How to Force Outlook 2013 to create PST not OST with IMAP email?

Question

How can I prevent Outlook 2013 creating an OST file and instead force it to create PST when setting up a new IMAP account?

I want a PST as it so much easier to handle/transfer/see in to at a later date.

Thanks

Answer 1

Hi @Joanna Pearse ,

Welcome to our forum!

Support for Office 2013 ended on April 11, 2023 and there will be no extension and no extended security updates. We recommend you upgrade to a newer version of Office so you can stay up to date with all the latest features, patches, and security updates.

How can I prevent Outlook 2013 creating an OST file and instead force it to create PST when setting up a new IMAP account?

As i know, in newer version of Outlook for Windows client, this is the expected behavior. For IMAP and Exhange accounts, the data file is an .ost file, and for POP accounts, the data file is a .pst file.

I want a PST as it so much easier to handle/transfer/see in to at a later date.

To convert the .ost file to .pst file, we can try the following workaround:
1.Configure your account as POP directly, the data file will be an .ost file.

2.Consdering that you want to handle the data as .pst format, it's suggested that you could try to export the data to .pst files for use.

Hope to help you!

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