Millions of users are using Microsoft Outlook as their primary emailing solution. This email client is highly known for its marvelous features. However, saving or backing up Outlook OST files is still important and beneficial for users to safeguard data loss. Today, in this article, we will learn a few simple tricks to backup OST files. So, dive into this post and learn these effective methods to archive OST files.
The OST file comes into existence when Outlook is configured with an Exchange Server or IMAP account on your local machine. But the main query is, what will happen if the OST file gets corrupted or lost? How can you access your necessary emails? To protect your data from this disaster, it is important to take a backup of the OST file. To do so, you can use a manual method or a professional OST to PST Converter.
Additionally, we will know the different reasons to take a backup of OST emails.
Scenarios or Reasons to Backup the Outlook OST File
The following scenarios state the reasons to back up an OST file data:
To restore accidentally deleted data: Users may accidentally delete data. However, with backup, they can restore the data from the OST file and avoid permanent data loss.
To migrate data from one location to another: Converting OST file data to PST file format acts as a backup and helps users to migrate the data from one location to another.
To resolve OST file corruption issue: Like other files, OST files are susceptible to corruption. Due to malware or sudden system shutdown, users may encounter OST file corruption. If you have a backup, you can restore the data and recover it.
Trusted Methods to Backup OST Files in Outlook
Read this segment and learn the different ways to take the backup of the OST file.
Manually Process
Method 1. Using Export Option
This is a common way to backup offline OST files and is used in all versions of Outlook. Here are the steps to use the export option to backup your OST file:
- Open the Outlook application on your computer.
- Move to the File menu and go with the ‘Export to a file’ option. Then, tap on the ‘Next’ button.
- Pick Export to a file – Personal File Folder (.pst) and then tap on the ‘Next’ button.
- Pick the folder you want to archive and choose the checkbox ‘Include subfolders’
- Browse the destination to save the archive file.
- Press the Finish button to complete the backup process.
Note: This method is good when a user is using Microsoft Exchange Server.
Method 2. Using the Archive Option
To create a backup of Outlook OST files, users can use the archive feature. To archive OST files (for IMAP account) or Exchange OST files (If Outlook is configured with Exchange Server), use these steps:
- Launch the Outlook application.
- Tap on the File menu and go with the Archive option.
- On the new screen, you need to pick the desired file or folder for archiving.
- Set the destination where you want to save the archive OST file.
- Press OK to commence the archiving process.
Method 3. Use New PST files
In this method, OST file items are exported. Use the listed steps to back up the Outlook OST file:
- Open the Outlook program.
- Then, generate a new PST file.
- Drag the complete mailbox that you want to export.
Demerits of Manual Techniques
- The manual methods are not safe and do not provide exact results.
- There is a high risk of losing data integrity.
- The manual solutions take time to execute.
- Not suitable for damaged or corrupted OST files.
Professionally Save OST files in a few clicks
Use Mailvita OST to PST Converter, an excellent program to backup OST files by saving them to PST file format. Through this tool, users can back up OST files in bulk without any hurdles. Having a friendly interface for this utility makes it easy to handle by beginners. It can be easily used on both Windows and Mac OS.
Furthermore, it comes with various marvelous features that allow previewing OST mailbox data before saving the backup file. Without any data loss, users can safely back up all items of OST files in a few clicks. You won’t face any data loss throughout the backup process.
Quick Steps to save Offline Outlook Files
- Install and open the suggested software on your Windows or Mac OS.
- Browse the OST file or OST folder that you want to back up.
- Find a preview of the OST file data items.
- Set the required path to save the resultant file.
- Press the ‘Generate Now’ button to start the process.
Conclusion
We understand the importance of OST files so to back up the data of OST files, we have shown different ways in this post. The best solution is to convert OST file data items to a PST file. You can check all the available ways to quickly backup OST mailbox data. Use the manual solution if you consider them fine for you. If not, use the professional tool to create a backup of OST files in a hassle-free manner.