Manual Tricks to Repair Corrupt PST File
Primary checks and solutions
This category of manual solutions involves some basic tasks to access Outlook data if the fault is minor in level.


Run Outlook in safe mode: Users can try this to fix the issue by typing outlook.exe /safe within Run dialogue box (press Windows button with R alphabet) and click OK.
It would open the Outlook application in safe mode and users can access their PST data. Opening of Outlook in safe mode successfully also indicates that data inaccessibility is due to erratic Outlook Add-ins which can be disabled by navigating to File>Options>Add-ins and then go to Manage COM Add-ins and click Go against it. All the Add-ins would be listed; select all and click Disable option to disable it. Then restart the Outlook application and check if PST data can be accessed.
Verify Internet Settings & Firewall Configuration: Improper Internet Settings and firewall configuration could also be the issue. User can check if the settings are as required and also shut down the unnecessary running applications by side.
Change Server Time-out Period: Some Outlook timeout errors can be resolved through increasing the server timeout period. Perform these steps to increase the server timeout period:
Open Account Settings in Outlook application (as per the version).
Select the affected email account and click on Change option.
Then click on More Settings option on the Account settings page.
In the new window Internet Email Settings, click on the Advanced tab.
Finally, increase server time-out period and then click on OK.

In-built PST Repair Utility – ScanPST.exe – Free Way to Repair Corrupt PST Files
Microsoft provides an in-built application namely ScanPST.exe which scans the Outlook PST file and the repair it. This application is also known as Inbox Repair tool. This tool holds capacity to repair PST file of size upto 2GB only and also take good time for the repair process. The major level of corruption repair and recovery of permanently deleted items is not guaranteed with this solution. Users may need to run the application repeatedly to recover complete data.


To start repair with ScanPST.exe tool, first ensure that the Outlook application is not open and Show hidden file and folder option is enable in PST Folder. Let us know the manual PST repair process with this in-built utility.


At C drive on your system, type ScanPST.exe in search box to locate the tool.
Or directly reach the default ScanPST.exe application location for 32-bit and 64-bit systems respectively.
In the opened Microsoft Inbox Repair tool interface, click on Browse option to add the PST file from system location.
Now, that the file is added, click on Start option to start the PST scanning process.
After completion of scanning, errors are delivered. Select the checkbox to have a backup and then click on Repair option.
The repair process will take some time for completion for which users have to wait.

I hope these methods will be useful to recover corrupted PST files.
Matt Henry