Introduction of OST File – Offline Outlook Data File

About OST Files – OST is the abbreviated form of the Offline Storage Table. It is a type of data files created by default in Microsoft Outlook desktop mail program when used in concurrence with the Exchange Server account in cached mode. These files remain fixed with the mail server configuration and cannot be opened or accessed individually. It is generally termed as offline Outlook data file. The reason being, that it allows users to work with Outlook in offline mode even when the connection to Exchange is not available. The changes made to it get updated at a later time period when connection to server is regained. This is called the process of synchronization. The info that gets synchronized incorporates the following:

• Header: - The header of emails that includes the name of sender, subject line of the message, the time when mail was received and the size of the mail gets matched up.
• Full Items: - Full items that include header, mail body and attachments such as a word file, excel sheet or even images get matched up.

Is Backup Of OST File Necessary To Be Created? - If a Microsoft Exchange account is used its data items such as emails, contacts, calendars and several others are usually carried to and stored on the mail server and OST files are just the replica copies of it. Therefore, they do not have to be backed up like Outlook PST files, another type of Outlook data file.

Other Usage of OST file: - This type of data file is also used for accounts that are set up with the Outlook Connector for Outlook.com which was formerly known as Hotmail.

Outlook Offline Data File (.ost) Location: -

Though the .ost data file has default locations on the system, the files (other than, that is used as the default delivery location) can be saved, copied and also moved to any other location on the computer. They can also be used for sharing purpose on the network. The OST file gets synchronized with the items on the server that runs Exchange. They can be re-created on a new machine without having to back up as the data is stored on the server environment. However, the default locations of OST file in different versions of the Outlook desktop mail program are as follows:

In Outlook 2013

• Windows OS drive: \Users\user\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

In Outlook 2010

• Windows 7 and Windows Vista drive: \Users\user\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook.
• Windows XP drive: \Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook.

In Outlook 2007

• Windows OS drive: \Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook 

How OST Files Function?

• Using the send/receive tab in Outlook, both send and receive functionality can be achieved.  
• Permanently deleted data items are removed from the mail server’s copy as well.

How to Manually Create OST File?
When Outlook is executed for the first time, in conjunction with cached mode Exchange account it automatically creates .ost files. But if a user wishes to create one, then the steps mentioned below should be followed:

1. Open Outlook and click on the File menu to select option ‘Work Offline’ as shown in red color small box in the figure below. In doing this, the ‘offline file’ gets formed on the system and all data from the server gets copied to the New Offline Folder
   
   
2. Select folders for offline utilization. (Most often folders such as Inbox, Outbox, Deleted Items, Sent Items, Calendar, Contacts and Task are made available offline automatically). In order to select any other folder, below mentioned instruction needs to be opted.

i. Click Tools, go to Send/Receive >> Send/Receive Settings > Define Send/Receive Groups and click on it.

ii. In doing this another window of Send/Receive Groups will appear which has a tab called Edit as shown in the red box in the figure below. Click Edit option.

Configuring Gmail Account with Microsoft Outlook (2007)

The web – based email accounts are now frequently used as the easiest and most accurate mode of communication and data sharing. But to stay in touch with these web – based email accounts, the most important attribute that is required is Internet. Without having any connections with the Internet, you may not have access to any of your emails, not even the previously obtained emails.

An important tool for viewing the emails and other data available in web – based email accounts in offline mode too are email clients. Email Clients are desktop based applications using which you can configure your email accounts and view the emails even when you are not connected to the internet.

Microsoft Outlook is the most widely used and preferred email client application. This application, also known as a Personal Information Manager (PIM), can be used for managing the email messages, contacts, calendar items, tasks, notes and journals. Gmail, the most commonly used web – based emailing application is often configured with Microsoft Outlook email client. To facilitate the users, the complete procedure of configuring the Gmail account with Outlook is mentioned below: -

NOTE: - To get started  with the configuration of Gmail account with Microsoft Outlook, you must have the credentials of the Gmail account i.e. the login Email ID and the Password.

Step 1: - Launch Microsoft Outlook by going to the Start Menu and clicking on the Outlook icon.

Step 2: - After the initial window of Outlook appears, click on the Tools tab available on the top ribbon and select E-mail Accounts option from the drop – down menu.

Step 3: - As soon as you click on the E-mail Accounts option, an E-mail Accounts pop – up window appears on the screen. Select Add a new e-mail account option and click Next.

Step 4: - If you want to view or change an existing email account, then you may choose the secondary option i.e. View or change existing email accounts and click on Next.

Step 5: - Now in the next pop – up window, select the POP3 or IMAP accounts settings as per your requirements and click on Next.

Step 6: - After selecting the POP3 option, the new open window asks the credentials as per mentioned in the below image: -

NOTE: -

• Incoming mail server (POP3): pop.gmail.com
• Outgoing mail server (SMTP): smtp.gmail.com

Step 7: - At last, you need to enable the POP settings in your Gmail account. So, log in to your Gmail account, go to Settings and select Enable POP for all mail option under the Forwarding and POP/IMAP options.

After enabling this feature, you will be receiving all the Gmail emails in Microsoft Outlook.