How to Restore Outlook PST Files – Explore Full Guide

Published By Karen Chard

Approved By Rollins Duke

Published On October 10th, 2025

Reading Time 5 Min Read

Numerous Outlook users across the internet face difficulty with issues such as corruption, accidental deletion, and data loss of their PST files. Whether you are required to recover data from PST or restore Outlook backup PST file or safely perform email and PST files recovery, this comprehensive blog wraps all facets of how to recover PST file in Outlook effectively.

Microsoft Outlook utilizes a PST file with the agenda to store all users’ mailbox data, including information like contacts, tasks, emails, calendars, attachments, and so on. However, when a PST file gets severely damaged, oversized, or corrupted, users lose access to important data and emails.

If you are looking for a way to learn how to restore Outlook PST file, then you are not alone. Plenty of users tend to face the same issue due to sudden crashes, updates, freezing when sending emails, and irregular backups. This blog consists of elaborated steps for Outlook PST file recovery. We will also discuss how automated and manual methods differ from each other, and which one to choose to permanently erase the issue.

Here are some of the genuine queries that showcase the need for this guide to restore Outlook PST file:

Query 1:

query 1

This problem shows how system upgrades or version updates can cause Outlook data to become inaccessible for users, leaving them to recover or open their crucial data.

Query 2:

query-2
In this query, the user has consulted for one of the common issues that users generally face, which is managing gigantic mailboxes. Large or oversized PST files tend to push the repair limits of Microsoft, which further causes Outlook to hang or crash with broken or unreadable data files.

Common Reasons Behind the Corruption of PST Files

Sudden Outlook freezing or system shutdown tends to jeopardize user’s PST files
Oversized files tend to create a lack of stability, which further results in errors and complications in how to restore the Outlook PST file.
Unknown attacks like viruses and malware on PST files ask for an expert’s recommended PST email recovery.
Another reason PST files are getting harmed is due to interruptions caused by network fluctuation that demands heavy email and PST file recovery.
Deletion of sensitive and confidential PST files requires an urgent solution for how to restore deleted PST files in Outlook.
Due to software and system glitches, Outlook often triggers several errors such as error codes, filling the software storage with spam, or corrupting files, contraining users to figure out an automated method to recover the PST file in Outlook.

Recover Data from PST Files Traditionally

Method 1: Inbox Repair Tool ScanPST.exe

First, copy this path: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\SCANPST.EXE
Then, select the shortcut Windows + R
Paste the copied path in the appeared interface
Next, tap on “OK” and “Browse”
Right-click on “Start” and wait for process completion
Finally, hit “Repair” and the process is done

Method 2: PST Email Recovery from Outlook Backup

Open Outlook on your interface
Go to “File” > “Open & Export” > “Import/Export”
Choose the option of “Import from another program or file > Outlook data file”
Search for the backup files and choose “Import Option”
Finally, click on “Finish,” and your files are successfully restored

Professional Tool for Email and PST File Recovery

While manual techniques can prove effective, they tend to fall short when it comes to handling dire corruption, oversized PST files, or deleted data that cannot be restored. This is where a professional tool like RecoveryTools PST Repair Tool steps in as an indispensable utility for severe email and PST file recovery.

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Constructed to tackle all kinds of PST file damage, from insignificant glitches and spams to make sure maximum PST email recovery. Additionally, the modern tool easily recover data from PST files that have been trashed permanently from Outlook that which is impossible to retrieve through the manual method. Hence, the tool becomes the key to “how to restore deleted PST files in Outlook”

Easy Steps of the Automated Software

Open the software on your system
Select “File” or “Folders”
Then, choose the essential PST files to repair
Select “PST” as the saving option
Also, choose a “Destination Path” with “File Name”
Finally, click on “Repair”

Explore the Difference Between Manual and Professional Techniques

Aspects	Manual Techniques	Automated Technique
Difficulty	Requires technical knowledge for many methods	Intuitive and user-friendly with guided instructions
Corruption	Suitable for minor deletions and corruption of files	Deals with all types of corruption effectively
Size Limit	Faces difficulty with oversized PST files	Consists of no size limitation
Deletion of Items	Recovers PST files from the Recycle bin	Easily recovers permanently deleted files
Data Integrity	Doesn’t ensure preservation of the original structure of the PST files	Maintains original data properties and structure
Time-Taken	Time-consuming in both single and multiple attempts	Offers a fast scan and recovery procedure
Skills	Needs technical knowledge	Required basic computer skills
Backup Dependency	Rely on existing and healthy backups	Not dependent on a backup and can create new PSTs

Read More: Outlook PST Was Not Cleanly Closed

To conclude

Repairing PST files is indeed crucial to intercept any sort of data loss in Outlook. While taking assistance from traditional methods, such as ScanPST.exe and backup, can aid in minor situations, they are limited in terms of efficiency and scope. However, the automated software utility offers and provides a modern, quick, and secure way to recover data from PST files, and guarantees a complete Outlook PST file recovery.

With the help of this comprehensive and instructive guide, users can easily deal with how to restore PST file in Outlook, and how to restore an Outlook backup PST file without risking data information.