The contacts should be in that .pst you have that you backed up, if you just click on that .pst when outlook is closed does it open it? EDIT: It looks like you can import your .pst then tell that account to use your old .ost as its datafile.If you already have made your new .pst hit file, import/export, choose import from program and pick your .pst with the contacts in it.(whoops Ranger already covered this my bad)
https://support.office.com/en-us/art...b-0d1892e2aacc
Hi Ranger 4, Yes I was able to find my only PST file and successfully import it. All folders came across in to Outlook 2016. However when I set up outlook 2013 ( POP 3), I created another set of folders, different from the ones that are on the PST file. I believe they are on the OST file which I also copied. When I go on to Webmail I can see this set of folders which are on the server, however only 10% of my Addresses / contacts are on the server. I have checked the PST folder and there are no addresses stored in the address book. When I try yo open the PST file when Outlook is closed, I get a message, "data file can only be opened from within Outlook"
Thanks for your response
The .pst files can only be opened in Outlook.
Are you using Outlook 2013 & Outlook 2016 on the one computer?. Only one version of Outlook will work. Having 2 versions on the one computer will cause problems.
This MS website might help explain .pst & .ost files for you.
https://support.office.com/en-us/art...2-f331f60e2790
Hi, I only have Outlook 2016 installed, my PST file was created from Outlook 2013. The document you highlighted explains the difference between OST and PST, however what I don't understand is that when I created my Outlook account in 2013, I used POP 3 and again this time I used POP 3 but on this occasion I pointed my account to the PST file that had been created. What I don't understand is that I have a 2GB OST file which I know contains my folders which I can see on Webmail. Do you know where my Contacts address book would be?
What I think has happened is that you set a new email account in Outlook 2016, rather that importing your old .pst files from Outlook 2013. So when you imported those files into 2016 it has copied your folder set up from 2013, so you now have some duplicated folders.
Your contact address book should have been in the Outlook Files folder on your old Outlook 2013, in your Documents Library.
Are you sure you copied all the files in your old Outlook Data folder. All email accounts should be in that folder as well as your Address Book. It seems that you may have lost your Address Book somewhere along the way.
I don't know how to get files back from the email server, but you could try phoning your email provider to see if they can help you.
Thanks Ranger 4 for all your help and all who responded to my query. I think I have lost my address book, and I'm now in the process of manually making a new one.
Its unfortunate, I have a 2GB OST file which a made a back-up but cant read.
Thanks for getting back & updating things. Did you try contacting your email provider to see if they could help with getting back your address book.
Hi, I went on to my web mail, I could see all the folders and e-mails I wanted and found they could be exported back to my PC, however the address book had only a fraction of the addresses I initially had. I felt it was easier to make a new address book and manually type in each contact. However, I'm still at a loss why MS store the OST file on your PC and don't allow you to read it or import it.
I just hope I have setup my Outlook 2016 account correctly as my 7 year old PC is now on its last legs and I know within the next 12 months I will be looking for a replacement. When configuring Outlook, I pointed the account at the PST file I had backed-up.
Now that you have Outlook 2016 set up, you could check to see what is in the Outlook 2016 Data Folder. This folder should be in your Documents Library & named Outlook Files.
If you open this & Right Click individually on each item & select Properties it will tell you if it is a .pst file. On my Outlook 2013 all the files in my Outlook Files are .pst files & that includes the Address Book. You cannot open these files from here but you can check on their properties.
Hi Ranger4 , apologies for the delay in responding, I was away for a short break. I have checked where the file is located and it is a PST file, so it looks like I have set it up Outlook correctly this time.
Once again thanks for your help.
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