How to use Inbox Repair tool to repair pst file in Outlook

The Inbox Repair tool (Scanpst.exe) is designed to help repair problems that are associated with personal folder (.pst) files.

The Inbox Repair tool is automatically installed with all English-language Microsoft Outlook installation options depending on your operating system. To use the Inbox Repair tool, locate the application folders by using Microsoft Windows Explorer, and then double-click the Scanpst.exe file.

Note: Unlike the Microsoft Office 97 version of the tool, Microsoft Office 2000 and newer does not place the Inbox Repair tool on a menu.

Video: How to repair your Outlook Person Folder (.pst) files

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Step 1: Find the Inbox Repair tool

To use the Inbox Repair tool, locate one of the folders by using Microsoft Windows Explorer, and then double-click the Scanpst.exe file.

The Scanpst.exe file for Outlook 2013 is located in the following folder:The Scanpst.exe file for other version of Office is located in a different folder

The Scanpst.exe file is typically located in one of the following folders: For Microsoft Windows NT and Microsoft Windows 2000:
For Microsoft Windows 95 and Microsoft Windows 98:
The Scanpst.exe file for Outlook 2007 is is typically located in the following folder:The Scanpst.exe file for Outlook 2010 is typically located in the following folder:

Step 2: Run the Inbox Repair Tool

To run the Inbox Repair Tool, follow these steps:

1. Close Microsoft Outlook.
2. Click Start, and then point to Find or to Search, depending upon your operating system.
3. In the Search for files or folders named box, type scanpst.exe
   Note If you cannot find the Scanpst.exe file in the Search box, try to locate the file manually.
4. Double click the Scanpst.exe file to open the Inbox Repair Tool.
5. Type the path and the file name of the personal folders (.pst) file or click Browse to locate the file by using the Windows file system.
6. Click Start.

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, use the steps in the following section.

Step 3: Recover items after you run the Inbox Repair tool

After you run the Inbox Repair tool, you can recover repaired items. For more information, go to the "Recover the repaired items" section. Optionally, you can try to recover additional repaired items from the backup personal folder. For more information, go to the "Recover repaired items from the backup file" section.

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. Press CTRL+6 to turn on Folder List view.
3. In your Folder List, you should see the following recovered folders:

      Recovered Personal Folders
   
         Calendar
         Contacts
         Deleted Items
         Inbox
         Journal
         Notes
         Outbox
         Sent Items
         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.
4. 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 2010 and Outlook 2013
   1. Click on the File tab on the ribbon, and then click the Info tab on the menu.
   2. Click the Account Settings button, and then click Account Settings again.
   3. Click the Data Files tab.
   4. Click Add to open the Create or Open Outlook Data File dialog box.
   5. Enter a file name for your new Outlook Data (.pst) file, and then click OK.
   6. You should have a new Outlook Data (.pst) file in your profile.
   Outlook 2007
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   1. On the File menu, click Data File Management.
   2. Click Add to open the New Outlook Data File dialog box.
   3. In the Types of storage dialog box, click to select Office Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst), and then click OK.
   4. 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.
   5. Click OK.
   6. You should have a new Personal Folders (.pst) file in your profile.
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   Outlook 2003
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   1. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Outlook Data File.
   2. Click OK to open the Create or Open Outlook Data File dialog box.
   3. Enter a file name for your new Personal Folders (.pst) file, and then click OK to open the Create Microsoft Personal Folders dialog box.
   4. Enter a file name for your new Personal Folders (.pst) file, and then click OK.
   5. You should have a new Personal Folders (.pst) file in your profile.
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   Outlook 2002
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   1. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Personal Folders File (.pst).
   2. Click Create to open the Create Microsoft Personal Folders dialog box.
   3. Enter a file name for your new Personal Folders (.pst) file, and then click OK.
   4. You should have a new Personal Folders (.pst) file in your profile.
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5. Drag the recovered items from the Lost and Found folder to your new Personal Folders (.pst) file.
6. 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.
7. 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 "Recover repaired items from the backup file."

Step 4: Recover repaired items from the backup file (Optional)

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 you think that you are still missing items after following the steps in the previous section, 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:
   1. On the File menu, click Import and Export.
      Note On Outlook 2010, click the File tab on the Ribbon, click Open, and then click Import.
   2. Click Import from another program or file, and then click Next.
   3. Click to select Personal Folder File (.pst), and then click Next.
   4. Under File to import, click Browse, and then double-click your Newname.pst file.
   5. Under Options, click Do not import duplicates, and then click Next.
   6. Under Select the folder to import from, click to select the Personal Folders (.pst) file, and then click to select Include subfolders.
   7. Click to select Import folders into the same folder in, and then select your new Personal Folders (.pst).
   8. 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.

The Inbox Repair Tool cannot repair every problem that is detected. In some cases, items may not be recovered if they were permantently deleted or corrupted beyond repair.

For more information on the Inbox Repair tool, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: