subject: How to Repair Corrupted PST in Account using IMAP [print this page] When you configure Microsoft Outlook with an IMAP server, all your e-mails are downloaded to a locally stored file called PST (Personal Storage File). An IMAP server allows to down load the message with or without the message body. But an IMAP PST is prone to several factors that may lead to its corruption. Such events eventually result into errors that can prevent the file from being accessed or Outlook from starting. However, you can recover from situations if Inbox Repair Tool (Scanpst.exe) proves competent to repair the file, e-mails are present on the server or there is a valid backup available. But if none of the solutions is relevant, you can use a PST Repair utility that can safely retrieve lost e-mails from a corrupted PST. To illustrate such problems of PST corruption, suppose you use a PST for downloading e-mails for a webmail account (for say, Gmail account). The account is configured to sync using IMAP. The system crashes unexpectedly when MS Outlook was accessing the PST. As a result, the next time when you try to expand the PST folders, the below error message pops up: The set folders cannot be opened. Errors have been detected in the file file_path/file_name.pst. Quit Outlook and all mail enabled applications, and then use the Inbox repair tool (Scanpst.exe) to diagnose and repair erros in the file. For more information about the Inbox repair tool, see Help You may also encounter some other error message that suggests to run the Inbox Repair Tool. Cause Outlook PST used by the webmail account is corrupted due to unexpected crash. If the file is opened and the crash occurs that can corrupt it. Solution The below mentioned solutions can help you recovering from the given problem: You are suggested to backup the file before trying these solutions. 1-Run Scanpst.exe: Locate the Scanpst.exe file and specify the PST file path to start repairing it. If the file location is unknown, open Outlook and click Tools | Account Settings | Data Files and note it. 2-Create a new account and sync: Create a new IMAP account in Outlook and sync the e-mails from the server. 3-Use backup: Restore from the last backup. 4-Use a PST Repair Tool: If the e-mails have been deleted from the server, no backup is available and Scanpst.exe fails, you need to use a PST Repair utility to repair and restore the corrupted file.
