“I have moved PST file from my old computer to new PC which I recently purchased after I sold my old computer. But Outlook is troubling me since the day I have moved it to my new computer. Whenever I try to open PST file to view my emails, I get error message ‘the file is not a valid .pst file’. I don’t know why it is displaying such error. Can this error be fixed?? Please help!!!”
Most of the Outlook users find it impossible to access PST after facing above problem because PST file becomes corrupted during file copy or move operation. You may now wonder how PST file get corrupted if moved from one storage media to another? Here is the precise explanation for this; Outlook PST files are often copied or moved to an external storage media like USB drive, external hard drive, DVD, CD etc. for backup purpose or to transfer it to another computer. While doing so, it is recommended to keep Outlook closed or else the PST file might get corrupted.
Outlook PST file is mainly composed of two parts, file header and data part. File header contains information about the PST file like file size, file signature, compatibility etc. The PST file header is very sensitive so you should always be careful while using PST file. Any harm to PST file header could lead to loss of entire Outlook data. In above mentioned situation, header of the PST file might have corrupted as a result of not closing Outlook while copying. Therefore Microsoft is not able to recognize the file and reported error message that “Outlook is not a valid PST file”
But irrespective of the reason behind corruption, PST file can be repaired using Outlook’s Inbox Repair Tool. However if the damage is too extensive and the file size is very large say more than 2 GB, then this tool also fails to fix corrupted PST file and in turn displays error messages. Hence, if you don’t want to encounter such errors while accessing contents from Outlook, then you have to repair it using suitable PST Repair software.
Repair Outlook PST is Not a Valid PST File
Outlook repair tool is one of the robust software which eliminates ‘not a valid PST file’ error from Outlook and makes it a healthy PST file. This repair software is specially introduced to remove all types of errors which Outlook displays while trying to access emails and other items from it. It will repair and at the same time recovers emails, contacts, calendars, tasks etc. from Outlook in case you have lost them due to unpredictable reasons. You can make use of this PST repair utility to fix error ‘not a valid PST file’ displayed by Outlook version 2000, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, and Outlook 2016. Apart from "not a valid PST file" error, this Outlook Repair Tool can also fix other errors like PST is not an Outlook data file error, Send recieve error, Outlook PST file access denied error, MAPI error, and all other Outlook errors with ease. You can even view details of the recovered items so that you may easily make out how many items have been successfully recovered.
Steps to repair not a valid PST file error
- First of all download Yodot Outlook PST Repair application on your Windows system
- Once the download process gets completed, run it to start the repair process by following the instructions displayed on the screen
- You will find three options on the main screen which are Open PST file, Find PST file and Select Outlook profile
- Select PST file based on the requirement
- On the next screen, you will see two scan options namely “Normal Scan” and “Smart Scan”
- Select “Normal scan” if there is minor corruption
- Select “Smart Scan” in case there is severe corruption of PST file
- Now select the desired location in order to store the new PST file
- Click on “Repair” button to initiate the scanning process
- As soon as the repair process gets completed, the software will show the items recovered from PST file in a Outlook styled menu
- Finally a window will open that display the total number of repaired emails, Tasks, Notes, Contacts, Calendar Items, etc.
Points to Consider
- Keep in mind to close MS Outlook when moving or copying the PST file to another media
- Remove the read-only attribute before trying to access or import your Outlook PST as you may not be able to view contents from Outlook when you check on “Read only” mode
