Email Application, How to Tips, Recovery, Software

How to Rebuild OST File in Outlook 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007 Manually

Written By Nimisha Ramesh

Approved By Mack John

Published On July 25th, 2017

Reading Time 4 Minutes Reading

OST is the Offline storage file in Microsoft Outlook used for business purpose. The primary key of the OST data is that the users can work in an offline mode or synchronized OST files with Exchange Server due to the availability of network connection. If we are discussing rebuilding OST file then, it requires to delete and to recreate a new OST file to establish data communication and ensures all business tasks. Moreover, the overall process varies according to the different versions of Outlook for rebuilding OST file in Outlook 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2016. In the following section, we are going to discuss the manual steps how to rebuild OST file in Outlook along with certain reasons.

What to do if OST file gets corrupted after rebuilding it.

Reasons Behind For Rebuilding OST File in Outlook

There are various reasons due to which such OST files are highly prone to get corrupted or damaged. Some of them are discussed below:

Improper shutting down of Exchange Server
Cause of different hardware & software failures
Exchange server and Outlook OST file is interrupted
Delete the OST files associated with Exchange mailboxes

So, it is recommended to rebuild Outlook 2007, 2010, 2013 OST files or to export OST file into PST format in order to maintain the proper backup. Such PST files are more reliable and secure that helps the user to deal with such issues of corrupted OST files.

Manual Ways to Rebulid OST File in Outlook

Users must have to follow these steps to create the offline OST files in MS Outlook 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007 according to different versions. Let us describe some of the following steps:

For MS Outlook 2010, 2013 & 2016

First, you need to open File Menu and click Info tab
Then, choose the Account Settings option and click on Microsoft Exchange
Now, click on Exchange twice and press on More Settings option
In Outlook 2013, select an Advance option and click on Outlook Data File Settings
Under File box, need to specify the location and click OK button

For MS Outlook 2007 version

First, you have to click on Tools menu and select option of Account Settings
Under Account Settings, double-click the Microsoft Exchange
Then, the screen will display and click on More Settings option
From the next screen, select the Advanced tab
Select Offline Folder File Settings and then, type the name of OST file inside the File box
After that, hit on OK button
Now, you noticed that the default name appears as Outlook.ost. Even you can rename it if any OST file already exists with the same name
Next, Click Ok tab and finally, choose the Finish option

For Outlook 2003 & Outlook 2002

Go to Tools menu and click the E-mail Accounts option
Enable the option of View or change the existing mail accounts and then, hit on Next button
Next, opt the Microsoft Exchange Server option and select Change button
Then, Choose More Settings and press the Advanced tab
Now, click on Offline Folder (OST) File Settings
After that, reset the name of Outlook OST file and click OK button
In last, press on Finish tab to complete the entire process

Remember: Make sure that MS Outlook should be connected to the Exchange Server for creating and synchronizing all OST files.

Due to various factors associated with OST file, most of users need to rebuild OST file in MS Outlook. So, this manual procedure helps to make Offline OST file accessible otherwise the users can go for an automated solution.

Wrapping It Up

Most of the time users have faced various issues while accessing OST files in Outlook. All those factors have already discussed in above section. Along with this, we have covered manual steps for rebuilding OST files in Outlook 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2016. After rebuilding Outlook OST file, if the error still occurs in OST file, then user can use SysTools OST recovery tool to fix the corruption in OST file.