Outlook .PST File Size

[simonjansen76]

I have been trying to fix two outlook .pst files (2003/2007) that are at or very close to the 2gb capacity. I am not able to move or delete any of the emails that I can see out of the pst files. Please review all of the steps that I have taken before you respond.
1. Copy the emails into a new pst and then delete. I am unable to delete as the pst is at capacity.
2. Move the emails to a new pst. I cannot permanently move the emails because I am at capacity.
3. I used the oversize pst and ost crop tool ( http://support.microsoft.com/kb/296088).
I trimmed the file down to 1.7gb and ran it through the scan pst tool. When reading it back into outlook it said that I was still at capacity even though I removed 0.3gb.
4. I have also opened the .pst files on different computers both before and after cropping with no success.
5. I have also changed the registry settings with no success. (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/832925)
At this point nothing seems to work. Does anyone have a way to resolve this? I have a feeling that since the at capacity error still appears after cropping the file that the pst is encoded to think that it is at capacity when it is not and Outlook cannot get past it. Is there a way to 'crack' the pst? Thank you in advance for any help that you can provide.

 

[JakabRacz]

Looks like you've done quite a bit of research already. i've had this problem recently. ultimately, what did it is upgrading outlook to the newer build (i think it was from 11.65xx.xxxx to 11.82xx.xxxx). for some reason the earlier builds of outlook would not read these "oversized" PST files that were created under 2002/2000/97 PST format (i.e. ANSI PST), regardless of what the registry limits are set to. with the newer build of outlook, it lets you at least copy/move the contents of the ANSI PST file into a newly created (2003 or 2007) UNICODE PST file. once you do that you are home free - keep everything in 2003 or 2007 format and you have up to 20GB or 50GB of max size respectively.
If this doesn't work for you then you may try to repair your pst file. And then again import it into outlook. To do this, use ScanPST from Microsoft. Here you can view more details how to use it. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/272227
If that doesn't help you then try to use Recovery Toolbox for Outlook. This 100% should help. Success. https://fixpstfile.recoverytoolbox.com/

Follow to this thread please
https://www.reddit.com/r/Outlook/comments/29umn0/deleted_all_my_outlook_pst_files_i_cant_recover/

 

[Lexluethar]

So the pst's aren't corrupt?

I can tell you while MS won't support pst's larger than 2 GB i PROMISE they will grow much larger. Currently at my job we have dozens of PST's above the 10 GB threshold and a few at 20 GB.

 

[simonjansen76]

Thank you all guys for your advice! The issue has been resolved.

 

[MidnightShadow]

Glad to hear it. I just came across the largest .PST file I've ever seen in my life...

44.5GB

The folder itself is over 100GB in size (with all of the other data files combined, but the single, primary .PST file is 44.5GB. Incredible. And the user can't understand why Outlook is freezing up so much...

 

[Lexluethar]

Ya our big issue is outlook load times because our user base archive tons of emails using PSTs. We've since stopped that habit but cannot do much about the files already moved.

Largest i've seen is 18GB.