An OST file or ‘.ost’ is an offline folder file in Microsoft Outlook that contains almost every data related to e-mails, like e-mail messages, journals, notes, drafts, folders, posts, appointments, contacts, tasks, meeting requests, distribution lists, task requests, calendar (planner), attachments etc. This folder allows users to work offline. Outlook synchronizes the changes made in the OST file with the Exchange server the next time it connects. However, OST might get corrupted due to few possible reasons, resulting into inaccessibility of Outlook.
Outlook may display error message “Facing error code 003” while accessing it, which means user should immediately repair OST file.
Microsoft Outlook free utility tool called scanost.exe can be used to recover OST file by following steps:
Step 1. Search the tool by typing ‘scanost.exe’ in Windows search bar option.
Step 2. Click and Open the file then browse the OST file to be repaired.
Step 3. Select the ‘Repair Scan’ check box for automatic process of repairing the inconsistencies found in the OST file.
Step 4. Click the option named as ‘Begin Scan’ to start the scanning process. The process will take few seconds.
Step 5. Finally, start Outlook and ensure if the problem has been fixed.
However, there are many conditions when scanost.exe cannot recover OST file completely. At such point, using Kernel for OST to PST software becomes mandatory, which converts OST to PST successfully and recovers entire e-mail related data.
