Free or Open Source Solution to Export Exchange OST to PST File

MS Exchange Server and Outlook are widely used for facilitating inter-organization email interaction in organizations across the globe. Over 80% of the companies worldwide depend on this internal emailing system to stay connected and for communicating vital messages.

The two primary types of files which are leveraged by the MS Exchange server and Outlook are OST and PST files.

Offline Storage Table

The OST (Offline Storage Table) is an offline folder created with MS Exchange and MS Outlook for holding the offline copies of all the entities which exist in the Exchange Server. In simple language, the OST files can be understood as the local copy of the Exchange mailbox. These files contain all the components and data of the Exchange Server. The OST files are created when your emails are delivered to the user’s Outlook mailbox. As OST lets you work even when you are not connected to a network or the Exchange server, and as soon as the connection is restored, the OST folder synchronizes itself with the exchange server mailbox.

Personal Storage Tables

The PST (Personal Storage Tables) are the files which are also known as personal files, and these are not created by the Exchange Server or the MS Outlook. Instead, these can manually be created by the users to store their personal emails and other data like calendars, contacts, notes, journals, etc. These can easily be stored at any location on your computer, and thus, you can always have a backup copy of your PST files on your computer. Until MS Outlook 2002, the PST folder could only hold up to 2 GB of data, but, with the new versions, this space increased and now the latest versions of Outlook can store up to 10 times of this limit.

One can easily move the PST folder from one computer to another, and at any time, if it becomes inaccessible or unstable, it can be easily repaired using “Scanpst.exe” utility or external tools designed for PST repair.

How To Migrate OST Files Into PST Files?

Before checking how OST to PST migration can be done, let’s first understand why you need to migrate the OST to PST.

  • In the event of data loss from the Exchange Server, the damage can be controlled by converting the OST files into PST files.
  • If MS Exchange Server crashes due to some reason like virus attack, software failure or power failure, the files from OST can be migrated to PST to recover the data.
  • When the Exchange server is under maintenance and you need to access the mail items, it can easily be done by converting the OST files to PST.

OST to PST Migration

There are two ways for performing the Microsoft OST to PST migration – manual migration and software supported migration.

Let’s look into each:

Manual Method:

Follow the steps below:

  1. Open MS Outlook on your computer
  2. Click “File” and then click “Import and Export” from the drop-down menu
  3. Click “Export To A File” and then click “Next”
  4. Select the type of file that you want to create. Here, as we are migrating to a PST file, select “Personal Folder File (.pst)” and then click “Next”
  5. Select the destination folder for the PST files and check the option “Allow Duplicate Items To Be Created” and then click “Finish”
  6. You would be prompted to verify your credentials, that is, username and password. Fill up the required information in the corresponding boxes and then click “OK”.

The process is complete!

Automated Export Using OST to PST Converter Software

If you don’t want to export the files manually, you can also use an open source OST to PST converter or a specially designed converter to perform the required migration. While there are many OST to PST converters available in the market, but, one of the best tools that you can use for this purpose is “OST to PST Converter“.

OST to PST converter facilitates hassle free OST to PST migration. Whether the Exchange server has gone into dismounting or non-function stage or you want to move the MS Exchange Server data, OST to PST converter works perfectly in every situation and converts all the OST files into the PST format without losing any data. It is compatible with MS Office 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. It also supports the encrypted OST file to PST conversion.

The Final Word!

Migration from OST to PST may be required in a myriad of situations and manual migration is tedious in nature. The software designed specifically to facilitate the OST to PST converter is not only easy to use, but also provides an array of capabilities like encrypted conversion, multiple saving options, well-organized email messages, various customizable user-friendly options and wide compatibility. Given that, OST to PST converter is the best bet!