The market is swamped by cutting-edge communication tools for boosting team collaboration-from Microsoft Teams and Zoom to Signal and Slag. Recent research and studies have proved that email is still the most used and popular utility for almost everyone. According to Forbes, just three email services namely Yahoo Mail, Microsoft Outlook, and Gmail own around 91 percent of the email market in the United States. Outlook is Microsoft’s proprietary email platform. It is extensively used in a majority of corporate environments. Outlook utilizes a storage unit called the PST or Personal-Storage –Table for storing mailbox items. However, PST is notorious because of its susceptibility to corruption which makes inherent files inaccessible.
PST is the Individual Stockpiling Table record design, likewise called Standpoint Individual Envelopes document design. It is a sort of Viewpoint information document. It stores Viewpoint messages, organizers, posts, schedules, arrangements, meeting demands, contacts, dissemination records, assignments, task solicitations, diaries, and notes.
Our PST fix apparatus is fundamentally intended to fix degenerate PST documents.
Microsoft Standpoint accompanies an in-house fix apparatus, known as Inbox Fix Device for Viewpoint or Scanpst.exe. This apparatus is intended to act as the principal line of activity (the primary device to run) in fixing any sort of defilement or mistake experience in Viewpoint, and it is totally allowed to utilize.
Fundamentally, minor document blunders (or debasements) brought about by framework or application error can undoubtedly be fixed by the Inbox Fix Apparatus (Scanpst.exe), and recuperated in fast time. Thus, if your PST file(s) becomes undermined, don’t lose track of the main issue at hand; attempt and run the inherent fix device, prior to running any high level fix.
A number of these errors can be prevented by adopting some best practices for system maintenance. Further, a subset of errors that have already occurred can be managed or mitigated by following some basic troubleshooting steps. Here are the most common steps you can take to try and restore a corrupted PST file.
Reduce the Size of the File
Outlook is notoriously bad at handling large PST files. Once a file gets sufficiently large, it bogs down your entire system, introducing a ton of lag in every aspect of your workflow. Over time, this file’s size could even exceed the limit that Outlook can handle, which could render it unreadable or severely corrupted- causing disruption and data loss. Thankfully, it is relatively easy to maintain a sane file size if you do some housekeeping. Junk items should be removed from the PST folder as and when possible. You could also create other PST folders and move some of your files there, as a distributed approach is likely going to lead to several maintainable files rather than a single unmanageable one. Reducing the file size is an effective tip to fix PST files in Outlook.
PST Decluttering
Clutter is also a major issue in Outlook’s handling of PST files. If there are too many items in a single folder, it could lead to a snowball effect that corrupts the entire file. It is a good idea to take a proactive approach from the get-go and create other folders into which you place files based on category, importance, or time.
The hour of the maintenance cycle relies upon a few elements, including the PST document size, the intricacy of the PST record, the PC design, and so on. Regularly it requires a few hours to fix a 10GB PST document on a cutting edge PC.
Solid Archiving Routine
Archival is also a great way to keep your PST files maintainable and cut the clutter. It is a great way to set aside all the mail, attachments, calendar entries, and miscellaneous files that you have already addressed or are not likely to get back to anytime soon, and keep your working file lean. What is best is that if you ever have to refer to an old file, you know exactly where to find it if you follow an organized approach to your archival activities.
Check Your Add-Ins
Outlook is a fantastic piece of extensible software, meaning there is a huge library of add-ins that you can install to add functionality that you might need over and above the host of tools Outlook already provides. That said, many third-party add-ins may not be thoroughly audited for security and performance, while some may just be outdated or have some kind of issue with the latest versions of Outlook. In this case, the best thing to do is to try and restart Outlook in “safe” mode, which disables all add-ins and only retains core functionality. If things seem to be working fine, the source of your issue is very likely one of the extensions you have installed. You can then go to File > Options > Add-ins > Manage List > “COM Add-ins” and disable any third-party add-ins that you don’t need, or disable them all and selectively re-enable the ones you do need one by one. Once you are done restart Outlook.
Store Items in Your Default Store
Outlook accounts configured to shift items from your default store sometimes face PST corruption issues. It is pretty common in Outlook accounts that have been configured on POP3 than on IMAP. However, you can still shift items from your default store safely without any issues. Here are the steps to follow:
- Go to your Outlook and come to the home menu.
- Go to the File tab and click on it and then choose Info.
- Opt for Account Settings > Account Settings.
- Find the target account POP3 and then click on it.
- Find Change Folder.
- Start by clicking on Change Folder > Account Settings.
- Follow all the prompt commands.
- Choose a new folder in another separate store.
Conclusion
We have discussed in detail some of the effective ways of fixing PST issues. There are many such ways to fix your corrupt PST files. You may have to consider deleting the faulty Outlook profile. Then create a brand new profile on Outlook. You may ensure your PST file and the Outlook program have been closed properly. Do not shut down your PC while Outlook is running. You may consider deploying the inbuilt Inbox Repair Tool for fixing all issues. Moreover, you can use a highly-recommended third-party software solution to resolve all PST issues.
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Karen Anthony is a Business Tech Analyst. She loves to share her tips on business. She is passionate about trendy gadgets.
