of this, the PST file needs to be fixed as soon as possible.
You can use the Microsoft Outlook Inbox Repair tool (SCANPST.EXE) to repair corrupt PST files. But this method is not an ideal solution. On the other hand, a Shoviv Outlook PST Repair tool clarifies how to repair severely corrupted PST file. However, in this post, we’ll discuss both methods.
SCANPST.EXE to repair Fix corrupted:
SCANPST.EXE or the Inbox Repair Tool is used to find out why Outlook data files are broken and fix them. You can fix minor problems with your PST file with this tool. Follow the steps given below to enhance the PST file.
Make sure that Outlook is closed before using this method. Follow the below described.
Step1: Open the Inbox Repair Tool
- Launch the Inbox Repair Tool on its own.
- Start the EXE programme.
- Choose “Open” or “Run” from the “File Download” box. Then, go where the wizard leads.
Step 2:Fix the PST file that is dismounted:
- Click “Browse” to find the PST file you want to fix and choose it.
Note: If you don’t know where your corrupt PST file is, you can find it by going to this link.
- Next, click “Start” to begin the process of scanning.
- Then, click “Repair” to initiate fixing the problem.
Note: When you choose “Repair,” the process automatically makes a copy of the scanned file. Enter the location where you want to save the backup if you want it. If not, don’t choose the option in the wizard to “Take a copy of the scanned file before repairing it.”
- Once the repair is done, open Outlook with the same profile connected. You can verify the Outlook Data File you just fixed.
This is how to repair severely corrupted PST file. One more step in this method is to recover fixed Data to a New PST File.
Step 3: Retrieve Repaired Data to a New PST File
- Open Outlook and get to the Folder pane.
- Find the “Recovered Personal Folders” folder that contains your default Outlook folders or the “Lost and found” folder.
- During the repair process, some empty folders may be made again. The “Lost and Found” folder has folders and items found by the SCANPST.EXE tool. Outlook can’t put them in their original structure.
- One can create a new Outlook data file. See this link to make a new file.
- Drag & drop the fixed items from the “Lost and Found” folder into the new data file.
- Once you’ve moved all the fixed data, you can delete the “Recovered Personal Folders” and “Lost and Found” folders.
You’ll find out how to repair a severely damaged PST file using the manual method. It has some problems and flaws, which I’ll list below.
Flaws of SCANPST.EXE
- You must run the SCANPST.EXE several times to repair a single PST file fully.
- The tool is unable to repair severely corrupt PST files.
- There is a considerable risk of losing the PST data.
Repair PST Files using a Specialized Tool:
Use a third-party PST repair tool like Shoviv Outlook PST Repair tool to get around the problems listed above and fix PST files quickly and easily. The software has advanced algorithms to simplify how to repair severely corrupted PST file. It owns an easy-to-use interface so that anyone can use it to fix their corrupted PST file.
This tool allows you to add any number of PST files of any size. Throughout the process, it does not affect the data’s integrity or the folders’ structure. Once the repairing is done, it lets you save items from PST into other standard file formats.
Wrapping up:
Outlook PST files may corrupt for various reasons, such as virus attacks, storage media damage, improper Outlook shutdown, etc. However, you will learn from the above post how to repair severely corrupted PST file.
You can fix minor problems with the PST file with SCANPST.EXE. Use the Shoviv Outlook PST Repair Tool to get the best result if the file is badly broken. The software can quickly fix PST files that are severely damaged and doesn’t limit the size of the file. It recovers all of your mailbox items, like emails, contacts, calendars, notes, and so on, from a corrupt PST file.
