{"id":5913,"date":"2020-05-18T07:10:33","date_gmt":"2020-05-18T07:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kerneldatarecovery.com\/blog\/?p=5913"},"modified":"2021-04-12T12:48:00","modified_gmt":"2021-04-12T12:48:00","slug":"resolve-outlook-ost-is-not-an-outlook-data-file-error","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kerneldatarecovery.com\/blog\/resolve-outlook-ost-is-not-an-outlook-data-file-error\/","title":{"rendered":"Fix the Outlook error \u201cOST is not an Outlook Data File\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>If you are an Outlook user, it\u2019s quite certain that you have come across errors associated with either PST or OST. For instance, while working with OST, many users have reported that they lost access to their OST files. Further, while trying to access the OST they keep getting an error that says \u201c<em><strong>OST is not an Outlook Data File<\/strong><\/em>\u201d. The error typically pops up as an alert box where the information is stated in the middle like the screenshot given below:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kerneldatarecovery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/osterror1.png\" alt=\"OST is not an Outlook Data File\" class=\"wp-image-5914\" width=\"407\" height=\"198\"><\/figure>\n<p>For a novice Outlook user, an immediate solution will be deleting the existing Outlook profile and creating a new one with next time configuration with the Exchange Server as it will create a new OST as well. But, if you have experience, you should probably look for other ways to fix the issue.<\/p>\n<p>In this write-up, you will get the required information on how to deal with the \u201cOST is not an Outlook data file\u201d situation.<\/p>\n<p>There are both manual an automated way to fix this issue. The manual method, however, is lengthy, complex and doesn\u2019t guarantee a permanent solution. The automated approach involves the conversion of OST to PST to get back the access. Both the methods will be discussed later in this section. Let us first know the reasons behind getting this error. <\/p>\n<h4>Reasons behind the \u201cOST is not an Outlook Data File\u201d error<\/h4>\n<p>In simple terms, OST is a copy of your current mailbox. One of the major reasons for OST not being considered as an Outlook Data File is that it doesn\u2019t support running on other instances. OST is not portable which means you can\u2019t expect an OST generated on one system to run on another. It will lead to errors like \u201cOST is not an Outlook data file\u201d. Other reasons may include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Corrupt or damaged OST files. <\/li>\n<li>Abrupt shutdown or power failure while running Outlook in the background. <\/li>\n<li>Sync failure with the Exchange server. <\/li>\n<li>Sudden termination of Outlook. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now, we will look at the solutions to fix OST issues on your system. To proceed with the manual method, first, you need to know the exact <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kerneldatarecovery.com\/blog\/how-to-find-the-location-of-ost-file\/\">location of the OST file<\/a> on your system. <\/p>\n<h4>Manual method to fix \u201cOST is not an Outlook data file\u201d<\/h4>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Recreate the OST file<\/strong><\/li>\n<p>To locate your OST file, follow the steps manually.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 1:<\/strong> Launch Control Panel on your system. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 2:<\/strong> Click on the <strong>Mail<\/strong> option. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kerneldatarecovery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/osterror2.png\" alt=\"Launch Control Panel\" class=\"wp-image-5915\" width=\"703\" height=\"483\"><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Step 3:<\/strong> In the <strong>Mail Setup<\/strong> dialog box, click on the <strong>Show Profiles<\/strong> button. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kerneldatarecovery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/osterror3.png\" alt=\"Show Profiles\" class=\"wp-image-5916\" width=\"409\" height=\"291\"><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Step 4:<\/strong> Select the default profile (Outlook) and click on <strong>Properties<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kerneldatarecovery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/osterror4.png\" alt=\"Go for Properties\" class=\"wp-image-5917\" width=\"340\" height=\"399\"><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Step 5:<\/strong> In the Mail Setup for Outlook dialog, select <strong>Email Accounts<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kerneldatarecovery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/osterror5.png\" alt=\"Select Email Accounts\" class=\"wp-image-5918\" width=\"409\" height=\"291\"><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Step 6:<\/strong> Go to the Data Files tab and select <strong>Open File Location<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kerneldatarecovery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/osterror6.png\" alt=\"Open File Location\" class=\"wp-image-5919\" width=\"609\" height=\"509\"><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Step 7:<\/strong> It will direct you to the source directory of your OST file. Right click on the <strong>OST<\/strong> file and select <strong>Delete<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<p>Once deleted, launch Outlook to recreate the OST.<\/p>\n<p>Or<\/p>\n<ol type=\"A\"><li>Go to the <strong>Email<\/strong> tab in the Account Settings Data Files dialogue, box, select the Exchange account name, and click on the <strong>Change<\/strong> option.<\/li>\n<li>Next, <strong>unselect<\/strong> the checkbox saying, \u201c<strong>Use Cached Exchange Mode<\/strong>\u201d, then follow Settings&gt;Advanced&gt;Offline Folder File.<\/li>\n<li>Click on the <strong>Disable Offline option<\/strong> and click on <strong>Yes<\/strong> to confirm it. Then open the Offline Folder Settings and click <strong>OK<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Click <strong>Next<\/strong> and then click <strong>Yes<\/strong>. <\/li>\n<li>Now, move to the Cached Exchange Mode settings section and then select <strong>\u201cUse Cached Exchange Mode\u201d<\/strong> and click <strong>OK<\/strong>. <\/li>\n<li>Click <strong>Next<\/strong>, following by clicking <strong>Finish<\/strong> and then <strong>Close<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It would reset the configuration of the Exchange Server with the Outlook application and now the OST file can be accessed.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n<li><strong>Try a professional OST recovery tool<\/strong><\/li>\n<p>Alternatively, you can also try an automated approach to fix OST file issues. For that, you have to look for third-party software in order to repair your damaged or corrupt OST files. In this context, we have also highlighted one such third-party tool to get your OST issues fixed. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kerneldatarecovery.com\/ost-recovery.html\">OST Recovery<\/a> is designed to provide you a one-spot solution for all your data recovery needs. You can easily convert a corrupt OST file into a healthy PST file with just a few clicks. The tool supports OST mailboxes of Office 365 and web mails. Moreover, you can convert an OST in different formats like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kerneldatarecovery.com\/blog\/how-to-migrate-data-from-ost-to-mbox\/\">OST to MBOX<\/a>, PST, DBX, MSG, HTML, etc. <\/p>\n<p>By purchasing this reliable software product you will get lifetime license validity without any renewal charges. When you first launch the application, the home page layout will appear something like this on your screen. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kerneldatarecovery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/osterror7.png\" alt=\"OST recovery\" class=\"wp-image-5920\" width=\"703\" height=\"418\"><\/figure>\n<\/ol>\n<p align=\"center\"><a class=\"dl\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kerneldatarecovery.com\/dl\/dl.php?id=54\" onclick=\"dataLayer.push({'event': 'TrackEvent', 'eventCategory': 'Download', 'eventAction': 'OSTRecovery', 'eventLabel': 'BlogDLid=54'});\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1659 noshadow\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kerneldatarecovery.com\/new-images\/dl-btn-new.png\" alt=\"Download\" width=\"160\" height=\"49\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Wrapping Up<\/h4>\n<p>An Offline Outlook Data File (OST) is prone to damages and corruption. Whether you are using the latest version of Windows OS or an out-dated one, OST files can get corrupt. You can always delete an inaccessible OST via manual approach but you might lose some important data if you delete your existing OST file. The best way to deal with this kind of scenario is to take help from a reliable software product like OST Recovery. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you are an Outlook user, it\u2019s quite certain that you have come across errors associated with either PST or OST. For instance, while working with OST, many users have reported that they lost access to their OST files. Further, while trying to access the OST they keep getting an error that says \u201cOST is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":5922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":true,"_modified_date":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.10 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Fix the Outlook error \u201cOST is not an Outlook Data File\u201d<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kerneldatarecovery.com\/blog\/resolve-outlook-ost-is-not-an-outlook-data-file-error\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fix the Outlook error \u201cOST is not an Outlook Data File\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you are an Outlook user, it\u2019s quite certain that you have come across errors associated with either PST or OST. 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Further, while trying to access the OST they keep getting an error that says \u201cOST is [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kerneldatarecovery.com\/blog\/resolve-outlook-ost-is-not-an-outlook-data-file-error\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Data Recovery Blog - KDR Tools\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-18T07:10:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-04-12T12:48:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kerneldatarecovery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Fix-the-Outlook-error-OST-is-not-an-Outlook-Data-File.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"739\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Akash Tiwari\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Akash Tiwari\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fix the Outlook error \u201cOST is not an Outlook Data File\u201d","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.kerneldatarecovery.com\/blog\/resolve-outlook-ost-is-not-an-outlook-data-file-error\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fix the Outlook error \u201cOST is not an Outlook Data File\u201d","og_description":"If you are an Outlook user, it\u2019s quite certain that you have come across errors associated with either PST or OST. 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