Outlook 2016 pst file disappeared. How to find/recover/reconstruct

Caledon Ken · 08 May 2017

First jumper2 I think you said you changed Malwarebytes to delete instead of quarantine so I would set that back. Actually I would suspend malwarebytes until you get to the bottom of this.

Next steps open for comment. OP said he can't start Outlook as it wants file. He would have to create new profile and that very well will kick off massive down load. So rather than new profile..

If jumper2 has copy of pst file in backup why not copy that back into place where outlook wants and attempt to start outlook.

Comments

sygnus21 · 08 May 2017

The OP said a lot of things so I'm not sure what's what. And the easiest way would be to simply import the .pst file into Outlook. This way all the "guess" work is eliminated as to where the file should go.

That said, the OP needs to make sure the .pst file is on the same machine as the local Outlook account instead of a removable drive. You can keep backups there, but the file Outlook should be looking for is local and always in the same place. What I do is copy my .pst files to my Documents folder and import from there. I simply create a folder called outlook files in Documents, keep my .pst files there, and import from that folder. Simple. In this case, you know exactly where the files are, and should be!!!

Hope this clarifies.

jumper2 · 08 May 2017

sygnus21 said:

Since you have a good copy on the external drive, you can import that copy to Office 365 using these instructions...

Import email, contacts, and calendar from an Outlook .pst file

Your pst file size is fine. And yes, Outlook would have nagged. As to why your files are disappearing, I can't say other than perhaps a bad HD, but that's a guess based on some info you provided. It could also be malware wiping files. Have you done a recent virus scan?

Thanks for the continued suggestions. While I really want to know why/how this happened, I'm kind of mostly resolved to accepting I likely won't. So, could use some feedback/confirmation/guidance on the following if I just abandon the 'why' and get on with the 'how to fix':

If I copy the external pst file that I have to the wanted folder location and start Outlook, will this be adequate or do I have to create a new profile and then import that pst file (of emails to Feb-2017)? Given I then need to retrieve the emails from the server since that time, if I hit Send/Receive, will every single email in the server Inbox be downloaded, or just those since Feb-2017? If all, then do I have a couple of choices:

1. Move the emails in the Inbox I just imported to a different folder name. Clear out Inbox. Then Receive all from the server. When finished, delete everything from the new Inbox older than Feb-2017 and copy everything from the other Inbox back? The reason I have to do this is because my wife flagged a series of emails for follow up (in that old pst file I have), so the downloads would not be flagged.
2. Download all emails into the same Inbox (as those prior to Feb-2017). Then there's a method I found on a forum where you add a column to a view of the folder, and then subsequently delete all the duplicates that have a particular date range.

The other possibility, that I'm not familiar with, but a little uncomfortable as I'm not sure of how, is to set up new as IMAP and then let Outlook copy the image/however of everything on the server and use IMAP going forward. Then I would need to import the pst file so that my wife could then find the emails she has previously flagged and deal with them. After, that can be disposed of, and the pst file would no longer be required. How do I avoid the IMAP folders conflicting with the import of the old pst file?

Does this make sense? Best options? Any other suggestions.

I haven't done anything with Indexing or re-indexing. Hidden files in folders is turned on. Anything else worth checking before I go a route described above?

One other thing: a techie security friend of ours stated that Windows Defender has rendered the AVG Internet Security that we previously had installed as redundant... would that be accurate?

Thanks.

Caledon Ken · 08 May 2017

To determine one possible cause, open Malwarebytes and review the log for the last week. It very well could provide answers as to what happened.

My thinking is if you copy file to where Outlook is looking for it, and there is no corruption in profile, it should open as though it were Feb 2017. It should then contact the server and bring in the mail you are missing. My opinion.

It was my understanding that outlook would not start due to error message. If this is the case I would take device offline (no internet), create a new profile (Control Panel, User Accounts, at bottom is Mail or should be mail.) You may not be able to setup up account not connected. If you do set up new ensure you set option in POP to keep mail on server. (With your backup and all mail you can try other alternatives if needed)

If you can set up account then import PST file. I believe folder structure should still be there. Ideally when you connect it will sync only missing mail. I say ideally as I've had Outlook do some funny things. Your wife contact changes from Feb will likely be lost.

Personally I'd leave IMAP discussion until later. Could you share what service your wife uses for Mail, gmail, outlook, yahoo, etc? We would need to know this to provide any assistance. Generally it is pretty straight forward. If you want to go this route post supplier and members can comment on approach, pros and cons, before you do import. I use an outlook.com account so calendar and contacts are also sync'ed

Defender is becoming a very good product. Lots of member on the forum use it with periodic scans from an alternate.

sygnus21 · 08 May 2017

jumper2 said:

If I copy the external pst file that I have to the wanted folder location and start Outlook, will this be adequate or do I have to create a new profile and then import that pst file (of emails to Feb-2017)? Given I then need to retrieve the emails from the server since that time, if I hit Send/Receive, will every single email in the server Inbox be downloaded, or just those since Feb-2017?

There's a bit of an assumption of knowledge here on my part. That is I assume you already know to setup an email account - whether IMPAP or POP3 seeing you said you had account setup, and that you knew how you wanted to use your account and just needed the .pst file. In that scenario, the method I provided assumes you already have an email account setup and simply wanted to add your old data file .(pst files) to Outlook. That's the method used in the video, and part of my suggestion above your post on this page.

In this scenario, no emails will be downloaded there as it's simply a data repository for old files manually moved there from you, or old .pst files from previous accounts. All your current send/receive emails will be sent to the account you currently had set up BEFORE, you imported the data (.pst file).

Now If you want to import your .pst files into your main email account, use the linked instructions here: How to import email, contacts, and calendar to Outlook from a .pst file and follow the instructions for "Outlook 2016 and 2013: Import Outlook items from a .pst file"

Importing data files can be done in various ways depending on how you want to set them up for use. In my case, I use my .pst file as my main contacts and calendar account, as well as my archives folder for emails I want to keep. However, it is NOT setup to send or receive email. In this instance, it's a data file in the form of a .pst file and is setup as the default data file.

And not trying to be funny but when you lump sum a bunch of unrelated issues or questions into one post things get confusing fast. My suggestion is to stick to one issue at a time. It makes for answering questions and solving issues more focused. That said, regarding your Defender/AVG question... yes, you only need one AV.

sygnus21 · 08 May 2017

Caledon Ken said:

Personally I'd leave IMAP discussion until later.

The confusing part is the OP is asking a bunch of questions that are somewhat unrelated and confusing. I suggest focusing on one issue at a time, and not jumping ahead to other areas.

jumper2 · 11 May 2017

While I also chatted with MS about it possibly being deleted by Defender, it wasn't clear if/how/why/where Defender might delete. Tried using Recuva and EaseUS to recover; the former reported the file as being not recoverable and the latter identified the precise file and size and date during a deep scan, but when the scan report was compiled, that file was not available for recovery. A lost cause, it seemed.

Anyway, after more reading, I simply created an additional IMAP account and then let Outlook download everything; all relevant emails will now remain on the server for backup purposes. I added the Feb 2017 POP backup as an additional file, so all flagged emails in there can be worked on. I've now deleted the original account and the lost PST file.

Not a perfect finish, but the best possible. Thank you to everyone who responded.

Caledon Ken · 12 May 2017

Depending on the service you use some things won't be replicated to server so I would test.

In particular if you make changes to Contacts, Calendars and Tasks

If you determine that any aren't being replicated / sync'ed obviously you will have to do backups of PST file.

One thing you might want to research, how to move PST file. I moved mine to the documents folder in a sub folder called Outlook. This way my normal backups of data files captures the PST.

Ken

sygnus21 · 12 May 2017

Caledon Ken said:

One thing you might want to research, how to move PST file. I moved mine to the documents folder in a sub folder called Outlook. This way my normal backups of data files captures the PST.

Previously suggested in post #12....

sygnus21 said:

What I do is copy my .pst files to my Documents folder and import from there. I simply create a folder called outlook files in Documents, keep my .pst files there, and import from that folder.