Why Does Outlook 2010 OST File Keeps Getting Corrupted?
This is one of the most frequently occurring queries that I have come across while browsing through different forums and communities. Some users experience corruption of their Outlook 2010 OST files more than once and in a worst-case scenario, repeatedly. There can be many reasons for this, depending upon the scenarios in which the corruption occurs. In this article, we have tried to put together all the different scenarios, which lead to repetitive outlook 2010 ost file keeps getting corrupted.
Factors Causing Outlook 2010 OST File Keeps Getting Corrupted
The below-mentioned factors may not hold true for every case of OST corruption. There may be a different reason for every different scenario. In general, these are the major reasons behind OST corruption.
- Halt In OST Synchronization Process
When the OST file sync with the Exchange server, all the changes that have been made in the OST file in offline mode, get written to the server. It takes up to 5 minutes in total for 20-50 emails to get synced with the Exchange server at an internet speed of 28.8 KB per sec. However, due to any fault in the synchronization process, the mails may not get successfully synced to the server. The persistent failure in the synchronization process ultimately leads to OST file corruption.
Resolution: The synchronization issues might be a result of network issues. Check your internet connectivity. A poor net connection may lead to a repetitive halt in the synchronization process and ultimately lead to insistent OST file corruption.
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Virus Infection
OST files, similar to other OST files are highly prone to virus infections. Viruses may enter your system from unsecured websites, infected pen drives, spam emails, and so on. These viruses corrupt the internal structure of OST files and render them in an inaccessible or corrupted state. These OST files when opened with Outlook generate errors and the data items residing within the file refuse to be accessed.
Resolution: Get anti-virus software installed in your system. If you already have one, upgrade it to the latest version. This will protect your system from harmful virus infection and will no longer corrupt the OST files.
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Damaged Hard Drive Partition
The OST files reside locally on one of the drives of a hard disk. In case the drive in which the OST file is located is posing some corruption issues. Then there are chances that these will end up corrupting the entire data residing on it, including your OST files.
Resolution: Change the default location of your OST file and save it on a different drive. Also, take a backup of your OST file in an external device. Get your hard drive checked for any damage. This may prevent continuous corruption of your OST file.
Conclusion
The above-mentioned solutions may help to put a stop to the time and again corruption of the OST files. However, the above solutions, do not work out for you and you still are not able to recover the data residing in the OST file. Then you can download a third-party tool. OST Wizard is one such tool that recovers the entire data of the OST files and saves it in a new and healthy PST file format. This PST file can, later on, be imported in Outlook 2010 and the data residing within it can be accessed easily.