Restore and Backup Outlook PST Files- Top 3 Ways

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  • Published on
    March 11th, 2014
  • Updated on
    September 22, 2022
  • Read Time
    5 minutes
Summary:-Backup data is the most necessary thing in today’s use of internet email clients because you can’t afford to lose a single e-mail, Calendar items, Contacts, etc. As in this blog, we are talking about the backup and restoration of PST files so, we’ll talk about the importance of PST files. The PST files store the MS Outlook data but if it gets corrupted then the user can lose their important data, and if they hadn’t taken the backup of PST files the problem is serious. Now, we will know the ways to restore and backup Outlook PST files. Follow to the end.

Process to Create Outlook PST Files Backup

Location: You can save your backed-up PST files at a safe location and it can be any of the following:

  • An external hard drive.
  • A network location or NAS.
  • A USB memory stick.
  • Another physical hard drive on another computer.
  • A Flash memory card.
  • A CD-R(W).
  • Another physical hard drive on your computer.
  • A DVD+/-R(W).
  • A backup tape.
  • An online storage location such as Dropbox or OneDrive.

Method 1: Make a Copy of a PST File

Follow the below steps to backup complete Outlook data to the PST file:

  • Close all programs related to Outlook.
  • Open Control Panel, and look for the Mail icon.
  • Now, double-click the Mail icon. Select Show Profile for which you want to perform backup and click Properties.
  • Click Data Files. Select the Data Files tab, select a data file under the Name column and click Open File Location.
  • You can copy this file to any location on the hard disk or you can transfer it to any computer or removable storage media.

Method 2: Export Outlook Data Items to PST File

You can export Outlook items by creating a PST file that is stored on your computer.

In MS Outlook 2007

  • Click on the File tab and select Import/Export.
  • Choose Export to a file; then click on Next.
  • Select Personal File Folder (.pst) and then click on Next.
  • Pick the folders you want to export.
  • Next, click on Browse to provide a file saving path for the PST file and click on OK to continue the process. And click Finish at the end.

MS Outlook 2010

  • Press the File tab and choose Options.
  • In the Outlook Options dialogue box, go to Advanced. Then, choose Export (under the Export section).
  • Select Export to a file & click on Next.
  • Choose Outlook Data Files (.pst) and then click Next.
  • Now, you can continue the process as in Outlook 2007.

In MS Outlook 2013 & 2016

If you want to create a backup for MS Outlook 2013 and 2016 mailboxes, follow the below-mentioned steps:

  • Click on the File then Open & Export and then Import/Export.
  • Choose Export to a file, and click on Next.
  • Choose Outlook Data File (.pst) and click on Next.
  • Now, pick the folders you want to backup and click on Next.
  • Provide the desired file saving path by clicking on Browse and then Finish the process.

Restore the PST Files

If you can’t restore then the backup is worthless. To restore PST files, copy the file to the location where you want to work with it like:

D:\My Documents\My Outlook\Temp

Note: If you restored the file from CD/DVD, make sure you uncheck the “Read Only” file attribute by right-clicking the file and choosing Properties.

Next, open MS Outlook and connect to the file by choosing;

File-> Open-> Outlook Data File

Check if the backup was successful and make sure that you have backed up the correct file.

In a real disaster situation, Outlook gives a notification then closes Outlook and restores the file from backup to D:\My Documents\My Outlook as described above. Then start Outlook again and, if prompted still, browse to the location of the pst-file.

When the pst-file is beyond repair, Outlook will start with the message that it can’t be opened and that you need to run the Inbox Repair Tool (scanpst.exe). If scanpst.exe can’t fix the pst-file either, rename the corrupted pst-file to .old and you would now be in the situation that the pst-file went missing.

To avoid the above critical solutions try a third-party tool to backup and restore Outlook PST files. In the next part, we will discuss a tool for backup and restoration.

An Automated Tool to Restore and Backup PST Files

Outlook PST Repair by Sysinfotools is one of the best solutions for this problem. This is a complete user-friendly solution, as it recovers maximum content from damaged or corrupt PST files. PST files are prone to get corrupted once in a while, but the good news is that in the tool, you have an authentic solution to your problems.

Let’s see some prominent features of the tool:

  • Recovers Corrupt or Inaccessible PST Files.
  • Recover Encrypted Outlook PST file.
  • Save Recovered Files in Multiple Formats.
  • Handle Header Alignment Errors.
  • Auto-Detect File Information.
  • Save & Load Recovery Snapshots.
  • Wide Support and Compatibility.

Conclusion

In this blog, we learned what is Outlook PST files and ways to restore and backup Outlook PST files. PST files are the data storage medium of the Outlook email clients and if it gets corrupted then it is an irritating loss. We have suggested how to recover and backup lost PST files, in a very organized way. Try the above solutions to get rid of your problem regarding PST files.

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