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AR15.COM
4/26/2026 6:23:55 PM EDT
Kinda at my wits end here and hoping someone can help.  Using a 2020 DELL Inspiron laptop loaded with MS Office 2019 (not MS365).  I use Outlook extensively...email, Calendar, Contacts and notes.

Logged on a couple weeks ago and had some trouble.  Went into some sort of 'updating' mode and after several restarts I was able to log on.  But, when I opened Outlook my email was there but all personal folders I had created were gone along with calendar, contact and notes data.

Anyone know how to recover this data?
4/26/2026 8:03:51 PM EDT
[#1]
Do you mean "Outlook the program installed on your computer" is missing data?

Do you use the Office 365 Web-Based stuff at all?  

Microsoft One Drive? Can you log into that on a browser?

The two possible files on the computer that could have become corrupted that store that stuff are "PST" and "OST".  Search your drives for "*.OST" and "*.PST" and see if they come up. If they do, write down their locations and make a copy of them (just so any troubleshooting doesn't make things worse.)

One of the things Outlook does when it fucks up your data is start a new profile and bypass the old stuff. It might be sitting there somewhere.

Get onto youtube and find a video that shows you how to find these files with your version of Outlook.

There are ways to import/export these files and if you find them and get up and running, I recommend a weekly export as a backup.
Mercy on the criminal is cruelty to the innocent.
4/26/2026 10:40:18 PM EDT
[#2]
I'll give that a try.  Thanks.
4/26/2026 10:42:28 PM EDT
[#3]
Originally Posted By RR_Broccoli:
Do you mean "Outlook the program installed on your computer" is missing data?

Do you use the Office 365 Web-Based stuff at all?  

Microsoft One Drive? Can you log into that on a browser?

The two possible files on the computer that could have become corrupted that store that stuff are "PST" and "OST".  Search your drives for "*.OST" and "*.PST" and see if they come up. If they do, write down their locations and make a copy of them (just so any troubleshooting doesn't make things worse.)

One of the things Outlook does when it fucks up your data is start a new profile and bypass the old stuff. It might be sitting there somewhere.

Get onto youtube and find a video that shows you how to find these files with your version of Outlook.

There are ways to import/export these files and if you find them and get up and running, I recommend a weekly export as a backup.
View Quote


^this - you should be able to find ‘em (OST is a cache file so if not using w/ Exchange won’t be present).  Easy enough & go to File —> Import to re-add to your Outlook/account profile.  If they give errors attempting to open, you can use the SCANPST & SCANOST tools to try & repair.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/repair-outlook-data-files-pst-and-ost-25663bc3-11ec-4412-86c4-60458afc5253
4/27/2026 12:18:08 PM EDT
[#4]
Good info.  Thank you!

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