ScanPST didn't work: what to do after the Inbox Repair Tool

ScanPST (the Inbox Repair Tool) comes free with Office and fixes a lot of light damage. But it was designed to fix the file itself, not to recover as much as possible: when the damage is serious, it freezes, gives up or discards what it doesn't understand.

Signs that this is your problem

• ScanPST sits on the same phase for hours.
• It says no errors were found, but Outlook still won't open the file.
• After the repair, folders or messages are missing.
• A "fatal error" or "the file cannot be scanned" message appears.

Why it happens

• Damage to core parts of the file (header and indexes) that ScanPST can't rebuild.
• Very large files, above Outlook's limit, that the tool won't process.
• OST and MBOX files, which ScanPST doesn't handle like a PST.
• The repair itself: ScanPST rewrites the file and discards items it considers unreadable, without showing which.

How to fix it, step by step

1. Stop running ScanPST over and over on the same file: each pass can discard more items.
2. If you have a copy of the PST from before the first repair, use that copy from now on. The .bak file ScanPST creates is also a pre-repair copy.
3. Check free disk space: repairing a large PST needs at least twice the file's size free.
4. Load the copy into the free Neural Mail Repair scan. It reads block by block and lists separately what is intact and what has unreadable parts.
5. Save the result as a new PST, checking your most important folders in the preview first.

How to keep it from happening again

• Copy the file before running any repair tool.
• Compact the PST now and then to clear out space from deleted items.
• Avoid giant PSTs: archive by year.

Menu names may vary with your Outlook and Windows version. Before any repair, make a copy of the data file with Outlook closed.

No software recovers 100% of cases. Overwritten parts, empty files and files encrypted by ransomware have nothing left to recover, and the free preview shows you that before you pay.