Open & Look into PST File Without Microsoft Outlook in Windows

Microsoft Outlook is one of the most widely used email clients developed by Microsoft in order to manage email accounts, tasks, contacts, calendars etc. It can also store complete package of data items including emails, contacts, tasks, journals, calendars, notes etc. in PST (Personal Storage Table) file format. Sometime there occurs a situation when users need to look into PST file to some other computer where Outlook is not installed i.e. the user wants to read Outlook PST file without Outlook. Here in this article, we are going to discuss some ways of opening multiple PST file without installation of Microsoft Outlook.

PST files are the database of MS Outlook which are created by default to save Outlook Data. This data items consists of emails, contacts, calendar entries, tasks, notes, etc., that a user works with in Microsoft Outlook. Since this PST file is the default file format of Outlook, therefore it can only be opened with MS Outlook. The PST files cannot be opened by any application other than PST. Therefore, In this blog, we will mainly focus on the solutions with the help of which we can easily open and view PST files.

User-Queries to Look into PST File

“Hi, I am having some old emails which are stored in a PST file which is corrupted and also I am not having Microsoft Outlook installed on my system. But, I need to access those mails on urgent basis. Therefore, I am looking for a solution to view PST files. Can anyone suggest any effective method to do so? Thanks!!”

Reasons Behind Why Users Cannot Open PST File

Similar to any other computer database files, Microsoft Outlook PST file is also prone to corruption and damage. There are a number of reasons which are responsible for this issue and we are going to discuss some of the possible reasons.

• Hardware Issues

The major hardware issues which leads to PST file corruption basically includes failure of storage device or hard disk in storing the Outlook Data file. Any damage to the hard drive sector which stores the PST file can corrupt Outlook PST file up to a great extent. Also accessing PST data file with the help of the remote connection is also a major possible reason behind PST file corruption. Thus, making it difficult for the user’s to look into PST file.

• Software Issues

Overwriting of a healthy Outlook Data file with garbage data corrupts PST file up to a higher extent. Faulty data recovery tools damage database files and delete the data of the PST file residing on the user’s system.

• Virus Intrusion

Virus intrusions in the local user’s machine are responsible for corrupting Outlook Data file. These bugs intrude in the PST file and does not allows users to look into PST file corrupted.

• Improper Outlook Shutdown

Shutting down of Microsoft Outlook in an improper manner, without saving Microsoft PST file data may lead to PST file corruption and end up in making the data in the file inaccessible.

• Sudden Power Surge

Abrupt shutdown of system plays a major role in the PST file corruption. In case of abrupt power failure, the PST file on which the user is working may get damaged or corrupted.

How To Look into PST File Without Outlook

Even though there are both manual and third party solution available to view and read damaged PST file, manual solutions are less preferred due to their inefficient performance. The manual approaches generally delete or remove the corrupt data in the PST file and generate a completely new PST file, which does not have complete data. Therefore, opting a third party commercial solution is more preferred in order to look into PST file.

One such utility is SysTools PST File Viewer software which is capable to recover the data of corrupted PST file without deleting any data and gives a complete preview. It gives a preview of all the Outlook data items including emails, contacts, calendars, etc. Moreover, the tool does not require the installation of MS Outlook to read the PST file. Therefore, you can also read healthy as well as corrupted PST file on a machine, which does not have MS Outlook environment.

The greatest benefit that users can enjoy with this solution is that it is available free of cost. The tool can be downloaded and installed for free and can be used to to look into PST file without Outlook. With all these amazing features, it serves as a great solution in order to access Outlook PST file.

Conclusion

There are number of different reasons due to which users are not able to look into PST file or there is also a possibility that PST file gets corrupted. Thus, creating an obstruction in the working. In the above-discussed blog, we have described different techniques to open and view healthy as well as corrupted PST files in an effortless manner.