PST and OST files are equally important data files that you can find after installing the Outlook desktop software on your Windows computer. No matter which version of Outlook you installed on a Windows computer, you can find those files for sure. These two files primarily require Outlook to open, view or import. However, you can also view PST and OST files without importing and Outlook. Here are some of the best methods that you can use on your Windows computer.

What is PST file in Outlook?

PST is the short form of Outlook Data File. When you add account in your Outlook app, get massages, or do other activities, they get saved in a file, and it works only when the internet is enabled. That specific file has an extension called .pst.

What is OST file in Outlook?

PST and OST files are almost the same except OST file helps you get your emails, contacts etc. when you are offline. Let’s assume that your internet connection has suddenly stopped working or you are in a place where you need to enable the airplane mode. At such moments, you can still check your mails using the .ost file.

As mentioned earlier, you need to have the Outlook to view and import PST and OST files. However, if you do not have that application on your computer, and you do not want to purchase it for another computer, you can check out these tools and methods.

How To View PST And OST Files Without Importing And Outlook

1] G Suite Migration for Microsoft Outlook

This is a simple application from Google that helps you migrate your emails from Outlook to G Suite. It works perfectly, and you can get your job done without any issue. As this is a migration tool, you can transfer your data from Microsoft account to Google account with the help of G Suite Migration for Microsoft Outlook. The user interface is pretty good as it doesn’t come with a huge list of options. You can automatically choose the PST file, and select an option between Migrate all data and Migrate only new data. Following that, you need to select what you want to transfer and click the Migrate button. Download

2] OST Viewer

As the name says, this software will let you open the OST file without any problems on your Windows 10 computer. It has several options, apart from being an OST file viewer. For example, you can get a preview, display proper information, run without Outlook, simple GUI, retain folder structure, open orphan OST, and more. As said, the user interface is simple, neat and clean so that you do not encounter any problem while using it for the very first time. Unfortunately, it cannot read the .pst file of Outlook. Download

3] Kernel OST Viewer

Kernel OST Viewer is an advanced tool that includes several essential features for your benefit. For example, it can open OST files without Exchange account and Microsoft Outlook application, display all the details involved in an OST file, find particular OST email items, open OST email attachments, and more. The best thing about this tool is that you can open corrupted OST files too. This feature might be useful if your computer was under malware attack and you cannot open the OST file on your computer. On the other hand, this is possible to print the OST email list in HTML format so that you can get a hard copy for any purpose. Download

4] CoolUtilis PST and OST Viewer

https://youtu.be/gNyxkj-VQ_s

This is a two-in-one software for Windows that helps you open the PST as well as OST files without Outlook software. No matter if you have Windows Vista or Windows 10, you can download and use this utility for your benefit. It can help you sort emails by specific fields such as name, date, sender, recipient, etc. On the other hand, it can generate data file by filters such as subject, sender, CC, BCC, delivery, and more. The last but not the least functionality is the PST or EML converter. This will let you move your emails from Outlook to Mozilla Thunderbird, Apple Mail, or any other email clients. Download

5] Kernel Outlook PST Viewer

Kernel Outlook PST Viewer is a free software for Windows 10 that lets you do what is mentioned in the title. In other words, you can open healthy PST files, view all folder in the original view, view notes, calendars, emails, contacts, etc. and more. Apart from that, you can filter emails by the subject, recipient, sender, etc. If you are looking for specific information, you can search for that as well. Like the Kernel OST Viewer, this tool will let you open any corrupted PST file efficiently. This tool works with almost any PST file made by Outlook 365, 2019, 2016, and some other older versions. It is compatible with Windows 95 and all the later versions including Windows 10. Download

6] PST File Viewer

PST File Viewer is probably the most useful tool to open, view, and read PST files without Outlook. It doesn’t matter whether you have a healthy or corrupted PST file, you can open that with the help of this tool. Like some other tools as mentioned above, it offers some filters to get specific information immediately. Apart from that, you can get a preview of the email, calendars, contacts, notes, etc. In case, you want to export the data; you can do that to HTML format. In other words, it has an in-built PST to HTML converter. The free version doesn’t have any date range filter and EML converter whereas the same features are included in the PRO version that costs $49 only. Download

These are some of the best tools to view PST and OST files without importing in Outlook. I hope these tools will be helpful to you.