I cannot access Outlook because I am being asked for the password for a pst file.

Question

I cannot access Outlook because I am being asked for the password for a pst file.

22940184 20

I cannot access Outlook because I am being asked for the password for a pst file. I don't recall setting a password and I cannot get past this box. If I cancel it I get another box saying Outlook cannot start, folders cannot be opened and server is not available. I'm using Office 13

Accepted answer

1 additional answer

Your answer

Answer 1

Faery Fu-MSFT 19,701

Hi @22940184 ，

According to my research, the reason for this problem may be that Outlook is pointing to the wrong pst file or the data file is corrupted.

Going into the control panel and editing the Outlook mail settings in the background, setting the original PST file as the default should solve the problem. To access these settings, go to Control Panel > Mail, select Data File and change the settings to point Outlook to the correct PST file.
You can run the Inbox Repair Tool (scanpst.exe) to scan your Outlook data files and repair errors.Outlook 2016 and Outlook 2013: Repair Outlook Data Files (.pst and .ost)

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Faery Fu-MSFT 19,701 Reputation points

2023-07-04T08:46:58.9+00:00

Hi @22940184 ，

Is there any update on this thread? If the issue has been resolved, please mark the helpful replies as answers, this will make answer searching in the forum easier and be beneficial to other community members as well. Thanks for your understanding.
22940184 20 Reputation points

2023-07-04T09:09:00.6266667+00:00

Sorry I thought I'd responded. I ran the repair tool which said it fixed errors but problem still there. I don't know how to 'point Outlook to the correct PST file' and I don't know how to recognize the correct PST file
Faery Fu-MSFT 19,701 Reputation points

2023-07-06T08:38:38.8633333+00:00

Hi @22940184 ，

The default locations of pst file are:
C:\Users\%username%\Documents\Outlook Files\

Go to Control Panel > Mail, select Data File tab, check if your pst file is saved in the correct path.
22940184 20 Reputation points

2023-07-07T10:51:29.63+00:00

Thank you for your help. It's resolved. The location and path were correct for the pst file. I checked them after I did the repair so not sure if they were moved or corrected in that process. The request for a password for the pst file still came up. I used the email login password which was accepted and Outlook is now working and not asking again for a password for that file.
Faery Fu-MSFT 19,701 Reputation points

2023-07-10T09:02:47.9633333+00:00

Hi @22940184 ，

Glad to hear your issue has been resolved!

If you think my reply is helpful to you, please remember to mark it as an answer. Warm thanks.

Answer 2

22940184 20

Problem solved. Thank you Faery Fu- MSFT

Faery Fu-MSFT 19,701 Reputation points

2023-07-13T01:29:01.07+00:00

Hi @22940184 ，

Thanks for your reply, please consider accepting the answer to help increase visibility of this question for other members of the Microsoft Q&A community. Thank you for helping to improve Microsoft Q&A!

Share via

I cannot access Outlook because I am being asked for the password for a pst file.

1 additional answer

Your answer