Hi!
I have been getting the talk about Microsoft Office Outlook files namely, OST and PST. I am getting a grasp of OST files and I have been able to access them and make changes offline. What I do not understand is how to compare OST files that are resting on the same exchange server. This could be very important especially when I want to synchronize files but I would like to have them compared before I can proceed with the sync. Thanks.
How can I compare OST files before a sync?
Hi Raymond,
Good Question!! Most of the users have confused about the concept of OST file and PST file. Both file stores at default location in your system and contains the email information but concept is different.
PST (Personal Storage Table) file is automatically created when you configure your outlook profile with your POP3 email account like gmail, yahoo and much more and store complete information of the emails such as messages, contacts, attachments.
OST (Off-line Storage Table): OST file is repository of Exchange database (EDB) file, This file automatically created while you connect your outlook with exchange server. And it has ability to store information in off-line mode also. Suppose that if your outlook has been disconnected from exchange server still communication process will not effected. All emails are store in as off-line storage and after the connection establish all email items send to Exchange database (EDB file).
To know more about the Sync go with link: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/842284/how-to-troubleshoot-synchronization-problems-when-you-synchronize-your
How can I compare OST files before a sync?
Hi Raymond,
I guess you pretty much have an idea of how these files work. Now with regard to OST files, just wanted to clear it out. This file is not located on your exchange server. This is rather a local copy for backup just in case your exchange server is not available. So as per your question “how to compare OST files”, not really sure what you want to achieve here but if you are worried about duplicate emails then let’s just say that your exchange is capable of comparing what you already have in your Outlook and will just download the rest that are not.
If you can elaborate your question more maybe we can give more context to our answers. Keep us posted.