How to Convert OST to PST with Attachments?

OST is the short term used for Offline Storage Table. Users can easily work in offline mode and the changes made by the user will get updated later when the exchange connection is re-established. However, many users want to convert OST to PST file format. There are various reasons for users to perform this conversion, but the main reason is that the PST files are easy to port and accessible. The inaccessible OST file format requires troubleshooting so as to regain access to the important data in your system. The most effortless approach to solve OST issues is to change the Outlook OST record to PST document. In this blog, we will discuss the step by step on how users can easily export inaccessible OST to PST.

 

Before moving further, first, we need to know why users want to migrate their OST files to PST format.

Reasons to Convert OST to PST

Well, there are numerous reasons to export the OST file to the PST format. Some of the reasons are listed below -

• Accidental deletion of the Exchange server account - If your exchange server account gets deleted and eventually you have lost all your data. Then you can easily recover your data by converting the OST files to PST.
• When you want to backup some exchange mailboxes - You can create a backup of a few exchange mailbox items by exporting OST files to the PST file.
• If the Exchange server gets crashed or fails - If MS Exchange has facing an unusable crash, virus or malware attack, system failure. You are not able to connect to the Exchange server. These situations are difficult to handle and can impact your work or business. So, to avoid this situation, you need to migrate your OST file to PST.
• OST Data migration - Users might want to migrate their OST files into PST when they are trying to transfer their data from one computer to another computer. This would become quite necessary when a company is trying to shift its data from one system to the other one.
• Exchange Server maintenance - When the exchange server is under maintenance, then it becomes quite difficult to access the corrupted mailbox items. You need to export the OST file to PST to access these mailbox items.

 

There are various methods available to export OST to PST that users can easily follow. Now, we will discuss the step by step process for OST to PST conversion.

Method 1: Import/Export Method to Convert OST to PST

With this process, users can easily save their important data into Excel and CSV format. Follow the steps listed below.

1. Launch MS Outlook
2. Go to the File section and select Import/Export.
3. Click on Export to a file.
4. Hit the Next button.
5. Now select the Personal file folder (.PST) and click on Next.
6. Click on the parent root and check on the Include Subfolders.
7. Click on browse to define the saving location.
8. Then, hit the Finish button

Method 2: Drag and drop

You need to create a new PST file and then simply drag and drop the folder and save it. The method is used to move OST mailbox data to a new PST file format.

1. Launch MS Outlook.
2. Create a new PST file in the Outlook profile.
3. Then simply select all the mailbox folders that you want to drag and then drop them to the PST file that you have created.

Method 3: Use Outlook Archive feature to Convert OST to PST

The Outlook emails from the OST file are saved into the PST format when you enable the archiving option. Follow the steps by step process provided below -

1. Launch MS Outlook application.
2. Go to the file and click on Options.
3. Now, Go to the advanced section.
4. Click on Auto Archive settings.
5. Now, you can select the number of days for which you want to run the auto-archiving.
6. Browse to define the location to save the archived file.
7.  Click on OK

As per your archiving settings, the mailbox item of the OST file will get saved into the PST file.

Above are the manual methods to save OST files in PST format, but with the manual methods of conversion, there also comes some limitations as well as. There are several drawbacks using these manual methods such as they are time-consuming methods, unable to convert corrupted OST files, technical knowledge is required to perform the process and there might be some risk of human error which can lead to severe data loss. To overcome all the limitations, users can opt for the OST to PST file converter. The software provides a user-friendly graphical interface and also various additional features to make the conversion easier.

 

Final Words

In this blog, we have discussed some manual approaches to convert OST to PST without any difficulty. We have seen that there are various limitations with using manual methods and to overcome them, users can opt for any third-party alternative software. You can go with any of the methods as per your convenience.