RSS
Convert an Exchange Offline file (OST) to a Personal Folders file (PST)
Use one of these methods to save your messages and contacts before
removing an Exchange server account from your profile.
Recurring Meeting BugPeer-to-peer support: Slipstick Forums
Converting to or from
Outlook or Exchange:
Messages and Calendar
or
Address books
Oftentimes, Outlook users who are leaving their current employer want to take their mail, calendar, or contacts with them and do one of two things - delete the Exchange account from their profile without realizing the Contacts are stored in the Exchange account or they take the OST file with them, not realizing it can only be opened using the account that created it.
If you no longer have access to the computer that was used to create the OST or you don't have a restore point, you'll need to use a tool to recover the contents of the OST. A list of these tools is below. Note that OST2PST is free but will only work with OST files created by Outlook 2002 and older. If you aren't sure what version of Outlook you used, try it; an error means the OST is not the correct type.
If your company uses a group policy that blocks PST creation, your choices are limited to exporting calendar and contacts to CSV (or Excel, if you have Excel at home). If you don't have many calendar or contacts, you can forward them to a personal address. If using Outlook 2007, you can send your entire calendar as an iCal.
Note: Check company policies before taking home the contents of your mailbox.
If you deleted the Exchange account, you may be able to recover the account if your operating system supports system restore and you only recently deleted the account. If too much time has passed you are less likely to have a restore point available.
When Windows restarts the account will be back and you can move or export the contents of the OST to a PST. Then either delete the account or run restore again to return to the point made before the restore.
You can use Archive to move or copy many items to a PST - this method is best when you want to move almost everything in your mailbox. Note that you cannot archive Contacts. Set the AutoArchive default in Tools, Options, Other, AutoArchive and apply it to all folders. Then go to File, Archive and run it. AutoArchiving uses the last modified date so you'll need to use a low number when archiving recent items.
Although Export is not usually recommended, when converting an OST to a PST, Export is generally a quick and easy way to move all content from the OST to a PST or just calendar and contacts. If your company blocks the creation of PST files, export to CSV or Excel format.
Method 3: Move the items to a new PST
Create a new PST in your profile and drag the folders you want to take with you to the PST. This method will preserve custom views and forms published to folder.
If you don't have too many items you want to
keep, you can email them to your personal email
address. Select the
item(s), right click and choose Forward.
If you have many, you could drag them to a folder
in My Documents, then zip the folder and email
the zip file.
Outlook 2007 users can email the entire calendar as a single iCal, provided they use Outlook 2007 or another calendaring application that supports multi-event icals at home. Older versions of Outlook do not support multi-event icals.
Advanced Exchange Recovery (AEXR) is a powerful tool to repair and recover corrupted Microsoft Exchange offline storage (.ost) files. When disaster occurs on Microsoft Exchange server, such as server crashes, the Exchange offline storage files (.ost) on the client computer still contain the mail messages and all other items of your Exchange mail account. AEXR can scan the orphaned OST files and recover your mail messages and other items, including folders, posts, appointments, meeting requests, contacts, distribution lists, tasks, journals and notes. The recovered items are saved in PST format readable by Outlook, Other important features are: support to recover attachments, support to recover deleted items, support to recover oversized 2GB OST files, support to convert OST files into PST files.
Free tool to convert older *.OST files to *.PST files. Works with ANSI format only, will not work with OST created by Outlook 2003/2007.
Exchange OST to PST email conversion tool to convert OST file to PST file. Convert working or unusable OST file to into PST file. Use it to migrates all Outlook items from Exchange Offline Storage (.OST) file to Personal Storage File (.PST). Software converts and repairs the offline storage file (ost) to personal storage (pst) file so that it can be easily accessed with Outlook. Other saving options include .EML and .MSG where former is accessible with Outlook Express and latter with Outlook. If the ost file gets corrupt or damaged, OST to PST functions as ost recovery software.
Stellar Phoenix Mailbox Exchange Desktop
Stellar Phoenix Mailbox Exchange Desktop is OST File Recovery Software designed to convert the unusable Microsoft Exchange Offline Storage Files (.OST) file to a Personal Storage File (.PST) file that can be used with Microsoft Outlook. It recovers all components including emails, contacts, notes, and tasks.
Advanced Exchange Recovery