Top-Notch Way to Recover Password Protected PST File Data

Published By siddharth

Approved By Anuraag Singh

Published On May 28th, 2025

Reading Time 6 Minutes Reading

Category Microsoft Outlook

In a world full of so many responsibilities, it is not a big deal to forget things. But when it comes to the password of an important file, things get more complex. In the case of web-based email services like Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, etc., users simply contact the support team for assistance and recover passwords easily. But when it comes to forgetting the password of a protected PST file in an Outlook email client, users get confused about what to do.

Keeping such basic requirements of users in mind, various popular solutions are available to recover data from protected PST data files. So here, in this blog, different possible ways to recover protected PST files are discussed. Along with this, it also provides an efficient solution on how to repair protected Outlook PST data files.

Common queries asked by the users:

“10 days back, I moved to a new organization where I tried to open my old PST file that contains data from my previous company. However, when I was loading it to Outlook, I realized that it is protected. Now, I am in the situation where I have tried every possible password that I could ever set, but nothing works perfectly. I do not know what I should do next to open it? Moreover, there are some online services available for the same to recover protected PST file, are they safe to use? If anyone has any suggestions, please provide. Thanks in advance.”

“One of my clients sent me a PST file via Gmail that contains crucial emails in it. Now, he has gone for vacation and I am unable to contact him and the PST file that he sent me is password protected and corrupted. I do not know the password and it is really urgent for me to access the data in the file within two days as our project is on hold because of it. Therefore, I am looking for a solution that let me recover data from PST file protected quickly. How can I repair protected PST without data loss? Any suggestions?”

Multiple Ways to Recover Protected PST File

The manual approach to recover or unlock protected PST files varies from version to version of MS Outlook. Thus, this section of the post will let users know different manual approaches based on the Outlook version. This will allow users to recover data from protected Outlook PST files.

Approach-1: For MS Outlook 2010 & Above Versions

1. First of all, open Microsoft Outlook 2010 on the local machine
2. Then, navigate to Files >> Account Settings >> Account Settings option
3. After that, an Account Settings window will open. Here, you need to go to the Data Files tab directly
4. Now, you need to choose the desired PST file path and click on the Settings button
5. A new window will open. Click on the Outlook Data File option and simply click on the Change Password button
6. Here, you can set the new password that you want and click on the OK button

Approach-2: For MS Outlook 2002 & Below Versions

1. First of all, you need to come out of the Outlook program and make a backup of the PST file
2. Then, simply run SCANPST.EXE on the PST file to repair it
3. Depending upon the version of Outlook, SCANPST.EXE is found in these locations:

4. After that, click on the Start >> Run option to open the command prompt
5. Then, you need to either type or paste the file path to PST19UP with your PST file name: PSTUPG19.EXE-file_name.pst. Hit Enter key
6. Here, the command line will resemble like: “C:\My Documents\pst19upg.exe”- Outlook.pst
7. Now, a new copy of the PST file is created with the name “filename.psx”
8. As the process is completed, simply rename the original PST file
9. Now, you have to type “pst19upg.exe- filename.psx” at the command prompt and press Enter
10. After all this, a new password-free PST file is created from the PSX file
11. Now, you can easily open your Outlook application and open the PST file.

Recover Data from Protected PST File

Recovering data from protected PST files via the manual solution discussed is not always successful. The manual tricks are not guaranteed solutions as they depend on the version of Outlook. In some of the versions, there is no proper manual method available to remove passwords. So that users can access the data from it. Keeping all such situations in mind, it is suggested to switch to some pro solution as soon as possible. The SysTools Outlook PST File Repair Software is the popularly used application that allows unlocking protected PST files and permits users to access data stored in the Outlook data file(.pst).

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The software is designed in a manner that repairs corrupted PST files in just a few simple clicks. Moreover, a user can recover and fix corrupted PST files in Outlook 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003, etc. also using this application. The software is a complete package to recover data from a protected Outlook PST file in all possible scenarios. The tool can decrypt encrypted Outlook emails effectively without data loss.

Final Words

‘How to recover protected PST files?’ is a major problem faced by Outlook users. To provide more security and protection, people will add a password to Outlook data files. Later they will forget the password and cry for a solution to recover data from PST files protected by password. The best solution is proposed in this blog. Here, both manual and professional solutions are covered for the sake of users. When it comes to choosing between the two, the professional solution will be the suitable one as it is a single solution for all versions of Outlook. Moreover, it can repair protected PST files and allows to recovery of data without any loss or drawbacks.