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Are you having trouble finding Outlook OST files on your Windows-based computer? If yes, you can find your solution here. This article will show you how to find Outlook OST file location in multiple ways. Let’s start reading…

MS Outlook is a personal information and email application offered by Microsoft. It comes with the Microsoft Office suite for managing email accounts. Some of the functions of Outlook are sending/receiving emails, address book management, taking notes, calendar management, etc.

Outlook supports creating a local copy of data related to a user’s email profile in data files. One of them is OST (Offline Storage Table) which works as a replica of the mailbox available on the mail server.

Some of the features of OST files are- offline access, synchronization, and security. This also works in case of connection problems between Outlook and the server.

Users can make changes to OST file in offline mode and after reestablishing the connection it will synchronize the data and changes with the mailboxes available on the mail server.

Also Read: – How to change OST file location in Outlook?

Reasons to Locate OST files: –

Knowing the storage location of OST files is beneficial for users for many reasons, such as: –

  • Backup and Recovery: – Users can be aware of the OST file’s location and include it in their backup plan. At the time of data loss or corruption, it helps in recovering important mailbox data from OST files.
  • Migration: – It is important to find OST files for mailbox data transfer when moving to a new machine. Users will need to transfer data like- emails, contacts, calendar entries and other data by shifting OST files to the new system.
  • Troubleshooting: – Finding OST files will be required in troubleshooting Outlook problems such as synchronization failures, data corruption, or performance concerns.
  • Offline Access: – Users can access their mailbox data offline by being aware of the location of OST files. Even when you don’t have a connection with the Exchange server/Mail server or internet.
  • Disk Space Management: – Administrators and users can more efficiently manage disc space by keeping an eye on the size and capacity of OST files. For doing this finding OST file’s location is necessary.

Users Query

In Outlook, my email profile and its data are what I want to access at the moment. Due to some corruption issues in Outlook, I am not able to do this. So, I decided to get a third-party tool to read my Outlook profile data. The software I’m using needs OST files containing Outlook profile data, but I don’t know its location. Please help me find its location on my computer.

Methods to Find/Locate Outlook’s Offline OST file

Try the below-given methods of finding OST files of Outlook on a Windows-based computer: –

Method 1: – Use MS Outlook to know the OST file store location

  • Open the MS Outlook application on your Windows computer.
  • Access Outlook “Account Setting” (choose the step according to your MS Outlook version).
    • Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, & 2010: –
      • Click on the “File” button from the top menu bar.
      • From the “Info” tab, hit on “Account Settings”.
      • Again choose the “Account Settings” option from the drop-down list.
    • MS Outlook 2007: –
      • Click on “Tools” from the top menu bar.
      • From the drop-down list select the “Account Settings” option.
  • Click on the “Data Files” tab in the Account Settings window.
  • Now all the data files “PST” and “OST files” generated by Outlook will be visible on this screen.
  • Select the file you want to access and press the “Open File Location…” button to locate it with Windows Explorer.

Note: – After opening the OST location in Windows Explorer, copy its path from the address bar and note it down for future use.

Method 2: – Open the OST file location directly with Outlook

If MS Outlook is in working condition, then use this method to know the data file location through MS Outlook directly.

  • Launch the MS Outlook application.
  • Right-click on the Email address/Email profile name from the left-side panel.
  • Click on the “Open File Location…” button.

This step will open the location of the data file “OST” in Windows Explorer.

Method 3: – Get the OST file location from the Control Panel

  • Press the “Windows” key on your keyboard and type Control Panel.
  • Open the “Control Panel” and select the option “Mail”/ “Mail (Microsoft Outlook)”.
  • From the opened “Mail Setup – Outlook” window, click on the “Data Files” option.
  • Next, select your required data file and click on the “Open file location…” button to open its location with Windows Explorer.

Method 4: – Locate the OST file With the Registry Editor

Users can also try the Registry Editor of Windows to find the location of OST files by applying these steps: –

  • Press the “Windows + R” key on your keyboard to open Run Dialog Box.
  • Type the command ‘regedit’ and hit on “Enter” to launch the registry editor.
  • Navigate to the path of the Outlook profile/registry key- (The path depends on your Outlook version)
    • For Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013:

      HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Profiles

      Outlook 2010:

      HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Profiles

    • Outlook 2007:

      HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\Profiles

  • Now, under Profile keys, you will see one or more keys related to the Outlook profile configured on your system.
  • Check each profile key and identify which key is associated with your email profile.
  • Search for the value name “001e660b” (for the older version search “001e6603”).
  • Double-click on this value and see the path of the OST file that is linked to your Outlook profile.

Note the path and access with Windows Explorer easily.

Method 5: – Search and Select OST files using OST Viewer software

If users are unable to locate OST files manually, then the best alternative to the above techniques for you is eSoftTools OST Viewer Software. It is a special tool that enables users to open OST files directly. Also, it can automatically search OST files from the user’s drive with easy steps.

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How to use OST Viewer Software to Locate OST files?

  • Download and launch the OST Viewer tool on your Windows machine.
  • Press the Select OST button from the menu bar.
  • Search and add the OST file into the software from the available 2 options: –
    • Single File Selection: – To add a single OST file at one time –
      • Select the Single OST File Conversion option and hit the Next button.
      • Press the “Search OST file” button from the “Browse OST file” window.
      • Click on the “Browse Location” button and select the drive or folders.
      • Press the Search button and start searching OST files.
      • Automatically the software will show you all the OST files available in your selected folder along with their location.
    • Bulk File Selection: – To add multiple OST files at one time –
      • Select the Bulk OST file conversion option and click the Next button.
      • Click the Add OST Folder button and select the folder from which you want to find OST files.
      • Load all OST files into the Browse OST file screen and see their storage location.
  • Press the Start Scanning button and view the internal data of all OST files in the preview panel of the software.
Conclusion

In this article, we have explained how to find and locate OST files location in a computer. For everyday operations or specific tasks like troubleshooting or migration, knowing where OST files are stored enables users to efficiently manage email profile data and maintain productivity within the Outlook environment.

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