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3 Ways to Retrieve 0 Byte PST File in Outlook Effortlessly

  Mohit Jha
Published By Mohit Jha
Nimisha Ramesh
Approved By Nimisha Ramesh
Published On July 31st, 2026
Reading Time 3 Minutes Reading

A 0 Byte PST file in Outlook means the PST data file shows 0 KB in size. This appears usually after interrupted transfer, corruption, disk errors, or improper Outlook shutdown. In many cases, emails can still be recovered by locating the original PST, restoring a backup, restoring from an archived PST, or using an expert-suggested advanced solution.

What is the 0 Byte PST File Error in Microsoft Outlook?

With a 0 bytes error, a regular Outlook PST file will suddenly change from its original size and be reported as 0 bytes in size. You may also lose access to the contents of the PST file, but the content/the file may be searchable using Windows Search. And this is one of the most annoying Outlook PST file issues.

Know More: Get Solution to the Error Outlook Archive .pst Cannot be Found

What are the Reasons for the 0 Byte Outlook PST File Error?

  • Incorrect truncation of the Outlook PST file causes the 0 byte error.
  • This may be due to a hardware failure (including DRAM failure).
  • This can also happen after a Microsoft Windows update.

Top 3 Methods to Fix Outlook 0 Byte PST File Error

After the file size drops to 0 bytes, you cannot access the PST file normally. To access the data stored in the PST file that displays a 0 byte error, you need to repair and retrieve the data. Below are some of the popular ways to recover data from a 0 byte PST file.

  1. Expert-Suggested Solution to Retrive Data from the 0 byte PST File
  2. Retrieve PST Data from Microsoft Outlook Backup Files
  3. Recover Microsoft Outlook Data from Archive PST File

Method 1: Expert-Suggested Solution to Retrive Data from the 0 byte PST File

Outlook PST Repair Tool is specially designed to solve severe corruption. You can repair files using the Inbox Repair Tool, but FreeViewer software is more reliable and accurate than the Inbox Repair Tool. It has an intuitive user interface that is easy for non-technical users to use. It can repair and reduce large PST files.

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Easy Steps to Retrieve 0 Byte PST File Using the Software

For fixing the “0 byte PST file” error firstly, download and install the advanced utility.

  • Step 1. Now, add the PST file by clicking on the Add File icon. The tool offers you two options: Select File or Search File.

    click on select file

  • Step 2. Here, you will see the two scan modes: Quick Scan and Advanced Scan, as per your needs.

    choose the scan mode

  • Step 3. When the scanning procedure is completed, you can preview the data items in various preview modes.

    see multiple preview modes

  • Step 4. Select PST in the Export option and tap the Export button to finish the task.

    export process successfully

Method 2: Retrieve PST Data from Outlook Backup File

If you have a habit of making regular backups of your Outlook PST files, you can quickly recover data from those backups. However, you may be missing items that have not been backed up.

Method 3: Recover Outlook Data from Archive PST File

In Outlook, archive items are stored elsewhere. Therefore, a 0 byte error in the default PST file does not affect archive items. So you can recover old Outlook items from archived PST files.

Conclusion

In this post, we have described several ways to restore a 0 byte PST file. If you have an Outlook PST file backup, you can import it by creating a new PST file. Damaged PST files can be recovered using the tool.

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