'Outlook PST in Use and cannot be accessed' - Solved!

Sometimes, the MS Outlook users encounter the below mentioned error messages due to crash in their Outlook application -

 “Outlook.pst is in use and cannot be accessed.”

Most of the time, quitting all the programs or restarting the system might resolve Outlook errors. But, some of the errors like the “Outlook.pst file cannot be accessed” or “object not found” or “the operation failed error cannot be fixed”. This kind of errors may even make your important emails and other Outlook attributes inaccessible.

Common reasons behind the occurence of this error message

Here are some of the reasons why such Outlook error crops up when you try to start the Outlook application.

• Improper termination of Outlook may cause Outlook.exe to run in the background as a process
• Sometimes anti-virus applications delete files without headers and as a result PST file become inaccessible
• Outlook conflicting software or faulty Add-ins
• Backup process of Outlook PST file running in the background (it might take large amount of time to complete because of large size PST file)
• Severe corruption or damage of the Outlook PST file

Solve error Outlook PST is in use and cannot be accessed through common fixes

To overcome this error, the first step is to use some kind of quick fixes. Here are some hit-and-trial things you can do at your end to resolve the Outlook errors without much effort.

1. End all running processes in background related with Outlook.

• Click Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager
• Select Process tab from the menu bar
• Find processed by name ‘Outlook’, ‘Lync’, ’communicator’, ‘UCMAPI’ and end them all
• Close Task Manager and restart Outlook

2. Enter ‘outlook.exe / safe’ command to run outlook in a safe mode. If Outlook still showing the error, then there must be some problem related with Outlook add-ins. So start disabling all add-ins one-by-one until Outlook becomes error free.

3. Make use of Outlook inbuilt Inbox repair tool scanpst.exe to fix the corruption or damage within PST file.

Sometimes, the scanpst.exe tool causes data loss problem because the application deletes the bad header files without giving any notification to the users and also it works on the original Outlook PST file. So the safe and reliable solution to fix outlook.pst in use and cannot be accessed error is by using Remo Repair PST tool.

Why Remo Repair PST software?

• Does not modify your original PST file while fixing Outlook errors; it just extracts data from the source file and creates a new healthy file by keeping your entire Outlook data intact
• Enables you to even fix OST file is in use and cannot be accessed error on all Outlook versions
• Allows you to preview the repaired Outlook file via trial version prior buying the licensed version of the software

Tutorial to fix Outlook.pst in use and cannot be accessed error with Remo Repair PST

Download and install Remo Repair PST tool to your device running Windows operating system. After installing the software, you need to run it and follow below mentioned instructions to fix Outlook errors.

Step 1: Launch Remo Repair PST and choose PST file showing error using - “Open PST File” or “Find PST File” or “Select Outlook Profile” option.

Step 2: Select the secure spot by clicking “Browse” option to save your repaired PST file and click on “Repair” button.

Step 3: After all errors are fixed in the Outlook PST file, you ca view the total count of restored Outlook items.