Best Method for OST to PST Conversion- A Complete Expert Guide

The Outlook email client has become an indispensable software application for desktop users. Almost every email user is now aware of Outlook clients and their vast benefits. Be it a home user or an office worker, all use emails to communicate with their families, friends, office colleagues, and business clients. Though there are numerous options available in the market, the Outlook client is the top priority of every single email user using the Windows system. This blog post will talk about two Outlook data files, i.e., PST and OST, and why we need OST to PST conversion.

Being an Outlook user, you must know the file into which Outlook stores all your email messages. It creates an Outlook data file on your local system in which your Outlook profile is configured. An Outlook data file can store email messages, contacts, calendars, tasks, notes, journals, and attachments.

Need for OST to PST Conversion

Sometimes situations may come when you need to convert OST to PST format. The most common situations are discussed below:

Scenario #1 – Exchange Server Crashes Down 

The unexpected crash is the most common problem in Exchange Server for numerous reasons, such as sudden power failure, malicious software, virus infection, etc. You can’t access your Outlook profile at such a point in time as you cannot connect to the Exchange Server. You may need to convert OST to PST format in such a situation.

Scenario #2 – Exchange Server Goes for Maintenance 

Exchange Server needs regular maintenance to function perfectly. If it goes for maintenance, you’re not able to access your mailbox. Sometimes, it may become necessary for you to access your mailbox items. Though you have an OST file on your local system containing your mailbox data, you can’t synchronize them with MS Exchange Server. 

Scenario #3 – Mailbox Migration 

If you’re migrating mailbox data from one place to another place, OST to PST conversion becomes an essential task. You can only access the OST file on the same system where it was created. You can avoid this limitation by converting the OST files into PST format and accessing the file on any computer.

Scenario #4 – OST Corruption 

OST file is also prone to corruption like PST file and can become inaccessible for numerous reasons. The only way to recover mailbox data is by converting OST to PST format. Though Microsoft provides the Integrity Check tool aka scanost.exe, it’s not that effective in case of severe corruption.

Scenario #5 – Mailbox Recovery after Accidental Deletion 

If you’ve accidentally deleted the mailbox on the Exchange Server, you can recover it by converting OST to PST format.

Different Methods for Free OST to PST Conversion

We have different methods available for OST to PST Conversion that can easily convert OST files to PST format. These manual solutions are time-consuming methods and require technical skills to perform. Let’s discuss all of them one by one.

Method 1: Using Outlook Import/Export Wizard

First, create a new Outlook data file.pst on your local system. It’ll hardly take a couple of minutes or even less than that. Once the new PST file is created, follow the steps given below:

1. Open the Microsoft Outlook client on your system.
2. On the main menu bar, click the File tab > Open > Import on the main menu bar.
3. On Export and Import Wizard, select Export to a file in the list. Click Next to continue the process.
4. On Export to a File window, select Outlook Data File (.pst) in the option and click Next to continue the process.
5. On the Export Outlook Data File window, select the Outlook data file and folder from which you want to export. You may also include subfolders. Click Next to continue the process.
6. Now click Browse and select the PST file you created earlier. This will export mailbox data from the selected folder to a new PST file. You can define other options as well before clicking finish.
7. Finally, click Finish and wait until the exporting process is completed.

Method 2: Convert OST to PST using Outlook Archive Wizard

If you want OST to PST conversion with archiving OST files into PST, then you must enable the Auto Archive option in Outlook. It will save the particular file in PST format. This method is also used to reduce the size of your mailboxes by archiving the files. Follow these steps for further process:

1. Launch the MS Outlook
2. Go to the File option and click on Archive.
3. Browse the file you want to archive and set the destination path for the resultant.
4. Now, tap on the Finish button.

You can convert all data except contacts with this method. If you want to Extract Contacts from OST files then go with Method 1.

Method 3: Professional Solution for OST to PST Conversion

These manual methods don’t work if you’re not connected to Exchange Server. In such situations, you can go with a professional Sysinfo OST to PST Converter that can quickly perform OST to PST Conversion in a few simple steps. It can convert single and multiple OST files to PST at a time.

Steps to Convert OST to PST Format

1.  Install and Run Sysinfo OST to PST Converter Tool
2. Click on Select files to Add the OST file you want to convert.
3. Press the Next button, and here you’ll see the preview of files.
4. Select the folder you want to export from tree-structured data.
5. Now, Choose the saving format as PST from the drop-down list.
6. Set the destination location to save the file, and click on the Convert button to start the process.
7. Lastly, Click on the Download Report and Exit.

Conclusion

In this technical blog post, we have discussed the different methods used for OST to PST Conversion. We also cover the basic details of Outlook OST and PST Files and the reason behind converting OST to PST files. You can choose the method which you feel is easier; Professional OST to PST Converter is highly recommended by experts because of its accuracy and integrity.