Resolve Outlook.pst File Has Reached Its Maximum Size Issue

PST files contain huge amount of data in it, that is why Outlook.pst file has reached its maximum size error occurred generally. This basically depends on the version of Outlook utility being used. The Outlook versions till 2002 were the older ones that creates ANSI PST file with storage limit of only 2GB. The later versions extended the limit of each version from 20GB to 50GB and create Unicode PST file. Due to these discussed limitations, a message is generated by the system displaying maximum size limit message.

Generally, users encounter messages like
” Outlook.pst file has reached its maximum size “

When users encounter this error then the only option left with users is to delete the contents of the PST file to make it smaller. As we all know, that deleting the contents of the Outlook PST file is not easy as some of the folders could not be deleted due to the privacy of the folders. Therefore, this blog puts some light on the other alternatives to perform migration of the data to break oversized Outlook PST file without losing or damaging any data in the file.

Reasons Behind the Error Outlook.pst File Has Reached Its Maximum Size

It is always important for the user to know the reason behind such errors so that they can resolve them in future. Some of the many reasons which lead to such issues are discussed below:

• ANSI PST files are larger than 2GB file size limit.
• Unicode PST file formats are larger than the existing file size limit.
• Sometimes, there is a change in predefined limits as well.

Manual Approach to Resolve the Error Outlook.pst File Has Reached Its Maximum Size

To tackle with the issue of Outlook PST files is very simple, specially for the users who are not exposed to professional software. Users are either required to update their Outlook Server or they have to delete some of the PST file data. The prior one is more beneficial only when there are files in bulk while the latter one can be used when there is no sensitive information present in the PST file.

Some, other options that can be opted by the users is to transfer the items from the existing Outlook data file and to create a new PST file. Users can also change the platform from ANSI to Unicode.

Manual Approach: Limitations

• The above discussed Manual Approach also possess some limitations:
• The Manual Method is quite complex and is very time-consuming
• This approach is required to be performed with efficiency
• Technically sound person is needed to perform this method

Automated Alternative to Resolve “Outlook.pst File Has Reached Its Maximum Size”

SysTools Split PST is the third-party utility which is suggested to split Outlook PST files. This software is designed with high-end technicalities and algorithms which helps to perform the entire splitting process without losing or damaging any data and the Meta properties.

Features

• splits large Outlook data file into smaller parts by date, folder, size & year
• performs the splitting process on new PST and Archive PST file
• Splits both ANSI and Unicode Outlook PST file
• Installation of Microsoft Outlook is not required for the splitting process
• PST files after splitting can be saved at any location of your choice

Conclusion

The most common reason for every PST file is the growing size of the Outlook PST file. It is always suggested to handle these PST files carefully. Understanding the importance of PST files, this article described the solution to overcome the issues of PST files. A complete manual and automated methods have been explained to let the users learn How to fix Outlook PST error message: “Outlook.pst file has reached its maximum size”.