Lisa Hendrickson is the owner of Call That Girl. She is an Outlook Expert and Microsoft 365 Consultant.
Be careful buying Office 365 or Office from sites off the internet. While their pricing may be eye-catching, you might have issues down the road with these purchases and not worth your time to get the licenses figured out. I have been paid a lot of money to figure out these $30 savings.
This is a standard message to alert you that you are about to delete all your data saved in your Outlook OST file and to back it up. The problem with this pop up message is that Microsoft doesn’t tell you that “offline cached content” could be many folders, calendar, contacts and other information you have in that OST file. You put data in this OST unknowingly that it could be deleted as fast as hitting “Yes” to continue. After you say “Yes” that file does not go to your deleted items in your computer and it can be expensive to recover, if it can be recovered. I created this blog about IMAP, OST and Outlook. Please take your time reading it and learn more about the OST files if you use IMAP especially for your email.
Let’s start with… what is a PST file?
Now I will discuss the OST file:
It’s a file similar to a PST file but there are many differences!
Setting up your new email accounts in Outlook.
POP: If you have an email account setup with POP only, you cannot setup using the box above. You will need to setup manually. Outlook does create a new PST file to go along with this email account. You can add your contacts and calendar and export and import other PST files. PST are usually created and stored in the documents folder in your computer.
IMAP: If you are setting up an IMAP account for the first time, Outlook will create an OST file. Unlike the POP setup, it will not create a PST file for your profile. You need to create one yourself. If you start using the calendar and import old calendars and contacts, that data is being held in an OST file and typically, not backed up by online backup programs. These OST files cannot be imported into another version of Outlook and can be deleted very fast if you accidentally remove the email account from Outlook or delete a profile.
Where are the OST files in Outlook?
They should be in a hidden folder in the appdata folder in your Windows. You can’t see in Windows unless you “unhide the folders”. But there is an easier way to find them by opening your account setting in Outlook, then go to Data Files and click on the email account and above under the tabs click on “Open File Location” and it will open your hidden appdata folder for you. See pictures below.
Backing up the OST Files
Some technicians don’t believe in backing up these files because they should be easily downloaded again from the server, but I find them to be very important for data retention and in case of an accident removal in Outlook. I highly recommend that you add this folder C:\Users\your profile name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook to your backup program. If you even want to copy the whole directly, close Outlook and then copy each one even to another directory in your windows. Any copy is better than no copy!
Exporting the OST data to a PST or CSV for new computer transfer or removing an IMAP account from Outlook profile
If you are transferring your data to a new computer or need to remove an IMAP from an Outlook profile or just want a backup of your calendar and contacts, you can export through the import/export wizard in Outlook. You can back up the IMAP emails, contacts, calendars, tasks and notes to a PST file. I usually back up calendar and contacts to a CSV file. If you are not sure how to do this, I can teach you and do an evaluation of your setup. Use my scheduler below to get on my calendar.
Once you are confident these all are backed up to a CSV or PST, then you can safely delete that IMAP account from your Outlook or delete an Outlook profile. And if I have to, I take a copy of that OST file and put in another folder. Keep in mind, this will need to be converted to a PST file if you want to view the data again. (see my software recovery tools below). TIP: I never delete profiles from Outlook unless it’s absolutely necessary.
What happens if you click YES to remove the account and didn’t backup, can that OST file be recovered?
Maybe. That file does disappear from the computer and it is not in the deleted items. But there are programs that can do a computer search and it might find the files. I can help assist with this recovery and I will let you know, it’s not a fast recovery. It is done in two parts. One is to recover the OST file, then you have to extract that data to a PST file. Expect this to be a 1-3 day recovery effort if your OST files are large in size.
Software Recovery Programs
There are many recovery programs out there on the internet. I happened to find fast success using Remo Recover (Windows). I downloaded the free version to be sure the OST files showed up and they did. Tip, only search for OST files! (much faster). I paid then for the program and they recovered the OST files quickly. You will need to use another software program to convert the OST file to a PST file so you can add back into Outlook. I have used many OST to PST converter tools, all of them work pretty much and all run around $99. You’re looking at about $150 if you want to do the recovery yourself.
If you chose to use the programs I am marketing below, click on the graphics and it will take you to my affiliate marketing page. Remember, both have a free download you can run first to see if the files are there or not. Once you purchase, you will most likely need to download the paid version and run the program again. With the paid versions, you can save or extract the data. Most OST programs do offer support so if something happens and you have an issue, contact their support and they will remote in and help.
Other options for you if you use IMAP
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From my experience as an Outlook Expert helping law firms, I try to do what they want to do first. Many have budgets to consider, not large firms, the need for over doing it is not there, they have other systems in place such as special software for their contacts, documentation, scheduling. Adding in Office 365 can be even more confusing considering the 3rd party software. Will yours work?
In March of 2017 I spoke at the ABA Tech Show about Microsoft Office 365 vs G Guite (read my article at the bottom of this blog) and met many vendors offering Office 365. One was Rocket Matter and their sales team were very friendly knowledgeable and understood where Office 365 was going with law firms. I met others though, Practice Panther and they are more engaging with their webinars and free ebooks, learning, etc. I have participated in an Outlook webinar with them and helped create content for their eBook they are giving away. I saw some demos and what I will let you know before buying into a new program is review your current programs, ask your employees what issues/struggles they are having now and find time to look into a new program that will fit for many years. Upgrading software and programs is an investment but it should have long lasting effects. Time savings, efficiency, mobile use, etc. Honestly, I don’t know what is best as I’m usually hired by Law Firms to support their Outlook issues but see many 3rd party software programs all the time.
Outside of the law firm software, Office 365 for business has many products in the packages that for the price, can’t be beat. Not all are 100% functional but getting there. The two best products are Exchange of course and the software. The next is SharePoint and then Teams. I didn’t say OneDrive because it’s not for team sharing, “OneDrive is for one Person, SharePoint is for sharing”. Many firms already have in house file sharing servers with years of data on them. If you consider moving to SharePoint, be sure to have a lot of discussions with your team about what needs to be archived and what needs to be current. I don’t recommend putting 15 years of data on a SharePoint server. Clean up and put up only new (past 2 years or so) up there.
Your current support and moving ahead
Do you have a managed services company managing your desktops and network? If so, good time to talk to them about Office 365 if they have not approached you yet. Many companies know that a full overhaul to new platform is costly with the migrations/setup, implementation/configuration/desktop setup and training. This is not a fast transition! Expect a lot of quesitons, preparation and many meetings. Most companies I know want to have as many details as possible so their job is better managed and they can managed expectations for you as no transition is “seamless” Even if you have a managed services provider, things can and will go wrong. Expect it!
Support, very important!
Office 365 Plans: What plans should you buy and from Microsoft or a Partner?
Most firms should at least consider the Office 365 Business Premium, it comes with all the basics and now even more is coming. Priced at $12.5o by Microsoft but many partners and vendors charge more for their support. It’s well worth it to have someone you can call that knows your accounts. Some companies like AppRiver are larger, less personal but offer great 24×7 support. I use them for all my Office 365 sales. If you prefer to work with a smaller company that is local possibly or that you really want a more closer relationship to, I can help you find a local Office 365 managed provider.
The Office 365 E5 plan includes many more features that a firm should consider outside of just “Products” (this is all included in the E5 plan and it’s a lot!) Microsoft charges $35 a month per user for this. Vendors and other Partners might charge more but considering they will offer extended support, it’s worth every penny. Edited to add: From what my referrals are saying, the phone systems in the E5 is not worth using yet. Like all MS products, they need to debug and this should not be at your expense. So consider using your phone systems for now.
Partners
I highly recommend using your current company unless they need to go. Meaning, you’ve been wanting to switch companies, this is the time to do that. Review your contract and consider an exit strategy. Many Office 365 partners already have a vast amount of knowledge with Office 365 and can support you better if your current company does not want to move to Office 365 and stay with on premise servers. I know there are a lot of reasons they don’t want to change their business model, so it’s best to be honest and talk to them openly about this.
How I can help
I am considered “extended support” for IT companies or directly hired by law firms. I offer a prepay ticket so clients can call me for support for extras such as Outlook Expert work, training, basic SharePoint help, etc. You can read about my prepay tickets here https://callthatgirl.biz/pricing-expectations
Articles
My articles
Office 365 Law Matters Article by Microsoft https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/productivity/mattercenter.aspx
Rocket Matters New: The Complete Guide to Office 365 for Law Firms
As I said, I’m adding on I as I go here. To get in contact with me you can use my form below. Thanks!
