Outlook 2016 .ost and .pst data files

Question

Outlook 2016 .ost and .pst data files

Peggy F 21

I have been having troubles with my Outlook 2016. I would create a new note and as soon as I would try to save it - Outlook would shut down. If I would try to open Outlook I would receive the yellow yield sign with a red ! in the middle and be told "The file C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Outlook\email - Test.ost cannot be opened
and then Outlook closes.
After seeing I didn't have what I believed should be a .pst data file here and that might cause a problem I copied and pasted my .pst from my Documents\Outlook Files to the C:\Users\user\Documents\Outlook Files*.pst

Now it seems things work fine so my question is: Is what I've done okay? Should I remove the .pst in the Documents\Outlook Files or simply leave things as is and be happy until something else goes wrong?

thank you in advance
Peggy

Peggy F 21 Reputation points

2022-02-22T03:21:08.357+00:00

FaeryFu-MFST

I successfully created a new profile as per your suggestion. I did notice that in the Mailbox Settings my mailbox has used 201MB of 148 GB storage. How would you recommend "freeing-up" space? I have made sure the deleted, junk and archive folders are empty. In the Mailbox Setting Tools there is a section called Clean-up Old Items in which you have options on Archiving. Where does the Archived information go? Can it every be retrieved if need be?

Another thing; is it true that Inbox messages older than 5 years are automatically removed or automatically archived?

Thank you again In Advance
Peggy

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Peggy F 21 Reputation points

2022-02-22T03:21:08.357+00:00

FaeryFu-MFST

I successfully created a new profile as per your suggestion. I did notice that in the Mailbox Settings my mailbox has used 201MB of 148 GB storage. How would you recommend "freeing-up" space? I have made sure the deleted, junk and archive folders are empty. In the Mailbox Setting Tools there is a section called Clean-up Old Items in which you have options on Archiving. Where does the Archived information go? Can it every be retrieved if need be?

Another thing; is it true that Inbox messages older than 5 years are automatically removed or automatically archived?

Thank you again In Advance
Peggy

Answer 1

Hi @Peggy F ,
Welcome to our forum!

The file C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Outlook\email - Test.ost cannot be opened

In order to verify, what type of account are you using? Is it an Exchange/IMAP account?

What detailed version of Outlook are you using(File > Office Account > About Outlook)? Check the version and upgrade it to the latest.

Now it seems things work fine so my question is: Is what I've done okay?

Based on my search, .pst file is stored in C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\Outlook Files

According to my tests, these two are the same path, and I can't be sure because your copying the data file to the default path fixes your pst file.

This issue may also occur due to a corrupt Outlook profile, given this case, it recommended you delete your existing profile and create a new profile via Control pane > Mail > Show profiles > Add then re-add your account and see if the issue continues.

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Outlook 2016 .ost and .pst data files

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