You are here because you have a file that has a file extension ending in .pst. Files with the .pst extension can only be launched by certain programs. It is possible that .pst are data files and not documents or media, which means they are not intended to be viewed at all.

what is a .pst file?

Files in PST format are data files created using Microsoft Outlook, a personal information manager and part of the Microsoft Office Suite. Forecast is most commonly used as an email application; it also has other elements such as contact manager, task manager, notes manager, journal and calendar. The program can also work with Microsoft Exchange Server, where multiple users can share mailboxes and calendars, exchange files and schedules. PRF user profile files are files that contain information about the user, such as signatures and links to mail folders and other user preferences, like email account settings. Using the Microsoft Office Resource Kit, PRF files can be created and presented on multiple systems. PST files are used to store personal information used by Microsoft Outlook and stock exchanges. This information may include contacts, addresses, mail folders and other data. Such files have a 2GB limit and will slow down the program if the files are close to the limit.

how to open a .pst file?

Launch the .pst file or any other file on your computer by double-clicking it. If your file associations are configured correctly, the application that is intended to open your .pst file will open it. You may need to download or purchase the correct application. It is also possible that you have the correct application on your computer, but the .pst files are not yet associated with it. In this case, when you try to open a .pst file, you can tell Windows which application is the correct one for this file. From then on, opening the .pst file will open the correct application.

applications that open .pst file

Microsoft Outlook Express

Outlook Express is an email and news client that is integrated with Internet Explorer versions 4.0 through 6.0. It is also bundled with a number of versions of Microsoft Windows, from Windows 98 to Windows Server 2003, and is available for Windows 3.x, Windows NT 3.51, Windows 95 and Mac OS 9. In Windows Vista, Outlook Express was outdated by Windows Mail, then again by Windows Live Mail as separate software in Windows 7. Microsoft Entourage, sold as part of Microsoft Office for Macintosh, has changed the Macintosh version. Outlook Express is a diverse application from Microsoft Office Outlook. The two programs do not share a common codebase, but do share a common architectural philosophy. The similar names lead many people to incorrectly conclude that Outlook Express is a stripped-down version of Microsoft Office Outlook. Outlook Express utilizes the Windows Address Book to store contact information and incorporates tightly with it. On Windows XP, it also joins together with Windows Messenger.

Microsoft Office Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is available as a part of the Microsoft Office suite, and a personal information manager from Microsoft. The present version is Microsoft Office Outlook 2010 for Windows and Microsoft Office Outlook 2011 for Mac. Although frequently used primarily as an email application, it also includes a calendar, task manager, contact manager, note taking, a journal and Web browsing. It can be utilized as a stand-alone application, or can work with Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft SharePoint Server for many users in an organization, such as shared mailboxes and calendars, exchange public folders, SharePoint lists and meeting schedules. There are third-party add-on applications that integrate Outlook with electronic devices such as BlackBerry mobile phones and with other software like Office & Skype Internet communication. Developers can also make their own conventional software that works with Outlook and Office components using Microsoft Visual Studio. Moreover, Windows Mobile devices can synchronize almost all Outlook data to Outlook Mobile.

a word of warning

Be careful not to rename the extension on .pst files or any other files. This will not change the file type. Only a special conversion program can change a file from one file type to another.

what is the file extension?

A file extension is the set of three or four characters at the end of a file name, in this case, .pst. File extensions tell you what type of file it is, and tell Windows what programs it can open. Windows often associates a default program for each file extension, so that when you double-click a file, the program launches automatically. Even though a program is no longer on your computer, you may sometimes receive an error message when you try to open the file in question.

To correct errors.pst FILE ASSOCIATION ERRORS

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Microsoft Outlook, which is the undisputed leader in the segment of corporate email clients on desktop PCs, stores user data in OST and PST files. OST– the file is a cached copy of the user’s mailbox stored on the MS Exchange server. PST is a personal folders file containing the user’s emails and stored locally on the computer. Quite a large number of Outlook users have, to one degree or another, encountered problems opening pst files due to their corruption. The inability of a user to open an archive of letters results in a headache for administrators and technical services. support.

In this article, we will talk about the main causes of damage to personal pst folder files and a simple method for restoring them.

Causes of damage to archive files of personal folders Outlook can be different: these can be either errors on the file system (in this case it’s worth starting with), or damage to the structure of pst files caused by emergency closing of the Outlook client (the most common), power failure, viruses, due to storage pst files in a shared network folder (this configuration is not supported by Microsoft), etc.

Also, do not forget about the restrictions on the maximum size of a pst file in different versions of Outlook. If you exceed the maximum file size or open a large file in an older version of your email client, Outlook may not work correctly. Limits on the size of pst files the following:

Outlook 2002 and earlier - pst files are in ANSI format and are limited to 2 GB in size
Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007 – 20 GB limit
Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2013 - pst/ost files are in Unicode format and are limited to a maximum size of 50 GB

In addition, do not forget that the larger the file, the greater the likelihood of errors appearing in it, so it is recommended to work with pst files of 2-8 GB in size

If a pst file is damaged, the Outlook client completely or partially loses the ability to open it, producing, for example, the following error:

Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook windows. The set of folders cannot be opened. Errors have been detected in the file ….outlook.pst

The file …outlook.pst is not an Outlook data file (.pst)

The presence of such errors indicates that the pst data file is damaged and requires restoration of its logical structure.

First of all, let's figure out where Outlook actually stores pst files. By default, *.pst (personal folders) and *.ost (local cached copy of Exchange server folders) files are stored in the following directories depending on the OS version:

Windows 2000, 2003, XP: C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8: C:\users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

But the user, if necessary, can create/move a personal folder file to an arbitrary location.

Important! Before you begin restoring a pst file, create a backup copy of it, thereby protecting yourself from possible further damage to the file by the recovery utility or Outlook itself.

To restore damage in archived Outlook folders, Microsoft includes a special utility in the Office package (in my opinion, starting from the 2000 version of MS Office) Microsoft Outlook Inbox Repair Tool (scanpst.exe ). This small utility is not a universal panacea that allows you to recover a pst file after any damage, but it allows you to solve most common problems with personal folder files.

You can find the utility in the directory:

c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE[Office version number, – 11,12,13,14)

So, for example, for Office 2010 the path to the directory with the scanpst.exe utility will be like this:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE14

For Outlook 2013 this rule does not work, look for the utility in the c:\Program directory Files\Microsoft Office 15\root\office15

Note. On a 64-bit system, if 64-bit is used, the path to looks like this C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14

Let's try to repair damage in the pst file automatically. To do this, run the scanpst.exe utility and specify the path to the pst file.

Important! Before running the utility, be sure to close Outlook and other processes that use the restored pst file.

To start the process of scanning the file for errors, click the button Start.

The process of checking and analyzing the file structure consists of 8 stages. The verification time depends on the size of the pst file and the number of errors in it.

In our case, the utility reported that the personal folders file contains errors and offers to start the recovery procedure (button Repair). If you have not yet created a backup copy of the pst file, you can do so now by checking the checkbox and specifying the file name.

After pressing the button Repair The pst file recovery process starts, which also consists of 8 stages. In our example, for a 1 GB archive, the recovery process took about 15 minutes.

If everything goes smoothly, a message will appear after the utility has finished running Repair complete and you can try to open the pst file in Outlook.

So, as we have already said, the scanpst.exe utility should help in most cases (about 90%) when errors occur or pst files in personal folders are damaged. The scanpst utility will not be able to help if:

there are corruptions in the headers of the pst file
personal folders file is password protected
need to recover accidentally deleted emails or folders
when the maximum pst file size is exceeded
in case of complex damage to the logical and physical structure of the pst file

In today's era, it is not necessary for MS Outlook environment to be present on all machines. Now consider the following general scenario:

Imagine being a computer user who does not have MS Outlook application on his machine. On the other hand, he wants to view and access the PST file that is provided to him by a second person. Now the question arises - how will he view this Outlook PST file without Outlook environment? "

To resolve this issue when viewing a PST file for storing Outlook data without its application environment, follow these steps, which give you guidance on how to view PST file without Outlook:

Measure 1: Convert Outlook PST email to TXT file

In this approach, follow the procedure below:

Choose an e-mail
Click on fillet tab to display your menu
Choose Save as option and from Save as type field, select TXT Finally, click Save to save the file in TXT format

You can now open and view PST file emails. The main disadvantage of this approach is that it will do its conversion one by one, cannot get attachments embedded in emails, and is not relevant for large numbers of emails.

Dimension 2: Convert Outlook PST File to MSG File

Another approach is to convert the Outlook store file to a very common file format, i.e. MSG file. To do this, you just need to drag the mail to your desktop or any other path. Now you just need the Edit Plus application to open this drag and drop file and hence you will be able to view the MSG file.

The limitation of this measure is that with this technique you will have to do the conversion one by one and also it does not matter when a large number of emails have to be viewed from the PST file.

Dimension 3: Using HTML File Format to View PST Emails

To view PST file email, the next approach is to save the mail in HTML file format. To do this, follow this procedure:

Choose an e-mail(one by one) which you want to view
Click on fillet tabs to display its option
Choose Save as option and from Save as type field, select HTML (*.htm, *.html) Finally, click Save to save the file as an HTML file

In the absence of Outlook, you will now be able to see PST file emails. However, this approach also has the same disadvantages/limitations discussed in the above measures.

Dimension 4: Import PST file into G-mail for viewing

This is the last manual approach to view your Outlook PST file without Outlook. This process is a bit of a technical method compared to the 3 procedures above.

NOTE: All the above approaches have some limitations with them and users may encounter one or the other interruption while working with these approaches.

Measure 5: Third party utility without any limitation

The best way to view and analyze Outlook data without any hassle is to use a third-party utility that is easily available in the web market. One such is Outlook PST Viewer, which allows clients to open and read PST files without Outlook as a supporting application. Apart from emails, it allows you to view other Outlook data items such as contacts, calendar, journals, etc. So, a complete personal storage file can be viewed by this product.

In conclusion

This was our article 5 Best Tips to View Outlook PST File Manually Without Outlook, How did you like our article, you should write your opinion and suggestion in the comment box. Also write If you have any questions, I will try to get back to the request as soon as possible.

In the Outlook application itself, you can recover damaged files, and this topic has already been discussed several times on the forum:

Use Outlook Inbox Recovery Tool to Recover Email Messages

You can use the Inbox Repair Tool (Scanpst.exe) to recover folders and items from a damaged Personal Folders .pst file (or Offline Folders .ost file) in Microsoft Outlook 2010, Outlook 2007, Outlook 2003, and Outlook 2002. Scanpst tool. exe is automatically installed with Microsoft Office or Microsoft Outlook applications. It is not available as a separate download.

This article describes what the Inbox Repair tool does and how it can check and fix errors in a PST or OST file.

Same thing in Office support:

Recover Outlook data files (PST and OST)

If you have problems with Outlook, then you can take help from this article if you are an advanced user:

Outlook crashes due to corrupted Outlook data file (.pst or .ost)

Outlook quits unexpectedly and the error signature information after the crash is similar to the following information:

AppName: Outlook.exe
Application version: 14.0.4760.1000
Module name: Kernelbase.dll
Module version: 6.1.7600.16385
Offset: 0003194b

This problem is caused by corruption of the Outlook data file (.pst or .ost).

To resolve this issue, use Microsoft's Outlook Inbox Recovery Tools to repair your Outlook data file.

Quit Outlook.
Go to the following folder:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14
Double-click the icon Scanpst.exe file.
In the dialog box, click Review.
Browse to and select the Outlook data file (.pst or .ost), and then click Open.
On a Windows 7 or Windows Vista client, this is the default location for Outlook data files in Outlook 2010:
(.PST- file)
\My Documents\Outlook username C:\Users\ files
(.OST-file)
\AppData\Local\Microsoft\OutlookC:\Users\ username
Note: To view the OST file at the specified path, make sure the hidden files and folders are visible by following these steps:
a.On the menu Start select computer.

b.Click the button Arrange and select a team Folder and search properties.

c.On the tab View enable parameter Show hidden files, folders and drives .

d.Click the button OK.
On a Windows xp client computer, this is the default location for Outlook data files in Outlook 2010:
(.PST- file)
Files C:\Documents and Settings\\My Documents\Outlook username

(.OST-file)
\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\Documents and Settings\ username
Note : To view the OST file in the specified path, make sure the hidden files and folders are visible by following these steps:
a.On the menu Start select item My computer.

b.On the menu Service select Folder properties.

c.On the tab View enable parameter Show hidden files and folders .

d.Click the button OK.
In the dialog box Microsoft Outlook Inbox Recovery Tool in the menu Start.
After scanning the file, review the information displayed in the dialog box Microsoft Outlook Inbox Recovery Tool.
Important: Please not enabled, Microsoft's Outlook Inbox Recovery program creates a backup copy of the Outlook data file before performing the recovery operation checkbox create a backup copy of the file before reparing .
Click the button restore.
After the restore operation is completed, click the " OK».

After the restore operation completes, there are three files associated with the Outlook data file in the folder that contains the original file.

Don’t look for God, not in a stone, not in a temple - look for God inside yourself. Let the seeker find.

PST File Summary

The PST file extension has two file type(s) and is associated with five different software, but mainly with Microsoft Outlook Express, developed Microsoft Corporation. They are often presented in the format Outlook Personal Information Store File. Most often, PST files are classified as Data Files.

The PST file extension is supported by Windows, Mac and iOS. These file types can be found primarily on desktop computers and some mobile devices. The PST file extension has a popularity rating of "Low", which means that these files are generally not found in most user file stores.

For more information about PST files and associated software applications, see the information below. Additionally, the following also provides a basic troubleshooting guide that will help you solve problems encountered while opening PST files.

Popularity of file types

File Rank

Activity

This file type is still relevant and is actively used by developers and application software. Although the original software of this file type may be overshadowed by a newer version (eg Excel 97 vs Office 365), this file type is still actively supported by the current version of the software. This process of interacting with an old operating system or outdated version of software is also known as " backward compatibility».

File status

Page Last updated

PST File Types

PST Master File Association

A PST file is a data storage file used by Microsoft Outlook, an email client and personal information manager. It contains email, folders, address, contacts and other data.

Software that opens Outlook Personal Information Store File:

Compatible with:

Windows

Mac

Compatible with:

Windows

Compatible with:

	Windows
	Windows Phone

iOS

Android

Data file associated with STAR-CD, an engineering application used for in-cylinder flow and combustion analysis. The PST file contains the results data obtained by the software.

Try a universal file viewer

In addition to the products listed above, we suggest you try a universal file viewer like FileViewPro. The tool can open over 200 different file types, providing editing functionality for most of them.

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Troubleshooting problems opening PST files

Common problems opening PST files

Microsoft Outlook Express is not installed

By double clicking on the PST file you can see a system dialog box telling you "This file type cannot be opened". In this case, it is usually due to the fact that Microsoft Outlook Express for %%os%% is not installed on your computer. Since your operating system doesn't know what to do with this file, you won't be able to open it by double-clicking on it.

Advice: If you know of another program that can open a PST file, you can try opening the file by selecting that application from the list of possible programs.

The wrong version of Microsoft Outlook Express is installed

In some cases, you may have a newer (or older) version of the Outlook Personal Information Store File. not supported by the installed version of the application. If you do not have the correct version of Microsoft Outlook Express software (or any of the other programs listed above), you may need to download a different version of the software or one of the other software applications listed above. This problem most often occurs when working in an older version of the application software With file created in a newer version, which the old version cannot recognize.

Advice: Sometimes you can get a general idea of the version of a PST file by right-clicking the file and then selecting Properties (Windows) or Get Info (Mac OSX).

Summary: In any case, most of the problems that arise while opening PST files are due to not having the correct software application installed on your computer.

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Event of the day

A popular image format, JPEG, is lossy. Every time a JPEG image file is opened and saved as a new file, information is lost due to the compression methods used for the format itself. For lossless editing, you should use TIFF, PNG, and BMP file formats.

How to fix problems opening PST files

If you have installed on your computer antivirus program Can scan all files on your computer, as well as each file individually. You can scan any file by right-clicking on the file and selecting the appropriate option to scan the file for viruses.

For example, in this figure it is highlighted file my-file.pst, then you need to right-click on this file and select the option in the file menu "scan with AVG". When you select this option, AVG Antivirus will open and scan the file for viruses.

Sometimes an error may occur as a result incorrect software installation, which may be due to a problem encountered during the installation process. This may interfere with your operating system link your PST file to the correct software application, influencing the so-called "file extension associations".

Sometimes simple reinstalling Microsoft Outlook Express can solve your problem by linking PST with Microsoft Outlook Express correctly. In other cases, problems with file associations may result from bad software programming developer and you may need to contact the developer for further assistance.

Advice: Try updating Microsoft Outlook Express to the latest version to ensure you have the latest patches and updates.

This may seem too obvious, but often The PST file itself may be causing the problem. If you received a file via an email attachment or downloaded it from a website and the download process was interrupted (such as a power outage or other reason), the file may become damaged. If possible, try getting a new copy of the PST file and try opening it again.

Carefully: A damaged file can cause collateral damage to previous or existing malware on your PC, so it is important to keep your computer running an updated antivirus at all times.

If your PST file related to the hardware on your computer to open the file you may need update device drivers associated with this equipment.

This problem usually associated with media file types, which depend on successfully opening the hardware inside the computer, e.g. sound card or video card. For example, if you are trying to open an audio file but cannot open it, you may need to update sound card drivers.

Advice: If when you try to open a PST file you receive .SYS file error message, the problem could probably be associated with corrupted or outdated device drivers that need to be updated. This process can be made easier by using driver update software such as DriverDoc.

If the steps do not solve the problem and you are still having problems opening PST files, this may be due to lack of available system resources. Some versions of PST files may require a significant amount of resources (e.g. memory/RAM, processing power) to properly open on your computer. This problem is quite common if you are using fairly old computer hardware and at the same time a much newer operating system.

This problem can occur when the computer is having trouble keeping up with a task because the operating system (and other services running in the background) may consume too many resources to open PST file. Try closing all applications on your PC before opening Outlook Personal Information Store File. By freeing up all available resources on your computer you will provide the best conditions for attempting to open your PST file.

If you completed all the steps described above and your PST file still won't open, you may need to run equipment update. In most cases, even when using older versions of hardware, the processing power can still be more than sufficient for most user applications (unless you're doing a lot of CPU-intensive work, such as 3D rendering, financial/scientific modeling, or intensive multimedia work) . Thus, it is likely that your computer does not have enough memory(commonly called "RAM" or random access memory) to perform the task of opening a file.

Try refreshing your memory to see if it helps open the PST file. Today, memory upgrades are quite affordable and very easy to install, even for the average computer user. As a bonus, you you'll probably see a nice performance boost while your computer performs other tasks.

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	Windows	(82.33%)
	Android	(11.56%)
	iOS	(3.43%)
	Macintosh	(1.71%)
	Linux	(0.60%)

How to open pst file without outlook. pst File extension

what is a .pst file?

how to open a .pst file?

applications that open .pst file

Microsoft Outlook Express

Microsoft Office Outlook

a word of warning

what is the file extension?

Measure 1: Convert Outlook PST email to TXT file

Dimension 2: Convert Outlook PST File to MSG File

Dimension 3: Using HTML File Format to View PST Emails

Dimension 4: Import PST file into G-mail for viewing

Measure 5: Third party utility without any limitation

PST File Summary

Popularity of file types

File Rank

File status

Page Last updated

PST File Types

PST Master File Association

Try a universal file viewer

Troubleshooting problems opening PST files

Common problems opening PST files

Microsoft Outlook Express is not installed

The wrong version of Microsoft Outlook Express is installed

Other causes of problems opening PST files

Quiz: What file extension is for an audio file?

Right!

Close, but not quite...

Best Operating Systems

Event of the day

How to fix problems opening PST files