Predefined Methods to Import OST files into Outlook

With this technical guide, you’ll be able to import OST to Outlook. As we understand, an OST file is an offline storage table file used to store copies of emails from the Exchange Server. It is helpful when you are not connected to the internet because you can work in cache mode. But once you’re connected to the internet, you upload all the changes to the OST file, which then syncs with the mail server. If the OST file gets corrupted, it’s completely unreadable. If you want to be able to read it again in Outlook, you can either recreate the OST file or convert it to PST.

If you can’t open your OST file, it’s broken, but don’t worry—you can easily get your data back using some methods below. It makes it easy to import OST to Outlook for users.

Manual way:

There are different manual ways to do this for each version of Outlook.

Import OST files to Outlook 2019, 2016, and 2013:

1. Run MS Outlook (2019, 2016, and 2013). Go there to file, click on info, and click on account setting.
2. Under “Account Settings,” click “Email” and then “Microsoft Exchange.”
3. You have to choose more options.
4. Click “Advanced” in the Microsoft Exchange window.
5. Go to the file set for an offline folder.
6. Write the location of the OST file in the file wizard’s field.
7. Click OK, then click “Finish.”

Import OST to Outlook 2007 & 2010:

1. Begin Outlook, click on Tools, and choose settings.
2. In the Account Setting window, go to the Email tab and click on Microsoft Exchange.
3. Select More Settings. In the Microsoft Exchange window, click “Advanced.”
4. Proceed to offline folder settings.
5. Provide the path of the OST file.
6. Click OK, then click “Finish.”

Import an OST file into Outlook 2002, 2003, and 97:

1. Open Outlook, and then go to tools. Click on the account for email.
2. Here, tap to the -View or change an existing email account in the email segment.
3. Click on “next” and then click on the Microsoft Exchange Server.
4. Click on Change and click on the “Advance” link from “More Settings.”
5. Just move to the offline folder files setting
6. Set the path to the OST file.
7. Click “OK” and then “Finish.”

Even though the manual method will help you import OST to Outlook, it is risky because if you miss a step, it will cause a problem. There are a lot of challenges with manual methods, such as the ones below:

Challenges with manual methods:

• To do the import manually, users need to know all the steps for each version of Outlook.
• It does not let Outlook have direct access to OST.
• If a user makes an error, the whole process could fail, or data could be lost permanently.
• In this way, only a single OST file that is small in size can be imported. So importing multiple OST files into Outlook is not fine with it.

Also, converting OST files to PST format makes it easy to import them to Outlook. So, in that case, we should use a professional third-party tool that helps you get Outlook to work with your OST file.

This guide also appears to come with a specialized tool from Shoviv Software.

Shoviv Import OST to Outlook Software:

Shoviv OST to PST Converter is a very professional tool. It has an easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) for converting OST data to PST. Its smooth actions come in handy to import OST to Outlook for both big and small OST file processes. This software’s advanced algorithms let you fix wrong OST files before converting them.

With this software, you can ensure that your data is safe while converting OST files. It doesn’t change the actual structure of the data. Instead, it transforms them to fit the target format. It contains many advanced and user-friendly features and options.

Some of this tool’s best features are:

• This program works well with all editions of Outlook and Windows operating systems.
• It delivers instant recovery of corrupt or inaccessible OST files so that they can be healthy for the target format.
• It shows a preview of items added from an OST file, so you can check the data before importing them.
• An option called “split” lets you split the resultant PST files into several smaller PST files by size.
• The Incremental Export/Backup option makes importing new or revised data easy without duplication. It also helps get the process resumed after interruptions.

Wrapping up: 

The above technical guide simplified that it’s not a good idea to import OST files into Outlook 2019 manually. Most users do better with Shoviv software’s very specialized approach stated above. Before buying it, you can try its demo version and make sure it meets your needs.