Different Approaches to Recover Contacts from OST File – Efficient Tricks
Many times users find some contacts which are not useful for them and at that time they simply delete those contacts from the Outlook OST file. Deleted contacts go to the trash folder in Outlook until the user empty that folder, so the contact data can be recovered if it is deleted by mistake. But, if the contact is deleted from the trash folder too then how to restore it from OST file is the main question here. This blog will be helpful to the users who want to recover contacts from OST file which are deleted permanently.
User-Queries Regarding to Recover Contacts from OST File
“I have mistakenly deleted one of my important contact from Outlook contacts folder. I need that contact urgently and I have no idea that how could I restore Outlook OST file’s contacts. Please, can anybody help me and suggest some way out to recover that contact because by mistake I had performed permanent deletion on it.”
“I have deleted few of my contacts from Outlook OST folder but now I want to restore deleted contacts from Outlook offline data file. Please suggest me some way out so that I can recover deleted emails & contacts from offline OST file.”
Approaches to Recover Contacts from Offline OST File
The technique to restore Outlook contacts from OST is based on either temporarily deleted or permanently deleted contacts. If the contacts are temporarily deleted then, a manual approach can be used to recover deleted contacts from OST, but if they are permanently deleted contacts then we have to opt automated alternative to restore permanently deleted contacts from Outlook OST file.
Method#1: Manual Approach to Restore Deleted Contacts
The following steps are to be followed to recover contacts from OST file using the manual method:
1. Open Microsoft Outlook on your computer and navigate to the Deleted Items folder
2. Now, select the OST contacts which you want to restore from the deleted items folder
3. Now Right-click on selected contact and choose Move option from the context menu, then select Other folder option
4. A window of Move Items will appear on the screen. Now, from this window, you can navigate to the OST file where you want to save recovered deleted contacts. Then from the list of items, Select Contacts and click OK
5. Now, users will observe that the selected contacts had vanished from the Deleted Items folder of Outlook and will move back to their original location. Therefore, you will successfully able to restore deleted contacts from Outlook OST deleted items folder/
Limitations of Manual Approach
The manual approach to recover contacts from OST File described above is not relevant because when users want to restore a huge amount of data. The manual method is complex, long, and requires a lot of time to recover Outlook contacts from Offline OST file. This approach can be used only to restore temporarily deleted OST contacts. This method is not applicable when users want to restore absolutely lost or permanently deleted contacts.
Method#2: Automated Approach to Restore Deleted Contacts
To overcome the above limitations of the manual method, the most appropriate approach is to use a third-party utility such as OST Recovery Tool, it allows users to recover deleted contacts from Outlook OST file without any loss of data. There are many unique features provided by this recovery tool and these features are very useful while restoring data from offline OST file.
Features
- It can view all OST file items like contacts, messages, calendars, etc.
- It can restore deleted data from Outlook OST file
- It can repair & restore OST into common file types like PST, EML, MSG
- It can also export Selective items/folders by applying filters by date
- It can also split large exported file into smaller ones
- It can support OST file of both compressible and high level-encryption
Conclusion
In this blog, we have discussed two approaches to recover contacts from OST file. One can use the manual approach for recovery of deleted contacts but it is beneficial only for recovering temporarily deleted contacts. It is always advised to go for an automated alternative because OST Recovery Tool restores deleted emails & contacts from Outlook OST file. The software can work independently of permanent or temporary deletion. This recovery tool does not alter or modify contacts.