Outlook 2007: The Data File Personal Folders was not Closed Properly

Outlook is a widely used email client, however, this does not rule out the fact that users have to face issues with their Outlook at some point of time. One such prominent issue as faced by Outlook users is “The data file ‘Personal Folders’ was not closed properly. The file is being checked for problems.” Though this message doesn’t stop you from accessing Outlook, it certainly prolongs the accessibility time.

The whole sequence includes:

1. Open Outlook
2. An error message displays: “The data file ‘Personal Folders’ was not closed properly. The file is being checked for problems.”
3. A warning message is displayed: “Performance might be affected while the check is in progress.” After a few minutes, there is again a message “Data file check complete”
4. You can open and access emails and other Outlook components after this period

Are you experiencing this problem consistently then you need to find a permanent solution to this problem? Check with the available possibilities to resolve the issue.

Assess the Problem

This error “The data file ‘Personal Folders’ was not closed properly. The file is being checked for problems” appears when MS Outlook is opened in Outlook 2007. This error is also displayed when you try to open the file after rebooting the system. Though you might be one of those ardent Outlook users who empty the “Deleted Items” folder, close all tabs and then click the Exit button, yet you experience this error.

The first step is to analyze the cause of the problem. Here, Outlook is taking too long to respond then the first thing that strikes is the size of Outlook data file.  Over the time, the size of Outlook PST file becomes too large. As a consequence users face difficulty in opening and accessing the Outlook.  This can be an issue of corruption in PST Files and unless the corruption issue is resolved, the problem is not resolved.

Resolve the Error

1. Reduce the size of PST File: Most probably the error is related to the oversized Personal Storage Tables or PST File. In that case, reduce the size of PST file and resolve the error. The process involves archiving and compacting:

• Start Outlook and go to File tab. Click on Info
• Click on Cleanup Tools. Next click on Archive
• In the Archive Dialog box, perform the following steps:

1. Enable Archive this folder and subfolders option
2. From the list of Folders, select the PST file to be archived
3. From the drop-down list with the name Archive Items Older than, specify a particular Date for items to be archived.
4. Select Destination path and archive into a new PST file as you maybe archiving a large number of email messages.

• Compact PST and save at a preferred location

2. Repair PST using ScanPST.exe file: If archiving and compacting PST does not fix the problem then try to repair the PST with scanpst.exe.

• Exit Outlook application and start Scanpst.exe manually. Location of Outlook repair tool varies with Outlook versions and different Windows. Know your Outlook and Windows version and locate the Inbox repair tool.

• Browse the PST to be repaired. It should have an extension .pst
• Click on Options and provide the Scan Log option
• Click on the Start button. If there are errors detected during scanning, the exe-file prompts to start the repair process
• During the process, a backup file is created to avoid data loss. Save the backup file at a preferred location.
• Click on Repair button and start Outlook using the profile with PST file
• In the list of MS Outlook, locate the recovered Personal Folders with default Outlook folders or Lost & Found Folder. The recovered folders are mostly empty due to the fact that it is a rebuilt PST file, whereas the Lost and Found folder contains items as retrieved by Scanpst.exe.

After repair process gets completed. Drag the email components to the new PST file and access the Outlook without the error message: “The data file personal folders was not closed properly…”

Repairing Outlook PST with ScanPST.exe utility may result in data loss of unrecognized emails and this may also include important emails. To avoid this situation, use a professional and reliable software, and one such tool is Stellar Phoenix Outlook PST Repair – Technician version.

3. Resolve error with Stellar Phoenix Outlook PST Repair – Technician: When Outlook inbuilt utility fails to perform as per expectations, use the professional software to resolve the error and start Outlook without facing any errors:

• Install the software and select PST file for repair

• Click on Repair button and initiate the repair process. The software scans the corrupt or damaged file and displays a preview of scanned file

• Click on ‘Save Repaired File’ to save the repaired file at the preferred location, select the saving option and Click OK.

How does this software help?

1. Scans and repairs the corrupt PST file
2. Recovers all email components including emails, calendars, contacts, and more
3. Provides preview of scanned PST for data verification
4. Resolves Outlook related errors Compacts and splits PST file-size and more

Inference

Though the manual methods may sometime help to resolve the error, it is still not sure whether the performance is up-to-the-mark. When the error stands unresolved, when the Outlook data becomes inaccessible, and when manual methods are unable to perform, then this 3-step software Stellar Phoenix PST File Repair –Technician version resolves the error including “The data file Personal Folders was not closed properly. The file is being checked for problems” and ensures that Outlook data becomes accessible.