How to Recover an Overwritten PST

The Microsoft Outlook application stores archived emails in a personal folders file, also known as a PST file. PST files can become corrupted or overwritten due to an error or program malfunction, but when this happens, you can use the PST repair utility that comes with Microsoft Outlook to recover the data from the file.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• PC running Windows XP or later Microsoft Outlook 2003 or later

1. Copy the overwritten PST file that you want to recover to the desktop of your PC computer.

2. Open the Start menu and click on the "Run" button.

3. Type C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Mapl\1033\scanpst.exe and hit the "Enter" key. This will launch the PST utility program.

4. Click on the "Browse" button and navigate to the desktop of your computer. Select the PST file that you want to recover.

5. Click on the "Start" button to begin scanning the PST file for recoverable data. When prompted by the program, choose to make a backup of the scanned file.

6. Click on the "Repair" button once the scan has finished to recover the overwritten PST file. When the recovery process has finished, a backup version and a recovered version of the PST file will be placed on your desktop.