Rebuilding Cache for Outlook

Overview

This article explains how to rebuild the cache of an Outlook data file.

How-To

Occasionally, it is necessary to rebuild the cache of an Outlook data file to resolve issues that are happening within Outlook.

  1. Close the Outlook client
  2. Navigate to C:\Users\<user profile>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

(AppData may be hidden, go to View > Check the box for Hidden Items)

  1. Locate the file that is ending in .ost
  2. Right click and rename the file to .old
  3. Open Outlook and check if the issue is resolved
  4. If issue persist, please follow steps from Microsoft’s Outlook For Windows Troubleshooting and choose one of the topics on the left-hand side
  5. For Outlook issues on a Mac, please see Outlook For Mac Troubleshooting
  6. If none of the above steps resolve the issue, rebuild the Outlook Profile
  7. Verify any Outlook Rules to rule out any unwanted filtering of emails by going to File - Rules and Alerts

Outcome

The user will have rebuilt the Outlook cache and refreshed mailbox data, which may resolve syncing, performance, or display issues within Outlook.

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