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Office 2013 and later editions of the productivity software brought many changes in an Outlook email client. One key change is storing the mailbox data exclusively in offline Outlook Data file (or OST) in the case of Outlook 365, Exchange, IMAP, and Outlook.com accounts. Meaning, there’s no mailbox data available in PST format unless you’d intentionally taken a backup of the OST.
So, what happens if the mail account is not available— the mailbox data would reach an inaccessible state, as the user simply cannot access and open such orphaned OST files in Outlook.
Here, in this post, we will help you come over this practical problem by sharing about the top 5 OST viewer software.
These software can help you to view and read offline OST file that are orphaned or in an inaccessible state. All these software tools allow easy and smooth selection and scanning of offline OST file to preview the entire mailbox data! Read on.
So, what happens if the mail account is not available— the mailbox data would reach an inaccessible state, as the user simply cannot access and open such orphaned OST files in Outlook.
Here, in this post, we will help you come over this practical problem by sharing about the top 5 OST viewer software.
These software can help you to view and read offline OST file that are orphaned or in an inaccessible state. All these software tools allow easy and smooth selection and scanning of offline OST file to preview the entire mailbox data! Read on.
Stellar Viewer for OST
Stellar Viewer for OST allows users to select the OST file or find it with Find File option. The software also provides comprehensive log report for analysis:
- Three pane preview: The free preview resembles Outlook interface and makes it easier for users to analyze the mail components. Provides preview of bulk sized OST files. With Outlook resembling interface, you can open & view the mail body as it is viewed in Outlook.
- Advanced Search Option: Users can view and read particular items of recovered OST by using the advanced search options.
- Fast Scan & displays all items: The utility shows all the mail items including emails, attachments, Deleted Items, Calendar, Contacts, etc. for viewing.
- Does not needed Outlook and Exchange to Open and View the OST file
- Show log report for orphaned and inaccessible OST file.
- Allows extracting specific mailbox items: Allows saving of a particular mail item directly from the preview by right-clicking that item and selecting desired format i.e. EML, MSG, RTF, HTML, and PDF
- Ensures maintenance of Folder structure: The preview displays all mail items in the prescribed folder structure. Software doesn’t compromise folder hierarchy.
Note: If you want to save OST file data into Outlook PST, then try a free demo of OST to PST converter by stellar.
Turgs OST Viewer
Turgs OST Viewer provides a free preview of scanned OST file to view and read the file without Outlook.
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| Figure: Illustrates 'Preview' interface of Turgs OST Viewer software |
The file-preview highlights the following features:
- Provides a preview of Encrypted and Password-protected data: The software scans and repairs encrypted and password-protected files and provides a preview of these files.
- Opens orphaned OST: A User can view and read the contents of an orphaned or inaccessible OST file with the help of this software.
BitRecover OST File Viewer
The freeware can be used to read offline outlook OST available in orphaned or corrupted state. It allows users to view multiple OSTs.
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| Figure: Illustrates 'Preview' interface of bitrecover OST file Viewer software |
- Standalone application: Does not need any installation or setup for application utilization. This utility is compatible with all available editions of Windows Operating System.
- View Folders and Sub-folders of OST file: Provides a preview of all the stored items in the folders and subfolders of Outlook OST file.
- Provides OST preview of all file size: This software does not impose any file size limitation and allows users to select and preview the OSTs of any size.
Free OST File Viewer
Allows to view and read OST files without any support from other programs.
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| Figure: Illustrates 'Preview' interface of Free OST file Viewer software |
The Outlook OST file viewer utility provides a preview of offline OST file in such a way that you can view any mail component with ease. There is no need to install the Outlook app. Following are the stand out features of the software:
- Preview OST in multiple modes: There are seven different options like Normal Mail View, Hex View, Properties View, etc. to view and read offline OST file, which help to analyze data in different ways.
- Switch View: Users can preview mailbox items in horizontally or vertically, as required.
- Advanced Search: Users can search for a particular mail item by applying Filters. The ‘and/or’ feature in advance search allows precise search options.
Kernel OST Viewer
Kernel OST Viewer is a free downloadable software to preview healthy, orphaned and corrupt OST emails and attachments.
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| Figure: Illustrates 'Preview' interface of Kernel OST file Viewer software |
- Copy and Print OST Email List: Kernel OST viewer allows users to preview, copy and print the OST email list in HTML format for easy data verification.
- File analysis report: The software provides a comprehensive file report to analyze OST data.
- Displays all items: The software displays all the mail items including emails, attachments, Deleted Items, Calendar, Contacts, etc. for viewing.
Conclusion
In this article, we highlighted the top 5 OST viewer software to help you view and read offline (orphaned) OST files. All these software tools are safe, without any risk of virus or malware attack. The downloadable links are from their official websites. These software are available free of cost, with rich functionality for viewing inaccessible OST file data. This software also provide a log report for orphaned, corrupted or inaccessible OST file. Download the most suitable software as per your requirement and test out the utility.