All Outlook data is backed up in the form of a PST file on your system. This file is important for the normal functioning of Outlook. If the file is misplaced or corrupted, you may encounter error messages and Outlook functioning will be hampered. One such common error message is ‘Outlook PST cannot be found’. This article describes troubleshooting methods to resolve the issue.
- Locate the PST file manually
If Outlook throws an error ‘PST cannot be found’, it may be because the location of the PST file is misplaced. You can locate the file manually and try to restart Outlook.
- In Outlook, go to File tab and click on Account Settings > Account Settings
- Click on Data file tab.
- Select the default PST file and click Open File Location
In the popup window, verify if the PST file is present. If not, you can look for it in the Search name using the name of the file. If you find the PST file in other locations, re-add it in the Account settings window by following the steps below.
How to point Outlook to a new data file?
- Go to File tab and click on Info tab
- Click on Account Settings > Account Settings
- In Data Files tab, click Add
- Under Save As type, select Outlook data file (.pst)
- Find the new location of your PST file and select the file
- Then click Set as Default
- Compact your PST file
You may receive error messages if the PST file is oversized. You can compact it and check if it resolves the issue.
If you delete items from a PST file, the file is automatically compacted in the background. Alternatively, you can also compact the file manually by following the steps below.
- Delete any items that you do not want and empty the Deleted Items folder
- Click File > Account Settings > Account Settings
- Go to Data Files tab, click on the .pst file you wish to compact and then click Settings
- Click Advanced tab > Outlook data file settings
- In the Outlook data file settings dialog, click Compact Now and then click Ok
- Run Scanpst.exe
You may receive errors due to corruption in PST files. Corruption can happen due to Outlook closing improperly, system crash or other reasons. A built-in tool called Scanpst.exe is available to repair minor corruptions in your PST file.
The location of Scanpst.exe is different for each version of Outlook. Alternatively, you can also find it in the Search bar by typing Scanpst.exe.
Once you have found Scanpst.exe, launch the tool and click on browse to locate your corrupt PST file. Then click on Start to repair your file.
The tool can take a long time and may require you to run it multiple times before the error can be fixed. These methods also involve risk of losing valuable data. Hence, it is best to use professional tools designed specifically for this purpose. Refer Scanpst not responding during repair if the tool does not respond.
Remo Repair Outlook (PST)
Remo Repair Outlook (PST) is a great tool to repair PST files and recover all attributes. It can fix all kinds of corruption issues and oversized PST files. It can also work with password protected and compressed PST files.
It uses a read-only mechanism and extracts contents of your file. Then it fixes issues and creates a healthy file. The procedure to repair a file using Remo Repair is a simple 3 step process.
How to repair PST files?
- From the main screen, select corrupt PST file. If you do not know the location, allow the tool to find it for you automatically.
- Then select from the 2 scanning options – Normal or Smart scan and select a destination folder to save the repaired file
- Click on Repair to begin the repair process
Once the repair is complete, you can Preview the file and check the destination folder