PST files let you access email data without an Exchange server.
People often look for OST to PST converters to fix email data, Exchange server profiles, and more. However, if you want to move locally stored data to an Exchange server, you may need to convert PST to OST. Here’s how to convert PST files to OST.
Why Outlook PST Files are Converted to OST Files?
To declutter Outlook, you might move unimportant emails to another account. However, this can cause Exchange server sync issues.
Upgrading to a newer Outlook server with users on PST files? You’ll need to convert PST to OST without losing data.
Got an orphaned PST file? Convert it to OST to migrate data to an Exchange server.
Upgraded from Outlook 2003 to Outlook 2013? Hit corrupted, inaccessible PST files during server setup? Convert PST to OST to recover your data. Here’s how.
How To Convert Outlook PST Files to OST?
Now let us get back to the fact of learning how to convert PST to OST files in all the versions of Outlook.
Method 1: Convert Outlook PST to OST Using the Import Option
- Convert PST to OST files in Outlook 2003 & 2007
- Convert PST to OST files in Outlook 2010
- Convert PST to OST files in Outlook 2013, 2016, 2019 & 2021
How to Convert PST to OST files in Outlook 2003 & 2007:
1: Open Outlook 2003 or 2007 and click on “File” that is on the top-left corner.
2: Select “Import and Export” and wait for the wizard to start.
3: Select “Import from another program or file” and click on “Next.”
4: Select “Personal Folder File (.pst)” from the “Import a File” tab and click on “Next.”
5: Browse for your PST file, open it, and click on “Next.”
6: Select the folders you want to import from the PST file in the “Select the folder to import from” tab and click on “Finish.”
7: Now, you can see the PST files in the left-side navigation panel.
8: Click on the left panel and create a new folder.
9: At last, drag emails from the recently transferred PST folder and drop them in the new folder.
10: This migrates PST files to the server and converts them to OST files.
How to Convert PST to OST files in Outlook 2010:
1: Open Outlook 2010 and click on “File,” then “Open,” and then “Import.”
2: From the “Import and Export Wizard” tab, select “Import from another program or file” and click on “Next.”
3: Select “Outlook Data File (.pst)” from the “Import a File” tab and click on “Next.”
4: Select the PST files you want to transfer and click “Next.”
5: Select the folder you want to import and click “Finish.”
6: Right-click on the left panel, select the “New Folder” option, and provide a name for the folder
7: Drag and drop your imported PST files to the newly created OST folder. This migrates PST files to the server
How to Convert PST to OST files in Outlook 2013, 2016, 2019 & 2021:
1: Open Outlook 2013, 2016, or 2019 and click on “File,” then “Open & Export,” and then “Import/Export.”
2: From the “Import and Export Wizard” tab, select “Import from another program or file” and click on “Next.”
3: Select “Outlook Data File (.pst)” from the “Import a File” tab and click on “Next.”
4: Browse the .pst file from the “Import Outlook Data File” tab and click on “Next.”
5: Select the folders you want to transfer and click “Finish.”
6: Imported files will be displayed on the left-side panel. Right-click on the panel and click on “New Folder”.
7: Drag and drop your desired emails from the imported PST folder to the newly created OST folder. This will automatically migrate PST files to the server and convert them as OST files.
With these given steps, users can import PST files to the exchange server. They can also organize the email client with its attributes.
If you are looking to move your PST files to a higher Outlook version, Yodot Move Outlook PST is the answer. It can effectively migrate PST data without losing the email attributes.
You can try the next solution. It involves configuring IMAP settings to convert Outlook PST files to OST for free.
Method 2: Change PST to OST Using IMAP Configuration
IMAP lets you view and manage emails directly on the server. Therefore, keeping them synchronized across various devices.
Here’s a brief on how configuring IMAP can help us convert the PST files into OST files.
When configuring an IMAP account, you can create an intermediary platform to store PST file data.
Once the setup is complete, you must import data from the PST file into the IMAP account. This helps you upload Outlook data to the Server, making them accessible online.
Once the IMAP account is synced with the email server, there are a few things that need to be done. You need to add an Exchange account and synchronize the data from both accounts. This converts the imported emails into an OST format linked to the Exchange account.
To summarize, emails are transferred to the Exchange account through the IMAP account. Outlook creates an OST file containing the data that is synchronized from the Server.
No, this solution does not directly convert the PST to OST. It works indirectly using Outlook’s sync feature.
Steps To Convert OST File to PST Using IMAP
1: Set up a new IMAP account with a different email client, such as Gmail or Yahoo.
2: Configure Outlook with IMAP. Launch Outlook and navigate to File > Account Settings > Account Settings. Under the Email tab, click the New option and follow the on-screen instructions. Enter your IMAP account credentials and complete the setup process.
3: To Import PST data to the new IMAP account try out the following. Go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export > Import from another program or file > Next > Select the Outlook Data File (.pst) > Next > Select the PST file you want to import > Choose the IMAP account, and complete the import process.
4: The selected PST file data will get synchronized to the desired IMAP server.
5: The final step in the list is to move or transfer the data from the IMAP account to the Exchange account. Where Outlook will store it in an OST file format. Here, you are required to add your Exchange account to Outlook.
6: Select the Exchange account instead of the IMAP account. Copy the data from the IMAP account folders and paste it into the Exchange account folder within Outlook.
7: Outlook will sync this data automatically with the Exchange Server. The synced data will be saved in an OST file format on your system.
Here, we conclude our discussion on converting Outlook PST files into OST. Solutions like the Import option, IMAP configuration, and more have been discussed. please contact us if you have any further queries
Frequently Asked Questions
PST files are used for manual backups or POP accounts. OST files are offline copies of mailbox data for Exchange or IMAP accounts. PST is portable; OST syncs with the server.
OST files are created automatically when you add an Exchange or IMAP account in Outlook. There’s no manual option to save as OST; Outlook handles it based on account type.
Close Outlook, delete the existing OST file from its location, then reopen Outlook. It will auto-create a new OST file by syncing data from the server.
