Outlook PST files are the hub of all Outlook data. All important emails, Contacts, Notes and Calendar entries are saved within them and all organizations take utmost care to protect them. In addition to the usual security procedures like firewalls and anti-viruses, protecting the PST files through password authentication is a cool way to further safeguard the crucial data within them. However, like all other passwords, once you apply a password to PST file, you should maintain and manage it from time to time.
This might sound like an extra overhead to some people when it is in fact, pretty simple.
This guide will discuss the PST password in detail and also outline the steps to reset, remove or recover it if it is lost.
Resetting the PST password
If you’re using a password protected PST file, you would know that every time you launch Outlook, a pop-up window prompts you to enter the password before granting access to the contents inside. Though there is an option to save that password in your password list, doing so might compromise the password’s safety as anyone who knows how to access that list can get their hands on the password. It would be better to manually enter the password each time you login.
That said, typing the same cryptic jumble of numbers, characters and symbols can become quite boring after some time. Plus, it is always recommended to keep changing passwords to curb hacking attempts on them. To keep it interesting and also healthy, you should thus reset your Outlook PST password from time to time.
To fulfil this purpose, go through the following steps:
- In the Outlook folder list, right-click on the .pst file name whose password you want to reset.
- Choose Properties / Data File Properties (depending upon Outlook version) -> Advanced.
- Then click on “Change Password”. This will open a dialog box with 3 text fields.
- Type in the old password in the first text field, the new one in the second and re-type the new one in the third.
- Click on ‘OK’ to confirm and close the pop-up and then return to Outlook.
Removing & Recovering the PST password
You might need to remove or recover the password of a PST file if you forget it and subsequently cannot access your Outlook data. Even when repeated attempts and several character combinations fail to unlock a password protect PST file, removing or recovering the password is the only option left to regain access to Outlook data.
Here are the different ways to achieve this:
- Removing password by pst19upg.exe and ScanPST.exe
Much before Outlook 2003 came into existence, a utility called ‘pst19upg.exe’ was introduced by Microsoft to upgrade the old versions of .pst files to make them compatible with recent versions. However, a side-effect of this utility was the removal of PST password during the process.
You can use this side-effect of the utility to your advantage by combining it with the built in ScanPST utility to remove the password of a .pst file in case you’ve forgotten it. Here’s how this will work:
- Quit Outlook and backup your PST file.
- Locate ScanPST.exe from Windows search or at the usual location – C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OfficeXX (where XX is the version number) and run it.
- When prompted, select the PST file and then choose Repair. (Since you’ve already backed up your PST, you needn’t select the Backup option).
- Go to Start -> Run and type ‘cmd’ in the Open dialog box to launch a command prompt.
- Locate the ‘pst19upg.exe’ utility and copy its path.
- Paste this path in the command prompt or manually enter it followed by your PST name:
<path>\pst19upg.exe –x filename.pst
- Hit enter. This command will export (-x flag) the data in your PST to a new file called “filename.psx” (where filename is the same name as the original PST file).
- Once the process completes, rename the original PST to something else such as filename.old.
- Now at the command prompt run the following command:
<path>\pst19upg.exe –i filename.psx
- Hit enter. This command will import (-i flag) all the data within the PSX file into a new PST file with the name “filename.pst”. This newly created PST now has all data of your original PST without the password. Problem solved!
- To finish up, run ScanPST.exe and select the new PST when prompted. Choose Repair.
- To access the data within the recovered PST, launch Outlook and go to File -> Open -> Outlook Data.
Pros :
- It is fairly simple and straightforward.
- It is free of cost since all in-built tools provided by Microsoft are used.
Cons:
- It does not work with Outlook 2003 and later versions.
- This method needs a large amount of space to work (approximately 3 times the size of the PST itself).
- This method does not guarantee success.
2. Using third-party automated tool to recover PST password
To overcome the limitations of the above mentioned manual method, third-party Outlook PST password recovery software should be used. A word of advice here, when choosing a PST password recovery tool, go for one that achieves the task in the best possible way rather than opting for freeware.
Since at the end of the day, it boils down to the fundamental question of priority – task achieved in minimal time or money?
A tool we’d like to recommend for this purpose is Outlook/PST password reset tool. Stellar Password Recovery for Outlook tool will surely help you to resolve lost or forgotten password issue, and save your time and effort with the outcome of guaranteed success.
Hope that you’ll choose the right method to recover your PST password if need be.