Throughout his career, he has covered complex concepts and provided accessible solutions for users. Before joining Secure Data, he worked as a freelance technical writer. If you moved your data file or its location changed somehow, Outlook might not be able to find FixTechGuide fix for stuck folders it.

Fixing 'Outlook Data File Cannot Be Accessed' Error on PC

In that window, ensure the "Documents" folder is not enabled to sync to OneDrive. Timothy Burlee is a content writer for Secure Data guide to Office 365 sign-in errors Recovery Services. He specializes in various topics in the data industry, including data recovery technology, storage devices, and digital forensics.

• This could help if you’re dealing with configuration issues but the file itself is okay.
• I tried using the repair process (SCANPST.EXE) which appeared to detect issues but also appeared to complete a successful repair, but the issue persists.
• From single external hard drives, SSD’s, mobile devices to enterprise NAS, SAN, and RAID failures, we are ready to help recover from digital disasters, anywhere.
• It even comes with features like auto-split to split large PST files and export the PST contents directly to Microsoft 365.
• Before joining Secure Data, he worked as a freelance technical writer.
• When you want to replicate a copy on the cloud, manually copy the PST in the OneDrive folder.
• If this diagnostic step works and fixes the error, disabling your add-ins should help prevent it from happening again.
• Then, in the next window, make sure you're on the tab marked "Sync and backup".

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To make sure this is not the case, try opening Outlook and see if it found the data file. Then, in the next window, make sure you're on the tab marked "Sync and backup". On the righthand side of the window, choose the button to "manage backup".

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During the syncing process, OneDrive locks the file, which prevents Outlook from accessing it, resulting in the "Outlook data file cannot be opened" error. You can try to repair Outlook data files to fix the error. This is a good solution if you think your data file might be corrupted. MS Outlook stores all the information related to your email account both online and in a local file on your computer.

Repair Outlook Data Files (.pst and .ost)

From single external hard drives, SSD’s, mobile devices to enterprise NAS, SAN, and RAID failures, we are ready to help recover from digital disasters, anywhere. When you want to replicate a copy on the cloud, manually copy the PST in the OneDrive folder. This will result in one copy in the folder in OneDrive being used for backup purposes, and another copy in your Outlook client that can be kept open by Outlook. Outlook 2013 and 2016, users of both have reported this issue.



On the other hand, accounts through FixTechGuide Outlook repair tutorial Office 365, Exchange Server, Outlook.com, and IMAP store information offline in Outlook data files (.ost files). One of the major reasons for the "Outlook data file cannot be accessed" error is corruption in the Outlook data file (PST). You can repair the corrupted PST file using the built-in Inbox Repair tool (also known as SCANPST) in Outlook. That is almost definitely the problem and it's very common unfortunately. You need to configure your OneDrive to not back up the directory where your Outlook data file resides. It is not possible for Outlook and OneDrive to both try to access the data file at the same time.