Summary: The OST file is meant to read data in offline mode. However, in some cases, users find it important to extract the address book from an Outlook OST file. Therefore, this article will help you to extract address book from OST files.
About the OST file
MS Outlook is a known application among large organizations where all the systems are interconnected to each other through Exchange Server. In Outlook, OST files are offline files that store all data items, including emails, contacts, notes, etc. This file allows accessing the data of the mailbox without connecting to Exchange Server. When the user connects with an Exchange Server account, the data is saved into an OST file.
The OST file is a copy of the mailbox data stored on the server. Thus, to make it accessible, users need to convert it to a portable file format. Now, the question is how to extract contacts from the OST file? Users can access contacts by converting them to the Outlook default file format. Through this post, we will discuss the ways to extract the address book from the Outlook OST file.
Reasons to Extract Address Book from OST file
There may be various reasons to pull out the address book from the OST file. The reasons may vary as per the needs of users.
Migration: When migrating to a new client, users need to transfer contacts. You can make this migration simpler after extracting the address book from the OST file to a standard format.
Backup: Users wish to retrieve contacts from the Outlook OST file to create a backup of contact details.
Offline Access: Users can easily access contacts on multiple devices by retrieving them from the OST file and saving them in a standard format.
Selective Sharing: To share specific contacts with others without providing them mailbox access, users need to pull out the address book from the OST file.
Also read: Export Outlook Contacts to vCard File
Manual Procedure to Extract Address Book from OST file
Using the Import/Export feature of Outlook, users can manually pull the address book from OST files.
- Firstly, go to the Outlook program and visit the File tab.
- Then, you will see the Open & Export option on the left side, click on it.
- Now, click on the Import/Export option, and it will show the Import & Export wizard.
- Then, go with the Export to a file option and hit the Next button.
- In the Export dialog box, create a file type option and then select Comma Separated Values. Now, press the Next button.
- Now, pick the Contacts folder in the select folder to export option. Then, tap on the Next button.
- Select the location to save the file by using the Browse button.
- Then, select Replace Duplicates with items exported.
- Now, tap on the Finish button.
- You can add a password to the resultant PST file by providing the password.
Shortcomings of the Manual Method
Users can go for the manual solution to extract the address book from the OST file. But this method has some limitations:
- Lengthy and time-consuming process
- Users may face data loss
- You need Outlook connected to Exchange Server to use the manual method
- This method fails to extract the address book if the OST file is corrupt
Extract OST file Address Book Using the Expert Solution
Users can swiftly and securely extract the OST file address book using the Softaken OST to PST Converter. This marvelous program overcomes all shortcomings of the manual solution and easily extracts a complete address book or selected contacts from the OST file.
Moreover, to work with this program, no technical expertise is required. Every user can handle this program as it is designed with a friendly interface. While extracting the address book, it ensures accuracy and data safety. Here are some more advanced features of the software:
- No restrictions on file size: extract the complete address book from any large OST file
- Extract contacts from the OST file using the filter option
- Highly compatible with Outlook 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, and others
- Easily browse multiple OST files to extract the contacts.
- Retain the entire database hierarchy while extracting the address book from the Outlook OST file
- Free trial option to examine the features of the software before buying
Steps to Extract Address Book from Outlook OST File
- Install and run the suggested program to extract the Outlook OST Address Book
- Add the Outlook OST file from which you need to retrieve contacts.
- View the OST file complete database
- Choose the ‘Contacts Conversion’ option and then choose VCF, CSV, or MSG file format to save contacts.
- Then, tap on the ‘Browse’ button to specify a path for saving the resultant file.
- Finally, press the ‘Convert’ button to commence the process.
Ending Lines
In this post, we have discussed manual and third-party techniques to retrieve the address book from the OST file. Due to some limitations, if the manual solution doesn’t provide you with accurate results, you can use the professional tool suggested in this post. This program allows smooth and accurate extraction of the address book from multiple OST files.
Common Questions and Answers
Ques: Does the utility retrieve the address book from orphaned OST files?
Ans: Yes, using this program, you can extract the address book from the orphaned OST files.
Ques: Can I use this professional tool to extract the address book from an Outlook 2010 OST file?
Ans: Yes, the program is compatible with Outlook 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, and below versions.
Ques: Will this program extract contacts from multiple OST files at a time?
Ans: Yes, using the expert solution, users can add multiple OST files together to extract their contacts.