Pros and Cons of Using Outlook Crop Tool to Manage Oversized OST files

Microsoft Outlook is a user-friendly application that you can use to improve your efficiency and communicate with friends and colleagues through Microsoft Exchange server. One of the most popular features used in Outlook is the ability to work with offline folder files (OST files). OST files make a copy of the folders contained in the Exchange server mailbox and allow you to work without having to worry about network outages or speed of network connection. From time to time though, you may receive an error message whenever you are trying to open the offline folders (OST) file. One of the reasons behind the error message could be an oversized OST file - we will see how we can use the Outlook Crop Tool to deal with oversized OST files and recover ost files.

One of the most common error messages, long time users of Outlook come across is as follows. When you try to start Outlook and open the OST file you have been working with, you will get an error message saying ' Errors have been detected in the file . Quit all mail-enabled applications, and then use the Inbox Repair Tool. ' refers to the path of the OST file. You could try using the Inbox Repair tool but very often this proves unsuccessful in resolving the problem. You can then be fairly certain that your OST file has crossed the maximum size allowed for it and has become corrupted, leaving no option but to try and recover ost file through alternative means.

Depending on which version of Outlook you are using, you should be aware that both offline folder files (OST files) and the personal folder files (PST files) have a 2 GB limit on the size of the files. The designers did not imagine that anything other than simple text messages would be sent and believed that a 2 GB limit would be sufficient. When a user continues to use the OST file and stores email messages containing attachments, various documents, posts, appointments, etc., in it, the OST file size is bound to increase. If you are careful enough, you will regularly archive older messages, notes and contacts, keeping only a small OST file active. This will also make it easier to recover ost file when the need arises.

Many users however continue to use the OST file without deleting any old messages or archiving them, leading to the file reaching the 2 GB limit. When the file exceeds the 2 GB limit, the OST file becomes corrupted and you see the above-mentioned error message. In such situations, you could use the Outlook Crop Tool to reduce the size of the file and then recover ost data. On the downside, you have no control on what is being removed from the file to reduce the size.

To avoid this complication, you could simply turn to utilities like Advanced Exchange Recovery from DataNumen. Designed by experts, this software can recover damaged OST files that even run into terabytes, making sure that you do not have to worry about loss of data no matter how large the size of the OST file.