Windows 10: How to find Outlook .ost /.pst files in command prompt

Windows 10 has developed a critical error and, following the assessment of an expert technician, I have been advised to reinstall. The process will remove all apps but preserve my files which are, in any event, backed up daily. I am not sure if the reinstall will erase Outlook's pst files and I'm not sure if I included them in my daily backup routine. I really don't want to risk losing all my archived emails. I am, therefore, looking to find these files on my PC's hard drive and save them to an external hard drive before I initiate the Windows 10 reinstall. I can only access the drive by command prompt or notepad - but I do not know how to search or find the files !
I assume they are hidden in some way. Can anyone suggest a means of finding files stored anywhere on the hard drive in my PC, whether hidden or not, using only DOS commands? I cannot find the file in users/local data or even that file in users. HELP

:)

 

Outlook PST File Problem

That is exactly what I was going to suggest. Export everything to another PST file, delete the old(or rather move it out of the default folder) and replace it with the new PST file that you exported.

 

Copy Outlook .ost file to an offline device

If you are the owner of the Exchange profile, you can configure your account in the Outlook in the new computer and simply download the mailbox data from the Exchange server. But if you want to transfer OST file data to another user, you can convert
OST to PST and then transfer it to the new computer. The new user can import the PST file to his mailbox.

Let’s start the process:

Step 1- Locate OST in your system

To locate an OST file in your system, follow the below-mentioned steps:

· Open Control Panel and click on Mail.

· Select Email Accounts in the “Mail Setup” dialogue box.

· Now, go to the Data Files tab and select the desired account.

· Click on Open File Location to know the location of the OST file.

· The location of your PST file will be opened

Step 2- Convert OST to PST

In this step, you need to convert OST to PST. Though you can export OST mailbox data to PST using the Export feature of Outlook and you can use any third party OST to PST Converter.

 

Outlook PST File Problem

Good to hear it's OK now; I'll remember that solution for future reference.

I thought that limit was raised to like 18gb in Outlook 2003 or something ridiculous like that?

edit: MS KB article discussing pst and ost size limits. According to that, 2003 and 2007 have a default limit of 20gb and 2010 is 50gb. Notice those are default, they can be changed in the registry.