Import OST to Outlook 2013 Even Though OST is Not The Kind of File You can Import!
Way to Import OST to Outlook 2013
When you add an email account, Outlook 2013 downloads the contents from the servers into an OST file. You can find this file in your Outlook profile folder inside “Users–> Libraries” location. And if you delete this file manually, Outlook will recreate it once you launch Outlook again.
But if you delete the email account, the OST file left behind is pretty much useless.
You cannot open the file through Outlook or any other program. It is not what you would call a typical data file that can be used for restoring data items, like PST.
If that’s the case, how can one import OST to Outlook 2013?
In short – you cannot.
But it would be pointless to have written this post if that’s the end of the story.
The long answer is that you cannot import OST but you can import the data in OST to Outlook 2013 by first converting it into PST and then importing PST. And no, this file conversion isn’t possible by simply changing the extension of files by renaming them from .ost to .pst.
If you try to import an .ost file that’s been manually renamed to .pst, Outlook will give you an error saying the file is corrupted.
What you need to do is actually convert the data inside OST files properly into PST format through restructuring of entire contents inside them. Both OST and PST have dissimilar nature and architecture of data storing. It is not like you can rename a .mp4 file into a .avi file and still being able to open them through any media player because the video/audio is still available in the file through the same structure.
If that sounds too complicated, forget about it. You just need to know this:
You can convert OST to PST using a third-party converter where all you need to do is simply point to where the OST files are located and the converted will automatically extract the data correctly and will restructure it to fit into PST format.
The power of “OST Extractor Pro” is in the accuracy. It sweeps through the OST files without overlooking or missing any information. From your actual email text to the attachments to the metadata and any other details stored in OST will be neatly moved into PST format with correct architecture.
And to do that, you can use “OST Extractor Pro” that is available in a free trial version and full versions through several flexible licenses.
How to import OST to Outlook 2013
- Get OST Extractor Pro’.
- Load OST file by clicking on “Add OST”
- Select OST file and click on “Open”.
- Now you can see folders inside your OST file
- Select output format PST for Outlook 2013.
- Then click on “Convert”
- Once Done, you can easily import that file to Outlook 2013 by using Outlook Import/Export method.
“OST Extractor Pro” isn’t a file converter but a utility with complete set of features to properly migrate emails and other contents. It even lets you convert OST to files like MBOX and EML, and to databases for Thunderbird, Postbox, Entourage, and Apple mail.
Download to Import OST to Outlook 2013
The free trial version limits conversion to ten emails from each folder, but you can inspect how the features work and how the interface lets you easily perform every action without efforts.
Download it from the official page of “OST Extractor Pro” (here is the link) instantly and import ost to Outlook 2013 by converting it into PST file format.