Outlook, an email client by Microsoft, is one of the most popular email client applications utilized by millions of users all around the world. If you think Outlook is just an email client, then you’re absolutely wrong. In this post, we will be discussing the outlook PST files and its inbuilt tools and also how to use scanpst to repair outlook inbox PST files and also how to locate scanpst.exe in Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2007, 2003, 2002, 2000, 98, 97.

Other than an email client application, it works as a personal information manager. You can not only use the emailing service of the client but also manage your contacts, calendar entries, and other information, such as tasks, notes, journals, etc. In addition, the Outlook client also provides a web browser. If you use Outlook client on a Windows system, you must have heard about PST aka personal storage table file. It’s an Outlook data file used to store all the mailbox content including the email messages.

Do you know the fact that Outlook data files are prone to corruption? Yes, you’ve heard me right here. PST files which store your invaluable mailbox content are not immune to corruption just like any other computer file. Have you ever faced corruption in your PST files? Do you know how to use scanpst to repair Outlook Inbox manually? Do you the reason behind corruption? If not, I’ll help you here.

Reasons for PST Corruption

The main reason behind PST corruption is the size limitation of PST file. If you’re using an older version of Outlook, i.e. 2002 and earlier, the PST file is saved in ANSI format. ANSI PST file has a size limitation of 2 GB, which means it can’t store more than 2 GB of mailbox data. If we talk about the newer version of Outlook, i.e. 2003 and later, the Unicode format is used to save the PST file. Unicode PST file has a size limitation of 20 GB to 50 GB, which means you can store as much data as you want because 50 GB size is more than enough.

Now let’s find out how corruption takes place in the PST file due to the size limitation issue. Think you’re using an old Outlook version, i.e. 2002. Your Outlook data file is in ANSI format. If the mailbox size reaches 2 GB, it will start causing serious problems and issues. Your Outlook client will start hanging, crashing frequently, and you will also notice poor Outlook performance. This is not done yet! You can face more severe issues like PST corruption if the PST file size exceeds its maximum limit of 2 GB. So, it’s your responsibility to keep an eye on your PST file size. Keep the files handy and compact to prevent corruption and other issues.

Note: Having a large number of duplicate items in the Outlook PST file can also cause a size increment. You must remove the duplicate items from your PST files to make them handy and compact in size. You might be interested in How to Remove Outlook Duplicates from PST?

Some other reasons for Corrupt PST file

Other reasons for PST corruption are virus attacks on incoming or outgoing email messages, sudden system shut down when Outlook is running on the system, abruptly cancellation of Outlook client, software malfunction, or collision with other installed applications, and many more. File corruption is always inevitable, it can happen at any time without any prior notice or warning. Due to file corruption, Outlook users face inaccessibility of their mailbox data. Once a PST file gets corrupted, you can’t access it anyhow. Also, you may lose all your crucial emails and other mailbox content forever. Do you have any fix for the corrupt PST file? Luckily, Microsoft provides the Inbox repair tool, aka scanpst.exe, to repair the PST file. It’s a built-in utility that comes with an Outlook email client. To run scanpst.exe on your system, first, you need to locate the file.

How to locate scanpst.exe in Windows 10,8,7, Vista, XP, etc.

One can locate or find the Inbox Repair tool aka scanpst.exe in different locations as per the Outlook version. Check below:

Office 365 or Outlook 2019: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\office16\.

MS Outlook 2016: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16.

For MS Outlook 2013: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15.

MS Outlook 2010: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14.

For MS Outlook 2007: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12.

MS Outlook 2003: C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI<locale ID>.

For MS Outlook 2002/XP: C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MAPI<locale ID>scanpst.exe.

Outlook 2000 : C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MAPI\<locale ID>\NT\scanpst.exe.

For MS Outlook 97/98: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Windows Messaging\scanpst.exe.

Go to the location as per your Outlook version, and double click the Scanpst.exe file.

Once you launch Microsoft Inbox Repair Tool, follow the steps given below:

How to Use Scanpst.exe to Repair Outlook Inbox PST Files?

Step 1: Click Browse to select the corrupt PST file from your system. The selected PST file will be shown in the edit box. Before you can start the scanning process, make sure you’ve selected the right PST file.

Step 2: Now click Start to start the scanning process for the selected PST file.

Step 3: Please wait until the scanning process gets completed. It may take several minutes to a few hours. Don’t cancel the process.

Step 4: Once the scanning process is successfully completed, you can check the report. Now, you can repair the PST file by clicking Repair. Before that, you can also take the backup of your PST file. Just check to Make a backup of a scanned file before scanning the box.

Step 5: The repairing process may also take enough time. Please wait until the repairing process gets completed. Make sure no interference or interruption occurs in the meanwhile. Once the repairing process is done, click OK.

So by now, you must have learned how to use scanpst to repair outlook inbox.

Professional Solution – PST Repair Software by SysInfo

Though scanpst.exe is effective and many professionals and experts highly recommend to use it, but it may fail to repair the PST file if corruption is severe or scanpst.exe tool is not responding. Many times Outlook users complain that the PST file is still corrupt after using scanpst.exe. This means the corruption is severe and scanpst.exe can’t fix it. In such a situation, a professional recovery solution would be useful. Sysinfo team designs PST Repair or Recovery tools with high-end algorithms to repair the PST file and to recover mailbox data from it. Download the PST Repair tool provided by SysInfoTools Software to achieve the result by recovering your maximum possible mailbox data which include email messages, contacts, calendar entries, tasks, notes, journals, as well as attachments from corrupt PST files. No matter if you’re a novice user, the software has been intelligently designed with an interactive and self-instructive interface. It’s an easy-to-use application so that any technical or non-technical user can use this tool without requiring any prior technical expertise.