5 Methods on How to Redirect OST File to Network Share?

MS Outlook is a famous personal manager software that includes functions such as calendaring, task managing, contact managing, note-taking, journal logging, and web browsing.

Sometimes, you might have come across some problems related to space or mailbox items. This problem could be solved if you know How to Redirect OST File to Network Share?

This happens when the OST default file grows notably in the size of attachments. The only solution to this issue is the up-gradation of the hardware or move the OST drive to a different partition or the network drive.

You cannot change the location of the offline Outlook data file OST in MS Outlook for the deprecation of the classic offline mode in Outlook 2013 and preceding versions.

You cannot change OST file location outlook 2016 too.

How to Redirect OST File to Network Share

We can utilize any of the following methods to get rid of the issue:

Method1- ForceOSTPath Registry Values

It is quite hectic to move IMAP OST file Outlook 2013 or Move IMAP OST File Outlook 2016 or change the location for an Exchange, Outlook.com. So, the only way out is forcing registry value.

• Open run. To open the Registry Editor page type ‘regedit’ and press ‘Enter’.
• Follow this path: HKEY_CURRENT_USERS\Software\Microsoft\Office\XX.0\Outlook. The ‘XX’ value changes with the Outlook versions.
• Select ‘New’ and then ‘Expandable String Value by right-clicking on the Outlook option.
• Type ‘ForceOSTPath’ as a name.
• Hit ‘Enter’ and then right-click on ForceOSTPath.
• Press the ‘Modify’ option.
• Under ‘Edit String’ enter the path location and click on ‘OK’.
• Each step should be executed carefully so that it doesn’t result in malfunctioning.

Method 2-   Create New OST File Outlook 365

• Open Outlook and follow: File>Account Settings>Data Files.
• Choose the ‘Exchange’ account and hit the ‘Setting’ option.
• Go to the ‘Advanced’ tab, unselect the ‘Use Cached Exchange Mode’ option, and click on ‘OK’.
• Click on ‘Outlook Data File Settings…’ and then ‘Offline Use Option’. Click on ‘Yes’.
• Select the ‘Outlook Data file Settings’ and choose either of the two options.
• In ‘I want to create a file (default)’, browse and add the path location to save the new OST file. Click on ‘Open’ and ‘OK’.
• Again in the ‘Advanced’ tab, tick the ‘Use cached Exchange Mode’ checkbox, select ‘OK’.
• Restart the application.

Method 3- Redirect OST file to network share GPO

We can move the OST file to a network share through GPO by following these steps:

• Click on ‘AdminTemplates_32.exe’ or ‘AdminTemplates_64.exe’ based on your system configuration to load Group Policy Administrative Template files.
• Direct to the ‘Group Policy Management Console (GPMC)’.
• Right-click on the ‘Group Policy Objects’ after expanding the ‘Domains’.
• To open the Group Policy Management Editor, select ‘Edit’.
• Now follow the direction: ‘User Configuration>Policies>Administrative Templates>Microsoft Outlook 2016>Miscellaneous>PST Settings’.
• Press ‘Enabled’ after choosing ‘Default location for OST files’.
• Finally, enter the network shared location path and press ‘OK’.

The users who don’t want to redirect OST file on network share should be excluded before executing these.

Method 4- Use of Symbolic link

OST file can be re-located by using the MKLNK command which can generate an NTFS symbolic link to redirect the OST file to another file system.

Follow the following steps to know How to Redirect OST File to Network Share using the symbolic link:

1. Firstly, Copy or cut the default file location to a drive file location.
2. Secondly, delete the OST file from the default location
3. Then, Launch Command Prompt as an administrator and execute the following command:

‘mklink\Users\user\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\abc@domainname.com.OST\”\\fileserver\users%username%\Files\abc@domainname.com.OST”

Method 5-Use Stellar OST to PST Converter tool

If the purpose of redirection is to save storage space, then you can use the Stellar OST TO PST converter Tool.

• Covert the OST file containing the mailbox data to PST.
• Store the created PST anywhere.
• You can also reduce the size or split the OST file too.

We hope this blog answered the question, “How to Redirect OST File to Network Share?” Post your further queries in the comments.

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