Repair PST File by using The Inbox Repair Tool (SCANPST)

Written By Danish
Updated on March 12th, 2022

If you have a corrupt PST file, there’s no way to open it. An Outlook data file is prone to corruption due to many reasons. If you don’t repair PST file in time, you’re likely to lose all your crucial emails and other mailbox data. Luckily, Microsoft provides the Inbox Repair tool (scanpst exe) to scan and repair PST file. In this article, I’ll show you how to locate the scanpst exe utility and how to use it to handle a corrupt PST file.

Microsoft Outlook

Over the past few decades, email has become an essential part of businesses and organizations. Even individuals are excessively using emails for communication purpose. There are many email applications available for desktop users. Microsoft Outlook is one of the popular email clients among Windows users all around the world. It’s a personal information manager provided by Microsoft in its Office suite. Apart from being an email application, it includes useful features like contact management, calendar, task management, note taking, journal creation, and web browsing.

Outlook Data File

Microsoft Outlook stores all the email messages and other mailbox data in an Outlook data file saved on the local system. This file is commonly known as a personal storage table or PST. An Outlook data file is of two types: ANSI and Unicode. ANSI is the default file format of Microsoft Outlook 2002 and earlier versions. 2 GB is the maximum size limit of an ANSI PST file. On the other hand, Microsoft Outlook 2003 and later versions use Unicode format whose maximum size limit ranges from 20 GB (2003 & 2007) to 50 GB (2010, 2013, & 2016).

Common Issues with Outlook Data File

An Outlook data file can’t store more mailbox data than its maximum size limit. Even sometimes when the PST file reaches its maximum size, you’re likely to face performance issues. And when the PST file crosses its size limit, it becomes prone to corruption. There’s no way to open a corrupt PST file in Microsoft Outlook. Apart from corruption, an oversized PST file can cause Outlook performance issues.

Whenever you notice that the file has reached its maximum size limit, you should split PST file into two or multiple parts. This will help you protect the PST file from being corrupt. And if you notice that the PST file is full with duplicate items, you should remove them. There’s an easy manual trick to remove Outlook duplicates from PST file. Additionally, there’s one more way to deal with an oversized PST file. You can compact PST file to reduce its size. Microsoft Outlook client has a built-in feature to compact PST file.

Corrupt PST File

But if the PST file is already corrupt, then you have only one option left, repair PST file. The size limitation issue is the primary reason for corruption. Additionally, there are some other reasons as well, such as virus attack, unexpected cancellation of the Outlook client, sudden system shutdown, hard disk failure, software malfunction, etc. Corruption is always harmful since it may cause data loss. Whenever you try to open a corrupt PST file, you’re likely to receive an error message like this:

PST file error message

If you receive an error message while opening the PST file, this is the very first thing you should try:

First, go to the location where PST files are stored. You can simply locate the PST files by opening Outlook client. Click File tab on the menu > Info > Account Settings > Data Files.
Once you locate the PST files, right-click it and go to the Properties.
On file properties, select the Compatibility tab. You need to click on it to clear down all the Comparability Mode checkboxes. After that, click Apply and OK.
Now you can restart your computer and check if everything is fine.

The Inbox Repair Tool (scanpst exe)

If you still face the same problem, you should try to repair PST file now. Microsoft Outlook provides the Inbox Repair tool to scan and repair PST file. It’s commonly known as the scanpst exe utility that can

Scan corrupt PST file for errors and resolve them;
Fix the header corruption issues and rebuild the file structure;
Re-index and repair PST file by deleting the invalid indices and emails.

So whenever you face corruption in an Outlook data file, you must run the Inbox Repair tool. But before you can run it on your system, you must locate its executable (.exe) file.

SCANPST Location

You need to browse the scanpst location in these locations as per your Microsoft Outlook versions:

In Microsoft Outlook 2016

32-bit Windows: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16
64-bit Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16

In Microsoft Outlook 2013

32-bit Windows: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15
64-bit Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15

In Microsoft Outlook 2010

32-bit Windows: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14
64-bit Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14

In Microsoft Outlook 2007

32-bit Windows: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12
64-bit Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12

In Microsoft Outlook 2003

32-bit Windows: C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\<locale ID>
64-bit Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\<locale ID>

In Microsoft Outlook 2002/XP

C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MAPI\<locale ID>\scanpst.exe

In Microsoft Outlook 2000

C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MAPI\<locale ID>\NT\scanpst.exe

In Microsoft Outlook 97/98

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Windows Messaging\scanpst.exe

Run Inbox Repair tool to Repair PST File

First, go to the scanpst location. Make sure Microsoft Outlook client ain’t on your system. Now follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Double-click the scanpst exe utility.

scanpst.exe location