PST vs. OST Files: What Are the Differences between These Two File Formats?

If you’re using MS Outlook for the first time, you will get to hear about the PST and OST files from time to time. These file formats are two of the most important aspects of the MS Outlook account and they are used as data storage files for MS Outlook. 

MS Outlook is an important part of MS Office Suite. MS Outlook is one of the most famous as well as most effective email client applications that come with some great features such as a task manager, calendar, journal, contact manager, and many more. 

The PST files, also known as Personal Storage Table files store the data items on the local disk of the client. On the other hand, the OST files, also known as Offline Storage Table, save the data items for offline use. 

Users can use both of these file formats to store different types of mailbox items such as contacts, attachments, emails, notes, calendar items, and many more. One of the best things about these file formats is that the OST files might be transformed into PST files. 

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If you’re facing a problem associated with the location of the OST files, you should change the location of the specific files from the MS Outlook account. 

What Do You Need to Know about MS Outlook?

Microsoft first introduced MS Outlook in 1997 for personal information and detail management. Nowadays, MS Outlook is a major part of the MS Exchange Suite and works as an email client for thousands of businesses and organizations. MS Outlook is both an email client-server as well as a stand-alone application. As per Cio, you should use MS Outlook for your business’s email. The MS Outlook has been designed to be used by individuals as email client-servers as well as businesses that need different types of shared features such as calendar items, mailbox, appointments, and many more. PST and OST are the two types of MS Outlook data files that you can use. 

Introduction to the OST Data Files

The OST files or Offline Storage Files provide access to the mailbox data items in the offline mode on the system as soon as the user completes the registration of the Exchange Server with the help of MS Outlook. When MS Outlook islinked to the server for the first time, the OST files will be created automatically. Once the OST files are created, the data items will be synched as per the email server so that users can access them offline as well as online mode. Even though you’re capable of creating the emails and other essential data items in the OST files without an internet connection, you can still sync the local file as per the server and copy the same pieces of information without any issue. You can also export the contacts from the OST to the PST files. 

Introduction to the PST Files 

The PST files are known as Personal Storage Table files and they are just as important as the OST data files of MS Outlook. When you use the PST files, you will be able to store the emails, messages, and other data items on the hard drive of your computer. This is known as the most common file format used by MS Outlook users. Unlike the OST files, the PST files can be accessed from various MS Outlook accounts. The PST files store the data items in the .pst extension. 

What Do You Need to Know about OST vs. PST Files?

You can use the OST files even if your MS Exchange server doesn’t have an internet connection. As they are being used in offline mode, they are known as Offline storage tables. However, you cannot leverage the same benefit for the PST files as they are used for IMAP, POP3, and webmail accounts. The .pst files will be created when the MS Outlook users want to back up the copy of emails regularly. 

The OST files are much more susceptible to data corruption than the PST files. This is why many users consider using PST files to store data items. However, keep in mind that PST files are also prone to corruption. If you want to fix the corrupted outlook data files, you need to use a third-party PST recovery tool. 

Primarily, the OST files are capable of supporting MS Exchange Server whereas, the PST files don’t face compatibility issues with the other devices. But do you know why the OST files cannot be imported or accessed from other MS Outlook profiles? This is because OST files are encrypted with the MAPEntryID GUID key. Not to mention, these file formats also require authentication from the source MAPI profile. But the PST files are importable and users can access them from any MS Outlook profile. 

Conclusion

These are the comparison between the PST and OST files. If you want to repair the corrupted PST files, make sure you visit our website today. 

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