{"id":63462,"date":"2020-08-27T11:41:29","date_gmt":"2020-08-27T11:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/?p=63462"},"modified":"2024-05-31T08:23:44","modified_gmt":"2024-05-31T08:23:44","slug":"compact-outlook-ost-file","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stellarinfo.com\/blog\/compact-outlook-ost-file\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Compact OST File?"},"content":{"rendered":"

OST (Offline Storage Table) <\/strong>is an Outlook data file that stores an offline copy of your mailbox items such as emails, attachments, contacts, calendar, tasks, notes, etc. The size of OST may grow significantly over time, as you send and receive emails, which could be a problem as an oversized OST file can lead to the following problems,<\/p>

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  1. Adversely affect Outlook performance<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Send\/receive email errors<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Outlook not responding<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Synchronization errors<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>

    By default, the OST file is stored in a different folder than the installation directory. Although you can change the location of the Outlook OST file<\/a> to a different drive or folder, if the OST file size grows larger, it won’t resolve the problems caused by an oversized OST file.<\/p>

    Thus, it’s important to regularly compact the OST file to reduce and control its size. Besides saving storage space, it will help you improve Outlook performance and resolve sync errors.<\/p>

    Methods to Compact OST File<\/h2>

    Below are a few methods that you may follow to compact the Outlook OST file.<\/p>

    Method 1: Use ‘Compact Now’ Option in Outlook<\/h2>

    By default, Outlook compacts the OST file once the ‘unused space’ (White Space) reaches 20% of the file size. However, you can also use the built-in option to compact the OST file manually<\/strong>. It helps users to compress the oversized or large OST file and reduces the overall OST file size by removing the deleted entries from the file permanently.<\/p>

    NOTE:<\/strong>Use this option after deleting the items from the Deleted Items folder. Also, check the Deleted Items folder and restore any important emails that you may require or delete mistakenly. After compacting the OST file, you can’t recover the deleted emails.<\/p>

    The steps are as follows,<\/p>