OST files are also known as Offline Folder File. It contains all the information & data of the Exchange mailbox. It is the local copy of the mailbox data of the Exchange Server. We can access and store the information in offline mode with the help of OST file. There are several failures that results in OST file corruption, they are as follows:
1. Data storage devices.
2. Network connection failure.
3. Sudden power failure.
4. Improper maintenance of files in the OST file.
Overview to Reduce OST File Size
1. All these circumstances leads to the abruptly shut down of Microsoft Outlook when connected to Exchange server which may corrupt OST file. OST file size may increase due to frequent receiving of bulk mails in the Outlook mailbox.
2. The limitation of OST file size is 50 GB in case of UNICODE and 2 GB in ANSI format. So if standard file size exceeds to the threshold memory limit & the OST file gets oversized, then this may result as as cardinal reason for the PST file corruption.
3. It can be observed that while deleting the OST file, the volume of the file size doesn’t get reduced with respect to the size of deleted file. So if this situation occurs with Exchange server, OST Recovery is the only solution to repair those corrupt files.
Precautionary Steps
There are some precautions that needs to be taken to avoid corruptions in OST file:
1. Regular maintenance of the OST file.
2. Over sizing of the OST file should be avoided.
3. Regular back up of the OST file.
Most of the users forget to take precautions and let their OST file to exceed above the maximum capacity. There is not any automated tool provided by Microsoft that warns the users to cross the maximum capacity. But we can use the Microsoft free utility “Scanost.exe” to repair those corrupted OST.
How to reduce the file size of the OST file?
It is very important to maintain and manage the file size of the OST file for the proper functionality of the mailbox. We can reduce the file size of the OST file and increase the performance of the Microsoft Outlook.
1. Clear the archived files that are formed as a log.
2. Delete the unwanted and unnecessary emails from the folders.
3. Use Compact Now, it is a free utility provided by Microsoft to compress the OST files.
4. The file size of the OST file increases significantly while syncing the public folder favourites. It can be avoided by using cached Exchange Mode.
5. Auto Archive mailbox items to manage the mailbox.
Steps to Crop OST files Manually
Delete the unwanted files from the mailbox. It is applicable in all the versions of Microsoft Outlook.
Applicable to Microsoft Outlook 2007
1. Now go to Tools menu.
2. Click on Account Settings.
3. Select on Microsoft Exchange Server from the list and click on Change.
4. Click on More Settings.
5. Click on Offline Folder File Setting located on the Advanced tab.
6. Click on Compact Now.
For Microsoft Outlook 2003 and previous versions
1. Go to Tools menu.
2. Select the E-Mail Accounts.
3. Click on View or change the existing e-mail account.
4. Click on Next.
5. elect the Microsoft Exchange Server & then change.
6. Click on More Settings.
7. Click on Offline Folder File Setting located on the Advanced tab.
8. Click on Compact Now.
9. Click on OK when the operation is performed.
10. Click on Next and then Finish to complete the action.
For Microsoft Outlook 2010 and later versions
1. Click on File menu.
5. Select More Settings.
6. Select the Offline Folder file Settings in the Advanced tab.
7. Click on Compact Now.
Alternate Solutions to crop the OST file
1. Recreating the OST file: It can be used as an alternate options instead of compacting the OST files.
2. Sync Filters: Synchronization filters enables the selected files to store in the OST file.
3. Sync Slider: This option can be used to cache only the recent items instead of complete mailbox.
4. Disable Share Folder or mail cache.
5. Remove Public Folder favourites.
6. Remove duplication created by Gmail.
Conclusion
There are many factors affecting OST file to corrupt. Some of them includes: viruses, phishing, malware, etc. Several precautionary measures can be taken to protect the OST files from corruption. So it is not easy to manage & recover corrupted OST file. So if you want to retain all the important data without affecting and truncating any of them, then a third party software i.e OST Recovery Tool can be helpful in such situation. One of the known software review websites like One Stop Blog has also recommended OST Recovery Tool for the retrieval of lost OST Data after deletion or file Corruption. It acts as an OST crop tool and split the OST file when it is larger than it’s file size.
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