Repair Oversized Outlook PST File

Summary: Are you searching for the solution "how to repair oversized Outlook PST file?" If yes, then you can get different quick and easy solution including manual and automated from this article.

Microsoft Outlook is the widely used email application uses PST file format to store mailbox data. It includes email, contact, calendar, tasks, journal, notes in it. However, if a user is using Outlook for a long time, then the PST file has grown unnecessarily large as the time passes. But, like any other file format, PST file also has some predefined size limit. MS Outlook 2003 and below versions supports ANSI type PST file with 2 GB file size limit. And, Microsoft Outlook 2007 and above versions support UNICODE type PST file with 20 GB file size limit. Now, if PST file becomes oversized, it starts creating issues like, slow down the performance of Outlook, corruption in PST file, loss of important data etc. The main reason behind large PST file due to a large number of attachments in it. So, to avoid all such issues, a user is advised to repair oversized Outlook PST file. Thus, in this post, we have discussed all possible solutions to fix oversized PST file issues by reducing the size of an Outlook PST file.

Necessity to Repair Oversized Outlook PST File

It is always beneficial to divide large size PST file into smaller parts. Some of the major benefits are listed below:

• After repair oversized Outlook PST file, it becomes easy for the users to handle small size.pst file. Moreover, it enhances the searching process in Outlook.

• Splitting large PST file will resolve the hanging problem in Outlook and improve its performance.

• Apart from all this, it also helps users in overcoming the 2 GB PST file size limitation.

Different Manual Approaches to Repair Oversized Outlook PST File

There are various manual solutions that a user can try to divide large PST file into small parts or files and all of them are discussed below:

Approach 1: Use Move to Folder Feature

1. First of all, open Microsoft Outlook application on the system

2. After that, navigate to the File>> New>> Outlook Data File, a 'New Outlook Data File' dialog box will pop-up

3. Then, you just need to select the PST file that you want to split and click on OK button

4. Here, a 'Create Microsoft Personal Folders' dialog box will appear. You just need to enter the name of new PST file

5. After that, you can choose the folder to move to that you want to move in new PST file. You can select multiple folders also to transfer

6. Now, click on the Move to Folder option from the Edit menu

7. Then, a new dialog box Move Items will pop-up. Here, click on the New button

8. Create New Folder window will appear, give a new name to this folder

9. After that, in Select where to place the folder option, choose the newly created PST file and click on the OK

10. On Move Items dialog box, you have to choose the newly created folder in the new PST file and click on the OK button

Approach 2: Use Archive Feature to Move PST File Items to repair large Outlook PST file.

1. To start the process, open the Microsoft Outlook application

2. After that, select the PST file from which you want to move data items

3. Then, click on the File tab>> Archive option

4. Now, you need to choose the 'Archive this folder and all subfolders' option

5. Here, you can choose the folder that you want to migrate from the drop down list

6. Next, in the 'Archive items older than' option, you can enter the date and archive PST file data before that date only

7. Select the destination location of archive.pst by clicking on Browse button. Enter the new name of PST file and click on the OK button

8. A new archive.pst file is created at your desired location to fix large PST file Outlook 2007 issue.

Drawbacks of Using Manual Approaches

There are various limitations that a user might face while using manual approaches to repair oversized Outlook PST file. They are not foolproof solution to split large size data into multiple parts. Manual approaches are very time-consuming and complex to perform. A user needs to technically strong to perform migration successfully. Thus, to overcome all such limitations a user is advised to use some third-party tool.

Alternative Approach to Repair Oversized Outlook PST File

To overcome all the above limitations, a user is advised to use Split PST software. It is one of the best possible solutions to divide PST file into multiple parts. The best part of the application is that it offers four different splitting options like split by size, by folder, by date, and by year. Moreover, the tool is compatible to work with the archive PST file also. However, Microsoft Outlook installation is necessary to split large PST file. A user can download the application on any version of MS Windows OS.

Conclusion

PST file is the most crucial file for any MS Outlook. It keeps all mailbox data items in it. But when it starts growing unnecessarily large in size, it start creating issues like corruption in PST file. Thus, to avoid all such consequences, a user is advised to repair oversized Outlook PST file. To do the same, we have discussed both the manual and the professional solutions. A user can easily choose between them based on his or her choice.

I am Software Engineer by Profession and Tech Blogger by passion. I love to write about technologies and solve user query on different forums.