Why I need an OST Viewer?

Exchange Server keeps mailbox data as EDB files at the Exchange Server end. The same mail data for a particular user is stored at the OST file when the user access the mailbox using a MAPI client like Outlook. There are cases were OST file fails to synchronize when the MAPI gets deleted and which makes OST file Orphan. Chances are there for an OST file becomes damaged too. You might also need to scan and view the OST file in case of Exchange Server downtime to view the mailbox items and that times I would recommend you a very good tool which I have found: Stellar OST Viewer

More about Stellar OST Viewer

I had a chance to use this free utility on my corrupt OST file. Fortunately, I was able to use this tool without much ‘How to use’ documentation as it was found very simple tool to use with. Just browse the OST file and everything at mail mailbox (emails, contacts, calendars, notes, tasks) has been loaded, exactly similar to my Outlook!!! Just saved some of the emails are .msg format.  Also found some supporting formats like EML, RTF, HTML, and PDF useful in your way.

Features – Stellar OST Viewer at a Glance !

Displays Outlook File Detail : Such as emails, contacts, calendar, etc. in a list format.

Search for an OST:  ‘Select OST File’ or search for an OST file using ‘Find OST File’

Allows Deep Scan: Found that it lists entire items in the same folder hierarchy and looks like a powerful algorithm !

Mail Preview supports: Includes info like ‘subject line’, ‘From’, ‘To’, ‘CC’, ‘BCC’

Multiple Formats: From the preview window, I was able to save the email as EML, MSG, RTF, HTML and PDF formats.

Compatibility: Operating system support is found as Windows 8, 7, Vista, and XP. The tool is found as works with Outlook 2013 (32/64 Bit), 2010, 2007, and 2003 versions !

Some more Details: How it looks like

A very user friendly interface as you can see in the below screenshot

The ‘Select OST File’ option  allows to  select the OST file, if the location of the file is known and if you  don’t not know the location, choose the ‘Find OST File’ option. ‘Find OST File’  will popup a new windows as below, in which you can select Drive, Folders etc. You can also select the option to go inside sub folders by putting the check mark for this. See this as shown below:

I was able to view  the OST file contents as shown below:

Once the OST file is scanned, the tool lists all the folders in its original hierarchy. The left side of the interface showed all my folders including Inbox, Drafts, Sent Items, Contacts, Calendar, and more. I further navigated to each folder to see the mail items in the middle pane of the same interface. The software also allowed me to have a preview of the selected mail items on the right side of the interface. The preview contained the ‘Subject’, ‘From’, ‘To’, and ‘Cc’ fields etc. Unfortunately, I am not able to show you the mailbox contents here 🙁 and thus copying something from their portal to show you the look and feel:

The Find Message’ option at the toolbar can be used to search for any particular mail items. However, I did not use that option, as I was able to find all my mail items.

Saves Mail in MSG/EML/RTF/HTML/PDF formats

Once I previewed my mail items, it was very simple to save them in any of the given formats: MSG, EML, RTF, HTML, and PDF. I just had to right click on the scanned mail items and choose any desired format. Since I wanted to save the mail items in the EML format, I choose the ‘Save as EML’ option as shown below.

Conclusion

Stellar OST Viewer is found as the best for my purpose. Being a free utility, it does not have any limitations or restrictions to view or save the mail items. It allowed me to view all my OST file content easily and efficiently. I was able to preview the mail items as well as saved them in a desired format. With so many features and compatibility across different versions of Windows and Outlook, the software proves to be the best in its kind.