Steps to Recover Lost PST Password

Enforcing PST (Personal Storage File) password protection conforms to prevention against prying eyes that may otherwise harm the privacy of important e-mails stored in the file. By far, it is the most reliable method to preclude the undesired and unauthorized access. But as happens to all, a PST owner can lose or forget the password and lose the ability to open or access e-mails from the file. For any user with important data in such files, the experience can turn to be more upsetting if it finds no suitable backup to restore. To help users in such situations, there are various PST Password Recovery applications.

Let's take an example to clarify such problems and steps to recover the lost PST password. A user configures Microsoft Outlook to receive all e-mails of business use. As a result, the PST file piles up with some of very important and confidential e-mails that should not be disclosed. Thus to add a safety net, the user applies a complex password and doesn't save it in password list. Also, it doesn't save this password anywhere on paper or in any file.

The next time, when it tries to open the password-protected PST, it cannot recall the password. As a result, all the e-mails and other PST items remain inaccessible to the user.

Solution

Following are the standard steps, if applied in sequence, can help a user to recover lost or forgotten PST password:

Step 1: Take your time and try to recollect the password. Most of the users keep a definite set of passwords for their files. Try to unlock the file using the most frequent passwords you use.

Step 2: Download and install pst19upg.exe utility from the Internet and use it to upgrade your PST. Ideally, this is a Microsoft provided program to update the file but the resultant file it generates is free from password protection.

Step 3: Use a third-party application to recover Lost PST Password. These Password Recovery utilities provide an easily operable interface. Such software usually generate a series of PST usable passwords.

Stellar Phoenix Outlook Password Recovery is a powerful solution to recover lost or forgotten Outlook PST passwords. This PST Password Recovery tool supports MS Outlook 2007, 2003, 2002, and 2000. It provides multiple (precisely six) PST passwords, each of which can be used to open the password-protected PST. The software is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2003, and 2000.

My Experience of Recovering Forgotten PST Password

It was the last weekend when I used a commercial PST Password Recovery tool to unlock my Outlook PST . Through this reading, I would like to share my experience of how I lost and finally recovered the password for the PST.

I use Microsoft Outlook as the default e-mail account and usually receive quite important and confidential e-mails related to business and friends. I know the fact that Outlook maintains a single file called PST to store all e-mails and other items, but never thought of taking backup as I had full faith in the reliability of my computer.

Then one day, my boss told me that I needed to go for a business trip to finalize a deal with one of our client for some weeks. But before leaving, I wanted to ensure the privacy of my Outlook e-mails. Thus I spent a complete day to search for the solution and finally discovered that Microsoft Outlook allows setting a password for its PST that can act as a safety measure against unauthorized access. I followed the described steps and defined a 20 character long password. Just to ensure more safety, I used various special characters too.

My biggest mistake was that I didn't write this password anywhere as I had much confidence on my memory. After I returned and started Outlook to access the e-mails, it asked for a password. But unfortunately, I could get it as I forgot the one. I tried hard but couldn't succeed. This was a critical data loss for me as I wanted my e-mails at any cost.

At last, I searched on Google and found two main options to deal with such problems: pst19upg.exe and third-party Password Recovery utilities. Since pst19upg.exe is a freeware, I chose it first and used it on the backup of my PST, but it didn't work. Finally I used Stellar Phoenix Outlook Password Recovery and it easily recovered my Lost PST Password within couple of clicks. The PST Password Recovery software gave 6 PST passwords, each of which was usable to open the file.

The product is easy to use and supports MS Outlook 2007, 2003, 2002, and 2000.The tool also supports the latest Windows 7, which I found the most striking feature. You just need to specify the file path and the Password Recovery software will generate a series of passwords for you.