Copied my archive.pst to a new laptop and double clicked it expecting my mail. Windows throws an error saying the file must be opened from within Outlook, or offers to find an app for it.
Is the file damaged from the copy or am I opening it wrong?
Outlook data files must be opened within Outlook: double click error
Solved Email & Outlook
AJ
Andrew Jackson June 3, 2020
2 replies
6,930 views
Reviewed by moderators
Opening it wrong, and the file is almost certainly fine. A PST is not a document, it is a database that only Outlook mounts. Mounting happens through Outlook's own menu rather than Explorer.
1
Open Outlook itself on the new laptop with any account configured, even a throwaway one, since Outlook needs a profile to run.
2
File, Open and Export, Open Outlook Data File, browse to the copied archive.pst and select it.
3
The archive appears as its own branch in the folder pane, browse and search it like any mailbox.
4
To detach later, right click its root in the folder pane and choose Close, the file stays on disk, just unmounted.
Two caveats from the copying itself. If the PST came off the old machine while Outlook was running there, the copy can carry inconsistencies, so if folders look odd after mounting, run SCANPST.EXE from the Office folder against it. And check the file's properties on the new laptop: files copied from some external drives or downloaded arrive read only or blocked, and a read only PST mounts with errors, untick read only and hit Unblock if the button appears.
Mounted through the menu and everything is there. It was also read only from the USB stick, unticked that after your note and the folder counts settled correctly.