Hi Guys,

Today, I received a strange error while using outlook. The error has the following message:

That is a very common issue when you try to open apps which are synced with Outlook (in my case Skype). So, as you can see, this error is caused because your Outlook crashed but the Skype (or Lync) still has a reference to that .ost (the outlook data file has an ost extension) file.

So let’s see how this can be solved.

There are 2 methods to solve the issue:

Process 1:

#1: open run, press Windows + R button

Enter the path \Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14\

Or you may have to use this path:

#2: Find Scanpst.exe and run it

Process 2:

#1: Run ProcessExplorer and choose "Find Handle or DLL" from the Find menu.

#2: Search for '.ost'. This will display all open handles to your Outlook data file.

#3: Choose to close all handles to your .ost file

#4: Start Outlook again

& that’s it. You can use any of the two methods to resolve this error.

Now happily enjoy your outlook and Skype J

Rest Is Next!

Thanks,

Vipul