Company shut down and I salvaged my mailbox as an OST file from the work laptop before returning it. My email life now runs on a personal Gmail.
Can this OST end up inside Gmail so everything is searchable in one place?
How to import an OST file to Gmail?
Solved Email & Outlook
MS
Michael Scofield October 8, 2020
2 replies
8,140 views
Reviewed by moderators
It can, in two hops. Gmail ingests nothing Outlook shaped directly, and an orphaned OST is doubly locked since even Outlook refuses it outside its original profile. So: OST to PST first, then PST to Gmail.
Hop one: convert with a standalone OST reader, SysTools OST Converter reads the file without the old profile or server and writes a normal PST. Confirm the folder counts against what you remember of the mailbox.
Hop two has two options. The clean bulk route is Google Workspace Migration for Microsoft Outlook, GWMMO, Google's free tool: sign in with the Gmail account, point it at the PST and it uploads mail, contacts and calendar server side. It was built for Workspace but signs into regular Gmail accounts too.
The manual route needs no extra tool: add the Gmail account to any desktop Outlook over IMAP, attach the PST alongside via File, Open and Export, Open Outlook Data File and drag folders from the PST into the Gmail account. Fine for a few GB, tedious beyond that since each folder must finish uploading before the next.
Converted the OST, then GWMMO uploaded 6GB overnight including my contacts. Everything searchable in Gmail now, exactly what I wanted.