“PST is Not Compatible With This Version of Microsoft Outlook”

“Hi, I formatted my hard drive due to some issues. When I tried to import my Outlook PST file, I encounter an error message “PST is not compatible with this version of Microsoft Outlook”. I tried fixing the Outlook PST file with scanpst.exe it allowed me to open but it shows nothing even though its size is 9 MB. Can anyone provide me a reliable solution to fix this issue?”

Recently most of the forums are flooded with these kinds of queries. Are you facing the same problems? Then read the complete blog. We will share all the possible solutions to troubleshoot this error.

Fixing the Outlook PST file errors is very challenging and can be a serious threat to the integrity and safety of your PST file. Therefore, such errors should be taken seriously and treated with the utmost care. Before we get into its resolution, let’s understand the root cause of this error.

Why PST is Not Compatible with Outlook?

Usually, this error occurs when a PST file is created in the UNICODE format but a user tries to open it with the ANSI format email client version. For instance, if a user creates a PST with newer versions of Outlook like 2003 and tries to open it with the older versions like 2002 and older. They will get the following error message:

The file file_name.pst is not compatible with this version of the Personal Folders information service. Contact your Administrator.” Or “Outlook.pst is not compatible”.

Methods to Fix “PST is not Compatible with this version of Microsoft Outlook”

To resolve the issue, first, you need to create an ANSI format file. After that, you have to import all the data from the original PST file to this newly created PST. Once done, it can be opened without facing any error. Follow the steps to do the same:

This method is applicable to all versions of Outlook from 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019.

1. Open Outlook >> File tab >>Info option.
2. Select Account Settings.
3. In the Account Settings window, select the Data File option.
4. Click on the Add button.
5. Now, enter a name to the file.
6. From the Save as type drop-down box select Outlook 97-2002 Data File as the saving option and click on OK to proceed.
7. Next, click on Yes when prompt to create in ANSI format.
8. Finally, click on Close to finish it.
9. Again, in Outlook Navigation pane, find the PST file you have just created.
10. Use the drag & drop option to transfer all the data from the original PST to the newly created PST file.

After completion of all the steps, you will be able to open that newly created ANSI format file with the older version of Outlook.

Although this method is free, yet it is complicated & tiresome. As you have to drag and drop every single item from the original file to the new one. Alternatively, you can use the Import and Export utility of Outlook to perform the process.

Is the Issue Still Persist?

In case, the PST is not compatible with this version of Microsoft Outlook problem is not resolved by using the above mentioned methods, it implies that your PST is corrupt. So, we recommend to use a third-party tool to fix your Outlook PST file corruption.

PST file recovery is a reliable and trustworthy tool to repair harshly broken files without any file size limitation. It is an easy to use and effective software to recover emails from corrupted UNICODE PST file. Moreover, the tool will easily restore permanently deleted emails, contacts, tasks, notes, journals, etc.

Conclusion

In the above write-up, we explained the root cause of getting “PST is not compatible with this version of Microsoft Outlook”. We found that this error occurs due to the format clashing between UNICODE and ANSI.

So, we have elaborated the methods to create a new ANSI format PST and then transferred all the items from the original PST to the new one. However, if you still get the error this, it means that there is major corruption issue in file.