Microsoft Outlook (with POP3 account) stores a copy of all the emails, contacts, calendars, attachments, and other mail items in a PST (Personal Storage File). If these files are corrupted, your Outlook application may throw different errors.
Even in some cases, the Outlook application may fail to respond or open. To repair the corrupt PST file, there is a built-in utility in Microsoft Outlook, called Inbox Repair Tool or ScanPST . In this article, we will discuss how to use Microsoft Outlook’s Inbox Repair Tool to repair PST files.
Stepwise Process to Use Microsoft Outlook Inbox Repair Tool or ScanPST
Below, we will be explaining the systematic process to use the Inbox Repair tool (ScanPST) to repair a corrupt PST file.
Step 1: Locate the ScanPST.exe on your System
First, you need to find the location of ScanPST.exe on your system. By default, it is located in the installation directory of Outlook.
However, the exact location of the Inbox Repair tool may vary depending on the version of Outlook and Windows you are using. For example, in Outlook 2016, the default location of ScanPST is: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16.
You can open your Outlook installation folder and then search for ScanPST.exe.
Step 2: Find your PST File
Before running the SCANPST, you should know the exact location of the PST file. If you want to repair the PST file associated with your Outlook account, follow the steps below to find its location:
Open Microsoft Outlook, go to File, click Account Settings , and then click Account Settings.
In a new window, click the Data Files tab. It will show a list of all the Outlook data files with their file paths. Note the path of the problematic PST file.
Step 3: Run the Inbox Repair Tool or ScanPST
To run the Microsoft Outlook Inbox Repair tool, follow these steps:
Open the folder where the SCANPST is located, right-click on it, and select Run as Administrator to launch it.
On the Microsoft Outlook Inbox Repair Tool dashboard, click Browse .
Choose the location of the corrupted PST file (you noted earlier) and click Start. The ScanPST tool will begin scanning the selected PST file.
Once the scanning of the file is completed, it will display the errors if found.
If it displays errors, select the checkbox labeled “Make a backup of the scanned file before repairing” and then click Repair .
The repair process will start. Wait for a few minutes till the “Repair Complete” message is displayed. Then, click OK.
Downsides of Microsoft Outlook Inbox Repair tool
The Inbox Repair tool rebuilds the PST file structure to repair it and resolve the errors and inconsistencies found in the PST file. It can easily resolve minor corruption issues in PST files, but it has some downsides. These are:
- The tool can sometimes stop responding and fail to complete the PST file repair process. It usually happens if the PST file is severely corrupted or damaged.
- The tool can fix only minor PST file corruption issues.
- You might have to run the tool several times to fully repair the PST file.
- It cannot repair password-protected PST files.
- It does not support recovering deleted items from a corrupt PST file.
- It may fail to repair a large-sized PST file.
What If Microsoft Outlook Inbox Repair Tool fails to Repair Corrupt PST File?
If the Inbox Repair tool (ScanPST) freezes or fails to repair the PST file due to its limitations, you can repair the PST file using an advanced PST repair tool , like Stellar Repair for Outlook. It can easily and effectively repair large-sized PST files (exceeding 50 GB), even if the file is severely corrupted.
It has an auto-split option to automatically split the large-sized PST file. The tool can recover all the mailbox items, including emails, attachments, and contacts, from the damaged PST files. It saves all the recovered mailbox items in a new healthy PST file that you can import into your existing Outlook profile.
Conclusion
You can use the Microsoft Outlook Inbox repair tool to detect and resolve corruption-related errors in the PST file. In this article, we have discussed the stepwise process to use the Microsoft Outlook Inbox repair tool to repair the PST file.
However, due to its limitation, if it fails to repair your corrupt PST file, then you can use a professional Outlook PST repair tool, such as Stellar Repair for Outlook. It can repair extremely corrupt, damaged, large (up to 50 GB or more), or password-protected PST files and save all the mailbox items in a new PST file without any data loss.
