How to use the Inbox Repair Tool

To recover folders and items from your corrupted .pst or .ost file, you have to do the following:

1. Run the inbox repair tool. For more information, go to "Step 1: Run the Inbox Repair Tool
to diagnose and repair errors" section.
2. Recover the repaired items. For more information, go to the "Step 2: Recover the repaired
items" section.
3. Optionally, you can try to recover additional repaired items from the backup personal
folder. For more information, go to the "Step 3: Recover repaired items from the backup
file" section.

Note The examples in the following sections show how to use the Inbox Repair Tool on a .pst file.
However, you can use the same procedures for an offline folder (.ost) file.

Step 1: Run the Inbox Repair Tool to diagnose and repair errors
To recover your data, you must first run the Inbox Repair Tool.

Note If you are using Outlook 2002 or if you are using a .pst file in Outlook 2003 that was created
in an earlier version, the Inbox Repair Tool may not work if your .pst file has approached the 2-GB
size limit. Therefore, check the file size before you continue. Depending on your Windows version,
your .pst file might be located in one of the following folders.

Windows Vista: disk drive:\users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

Windows XP and Windows 2000: disk drive:\Documents and Settings\username\Local

Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

If the file has approached the 2-GB size limit, you can use the PST/OST cropping tool to make the
file smaller. For more information about the PST/OST cropping tool, click the following article
number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
296088 Oversized PST and OST Crop tool
To run the Inbox Repair Tool, follow these steps:

1. Exit Outlook.
2. Make sure that the Show hidden files and folders option is enabled in your folder
options. The Scanpst.exe is a hidden file on your computer, and you might be unable to
locate it if this setting is not enabled. To check this setting, follow these steps:

a. a. Click Start, and then click Run.

Note If you are using Windows Vista, use the Start Search box.
b. Type Control Folders, and then click OK.

Note If you are using Windows Vista, right-click Control Folders, and then
click Run as administrator.
c. If you are using Windows Vista, double-click Folder Options.
d. Click the View tab.
e. Under Hidden files and folders, make sure the Show hidden files and
folders option is selected, and then click OK.
2. Click Start, and then click Find or Search, depending on which version of Windows that
you are running.
 3. In the search box, type Scanpst.exe. If you cannot find the Scanpst.exe file by
using Find orSearch, try to locate the file manually. Check the following locations for the
file. Where the file is located depends on which version of Windows you are using:

o disk drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE12

o disk drive:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Mapi\1033\
o disk drive:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Mapi\1033\NT
o disk drive:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033
o disk drive:\Program Files(x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12
o disk drive:\Program Files(x86)\Common Files\System\Mapi\1033\
o disk drive:\Program Files(x86)\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033
2. Double-click the Scanpst.exe file to open the program.
3. Click Browse to locate the .pst file.
o Windows 98 or Windows Me: disk drive\Windows\ Local Settings\Application
Data
o Windows NT 4.0: disk drive\WINNT\Profiles\username\Local Settings\Application
Data
o Windows XP or Windows Server 2003: disk drive:\Documents and
Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
o Windows Vista: disk disk
drive:\users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

Note If your operating system is not listed or if you cannot find the file, see the Help
provided with Outlook.

4. Click Start. The Inbox Repair Tool scans the file and reports whether it found any errors.
5. Click OK.

After you run the Inbox Repair Tool and restart Outlook, you should see a list of recovered folders in
the left navigation pane in Outlook. The next step is to move the recovered items to a new Personal
Folders (.pst) file in your profile. To do this, go to "Step 2: Recover the repaired items."

Step 2: Recover the repaired items

Now that you have run the Inbox Repair Tool, you are ready to recover the repaired items. To start,
create a new Personal Folders (.pst) file entry in your profile. Then, you can move the recovered
items to your new Personal Folders (.pst) file.

1. After you run the Inbox Repair Tool, start Outlook. If you use multiple profiles in Outlook,
make sure that you select the profile that contains the Personal Folders (.pst) file that you
tried to repair.
2. On the View or Go menu, click Folder List to turn on the Folder List view.
3. In your Folder List, you should see the following recovered folders:
4. Recovered Personal Folders
5.
6. Calendar
7. Contacts
8. Deleted Items
9. Inbox
10. Journal
11. Notes
12. Outbox
 13. Sent Items
14. Tasks

These recovered folders are usually empty because this is a rebuilt .pst file. You should also
see a folder named Lost and Found. This folder contains folders and items that the Inbox
Repair Tool recovered. Unfortunately, items that are missing from the Lost and Found folder
may be beyond repair.

15. Create a new Personal Folder (.pst) file in your profile. The steps may be different,
depending on which version of Outlook you are running.

Outlook 2002

a. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Personal Folders File (.pst).
b. Click Create to open the Create Microsoft Personal Folders dialog box.
c. Enter a file name for your new Personal Folders (.pst) file, and then click OK.
d. You should have a new Personal Folders (.pst) file in your profile.

Outlook 2003

a. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Outlook Data File.
b. Click OK to open the Create or Open Outlook Data File dialog box.
c. Enter a file name for your new Personal Folders (.pst) file, and then click OK to
open theCreate Microsoft Personal Folders dialog box.
d. Enter a file name for your new Personal Folders (.pst) file, and then click OK.
e. You should have a new Personal Folders (.pst) file in your profile.

Outlook 2007

a. On the File menu, click Data File Management.

b. Click Add to open the New Outlook Data File dialog box.
c. In the Types of storage dialog box, click to select Office Outlook Personal
Folders File (.pst), and then click OK.
d. In the Create or Open Outlook Data File dialog box, select the location and a file
name for your new Personal Folders (.pst) file, and then click OK.
e. Click OK.
f. You should have a new Personal Folders (.pst) file in your profile.
2. Drag the recovered items from the Lost and Found folder to your new Personal Folders
(.pst) file.
3. When you have finished moving all items, you can remove the Recovered Personal Folders
(.pst) file from your profile. This includes the Lost and Found folder.
4. If you are satisfied with the information that you recovered, you are finished. However, if
you want to try to recover additional information, go to "Step 3: Recover repaired items
from the backup file."

Step 3: Recover repaired items from the backup file

Note If you could not open your original Personal Folders (.pst) file before you ran Inbox Repair
Tool, the following procedures may not work. If it does not work, then unfortunately, you will be
unable to recover any additional information. If you could open the file, the following procedure may
help you recover additional items from your damaged Personal Folders (.pst) file.

When you run Inbox Repair Tool, the option to create a backup of the original Personal Folders
(.pst) file is automatically selected. This option creates a file on your hard disk that is named "File
name.bak" (without quotation marks). This file is a copy of the original File name.pst file with a
different extension. If, after Step 2, you think that you are still missing items, you can try to
recover additional information from this backup file by following these steps:

Locate the .bak file. It is located in the folder of your original Personal Folders (.pst) file.

1. Locate the .bak file. It is located in the folder of your original Personal Folders (.pst) file.
2. Make a copy of the .bak file and give the file a new name with a .pst extension. For
example, name the file "New name.pst" (without quotation marks).
3. Import the New name.pst file that you created in the previous step by using the Import and
Export Wizard in Outlook. To do this, follow these steps:

a. On the File menu, click Import and Export.

b. Click Import from another program or file, and then click Next.
c. Click to select Personal Folder File (.pst), and then click Next.
d. Under File to import, click Browse, and then double-click your Newname.pst file.
e. Under Options, click Do not import duplicates, and then click Next.
f. Under Select the folder to import from, click to select the Personal Folders
(.pst) file, and then click to select Include subfolders.
g. Click to select Import folders into the same folder in, and then select your new
Personal Folders (.pst).
h. Click Finish.

Note Remember that the backup file was the original corrupted file, and you may find that
you cannot recover anything other than what was recovered in the Lost and Found folder. If
you cannot import the Newname.pst file into Outlook, unfortunately you have lost all the
information that is not in the Lost and Found folder.