How To Convert Offline Outlook Data file to Outlook 2016/13/10/7 File With Manual Tricks

In this article we are going to discuss about how to convert offline Outlook Data file to Outlook 2016/13/10/07 file with manual tricks.
Many organizations prefer to use MS Outlook as email client service due to its advance security mechanism, reliability, message tracking and many other interesting features. Some of the useful services provided by Outlook include emailing, contact management, calendar, notes, appointments, etc. Each user account can be associated with two storage file formats i.e., PST (Personal Storage Table) and OST (Offline Storage Table).

PST files are the main repository files, which are created for actual storage of Outlook items. These files store messages, contacts, tasks, etc. on the local computer. On the other hand, OST files are the cached files that helps user to work in an offline mode in case of network failure or other Exchange Server issues. The files get automatically synchronize to the Exchange Server when network is retained. However, OST file is associated with many issues when the OST stops working/responding to Exchange Server. Due to this reason, user prefers to convert OST to Outlook 2016 Data file.

The following article is aimed to discuss the need for OST conversion and discuss the solution to manually convert OST to Outlook data file.

Need To Convert Offline Outlook Data File to Outlook

The most common reasons for OST to Outlook 2016 file conversion include:

• Synchronization Issue: Due to certain issues like power interruption, software failure, etc. there may be interruption while synchronizing the locally stored Offline Outlook file with the Exchange Server. This may lead to data inconsistency, which is why user converts Offiline Outlook data file to Outlook 2016/2013/2010 File depending on their email client.
• Users Mobility: In case a user has left the organization for which the Outlook account has been configured. Now, if the user wants to access the old emails of that account, he cannot use the Offline Outlook Data files due to Exchange Server authentication issue. The only way to have an access to mailbox is to convert Offline Outlook data files to Outlook 2016/2013 data file.
• Data Recovery: The Offline Outlook data file to Outlook 2013 file conversion can help user to recover the accidentally deleted data from the Offline file. Even the data of corrupted or highly damaged OST files can be recovered, once they are converted to the Outlook file format.
• Offline Outlook Data file Corruption: The Offline Outlook file is prone to corruption issues due to virus attacks, server breakdown, abnormal termination and other software related issues. So, one cannot easily rely upon the Offline data files for data storage, which is why user wish to convert offline file to Outlook Data File.

Prerequisites For conversion Process

Before carrying out the file conversion, user must consider the below mentioned prerequisites:

1. A proper connection should be established with Exchange Server.
2. Create a new Outlook Data File file to store the Offline data file mailbox contents after conversion.

Manual Trick to Convert Offline Outlook Data File to Outlook 2016 file

Any offline outlook file can be converted to Outlook data file format by using the manual method defined below. The steps that must be followed carefully to carry out file conversion are:

1. Configure the Outlook account and click on File.
2. Choose Open>Export from the file menu
3. Choose Export to a file under the Import and Export wizard.
4. Select Outlook Data File format (.pst) and click on Next.
5. Choose the required mailbox to be extracted. Click on Next to continue.
6. Browse the location to save the PST file. Click on Finish to complete process.

Hence, within the few clicks offline outlook data file can be effectively converted to Outlook 2013 format without any data loss.

In case of corrupted offline outlook data file, user firstly needs to repair the this file by using in-built scanpst.exe utility. After this, user can perform the above discussed import export method for file conversion. However, this utility cannot work for major offline data file related issues and may lead to loss of data. So, one need to be quite careful in case of conversion of a corrupted Offline Outlook data file.

Note: User can convert Offline Outlook data file to Outlook Data File manually but it only works for the healthy offline data files. It becomes very difficult to convert damaged offline file without any data loss. The best solution to convert such files is to make the use of third party tools available in the market. One such well-known software is OST Recovery, which provides complete conversion solution for well, damaged and corrupted OST files. Even the restoration of deleted data is supported by the tool.

Conclusion

Considering the various aspects of file conversion, we have learnt that though user can convert Offline Outlook Data file to Outlook data file with manual tricks, it is limited to the conversion of healthy offline data files only. The corrupted offline outlook data files can only be converted by using third party software. However, it is always recommended to have a regular backup of the offline outlook data files before conversion.