Backup OST File to Save Crucial Outlook Emails From Being Lost

Business emails are so crucial that you cannot afford to lose even a single email. In this blog, we will discuss how to backup OST files to save your crucial mailbox from being lost. I will share various methods here that will help you to backup offline OST and explain which method would be best for you.

Note: Try Aryson OST to PST Converter because backing up OST File would not be possible through manual tricks. This efficient tool backup OST files into various file formats like PDF, PST, MBOX, and many others. One can directly export OST files and have the backup on Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, and Office 365.

Outlook emails are crucial and they have to be managed efficiently so that not a single piece of data should be lost. If you lose your important business emails due to any reason, you may get in serious trouble. In businesses and organizations, people use Exchange Server to centrally manage, distribute, and store business emails. It also provides a great number of features that help users store and share contacts, schedules, tasks, and other data. The most popular email client, Microsoft Outlook can work with Microsoft Exchange Server. Once you set up the Exchange Server as a profile within Microsoft Outlook, you can enable Outlook’s offline feature to send and receive emails through the server. As a result, you do not need to use two different programs to manage your business emails, contacts, and other data.

How are OST files Created and Why there’s a Need for Backup

If you are using Microsoft Outlook with Exchange Server, you must be familiar with the Cached Exchange Mode. When you configure Microsoft Outlook with Exchange, there is an option – Cached Exchange Mode. By enabling this option, Microsoft Outlook will download a copy of your mailbox data to your local computer in the form of an OST file also known as Offline Storage Table. Being an Offline folder file, OST allows you to access your Exchange mailbox data even if you are not corrected to the Internet. And once the connection gets re-established, you can synchronize the changes you made earlier during the offline mode.

Need for Backing Up OST File

OST file contains a copy of your Exchange mailbox data including business emails, contacts, etc. Any Outlook data file, be it OST or PST, is very crucial for any Outlook user as it contains important data. Using offline folders is always a good idea. But you should be very careful with them. Remember, if you delete a folder on the Exchange Server or in the OST file, the same folder will be deleted from the server as well as the local computer during the synchronization process. So be careful otherwise you will lose your data permanently.

How to Backup Outlook Offline OST File

The best way to backup the OST file is by converting it to PDF, PST, MBOX, EML, EML, and CSV file formats. By converting OST Files to PDF format, you can copy all your mailbox data to PDF. And later, you can use the PDF file or any other file format which you have converted as a backup copy.

There are two ways to do that: either you can try a couple of easy manual methods, or you can use a 3rd party professional solution. Manual methods do not require any 3rd party software because you can do the same using Microsoft Outlook. Using MS Outlook, you can copy the mailbox data from OST File to the PST file.

Manual Method 1: Use Outlook’s Export Feature

You can use the below method to backup the OST file in Microsoft Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, and earlier versions. Follow the steps shown below:

Step 1: First, launch Microsoft Outlook on your computer. Open the OST file that you want to backup.

Step 2: Now click the File tab on the taskbar and choose Open & Export > Import/Export.

Step 3: On the Import and Export Wizard, select Export to a file because you need to export the data from OST to a new file. Then click Next to continue the process.

Step 4: On the Export to a File window, select Outlook Data File (.pst) and click Next to continue the process.

Step 5: On the Export Outlook Data File window, select the folder to export from. Since you want to backup OST file, you need to select the entire OST file. Also, check the Include subfolders option if required. Click Next to continue the process.

Step 6: Here you need to select a location where you want to save the backup of your OST file. Also, select the other options given there. Finally, click Finish to start the export process.

Within a few minutes, the process will be completed and the OST file data will be successfully exported to a PST file. You can now use the PST file as a backup.

Method 2: Use Outlook’s Archive Feature

Another way of backing up an OST file is by archiving it using Outlook’s Archive feature. The below method will help you backup OST files in Microsoft Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, and earlier versions. Please note that it will not take the backup of contacts. Follow the steps given below:

Step 1: First, launch Microsoft Outlook on your computer.

Step 2: Now click the File tab on the taskbar. Then click Info > Cleanup Tools > Archive.

Step 3: The Archive screen will appear. Here you need to select the OST file or any specific folder you want to archive. You should select the entire OST file as you want to take backup.

Step 4: Now select a destination location where you want to save the archived file. Click OK to start the archiving process. Keep in mind that the archive file will be saved in PST format.

Within a few minutes, the process will be completed and the OST file will be archived into a PST file. You can now use this archived PST file as a backup.

Method 3: Create New PST File

There is one more way to backup an OST file, and it is quite straightforward. You just need to create a new PST file in Outlook, and then you can simply drag the complete mailbox from the OST file to the new PST file you have created.

Limitations of the Manual Methods

The above manual methods are highly effective. However, they have a few limitations:

• The very first limitation is that the OST file should not be corrupted. If the OST file is corrupted, you cannot open it. You will have to use the OST Recovery Tool first and then create a backup of OST files.
• You have to use the same computer on which the OST file was created. If you are using a different new computer, you cannot use manual methods.
• The manual methods do not help you take the backup of OST as PST, PDF, MBOX, and even don’t migrate emails from OST to Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail.

In such a situation, you should consider using a professional solution to backup Outlook offline OST files. As I said earlier, the best way to backup the OST file is by converting it into PST or PDF file format, you should use a professional OST Converter tool.

Professional Methods to Backup Outlook OST File

There are many vendors in the online marketplace that provide OST to PST Converter and Aryson Technologies is one of them. Unlike the manual solutions, the OST Backup and Converter tool provided by Aryson is easy, quick, and highly efficient to backup OST to PDF and multiple other file formats. There are so such limitations for backing up OST on a local machine therefore, you can use this software even if the OST files are inaccessible.

Conclusion

The article has nicely explained why you should backup OST files because Backup is very important as it saves your business data from being lost. Through this article, we have learned a few easy manual solutions to backup Outlook Offline OST files. You can also use a professional solution to backup OST if the manual solutions do not work expectedly.

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