How to Resolve Corrupt Outlook 2011 Database Issue

Mac and Windows both use Outlook and store user’s data locally. Outlook for Mac stores user OLM file format to store data whereas Outlook for Windows uses PST (.pst) file. Microsoft Outlook for Mac is a widely accepted email client for accessing and managing mails.
A Mac system with MS Outlook uses the Microsoft User Data folder to store the database file with each identity in its own folder. These identities contain user mail data including messages, contacts, tasks, calendars, and more. However, there are certain scenarios where Outlook fails to load and can often lead to corrupt or damaged database.

Some of the signs for damaged Outlook Mac databases are mentioned below.

• Outlook fails to open.
• Outlook stops responding.
• Outlook items fail to open.
• Outlook quits unexpectedly.
• Outlook opens a different item.
• Outlook contacts show blank lines.
• Outlook message shows blank lines
• Outlook displays incorrect contact entries.
• Outlook displays incorrect item as a search result.
• Outlook fails to show the clippings in the Scrapbook.
• Outlook shows a window with blank office reminders
• Outlook fails to display the added item like calendar event or a contact.

There could be many more signs of corrupt Outlook Mac database. However, in any case, you need to rebuild your identity database. There are various ways for building identity database, but the best way is to use the Microsoft’s inbuilt Database Utility.

You need to follow the below-mentioned steps to rebuild the identity database in MS Outlook 2011 for Mac.

1. Quit all applications

1. From the top toolbar, Click the <application name> menu.
2. Select Quit.
3. Or else hold down the Command and Option keys, and then press Esc.
4. In the Force Quit Application window, select the application.
5. Select Force Quit to quit the application.
6. From the upper-left corner, click the red close button to close the window.

2. Determine the size of your identity

1. In the Finder, click Go->Home.
2. Navigate to the Documents folder->Microsoft User Data folder->Office 2011 Identities folder.
3. Click the Identity folder.
4. Click Get Info On the File menu.
5. Click Get Information to check the size of the database.

Note: Make sure you have three times more hard disk space available than the size of your Outlook identity. This space should not include the wasted space, which gets automatically created while adding or deleting mail items like appointments, tasks, and notes, etc.

3. Back up the current identity

1. In the Finder, click Go->Home.
2. Navigate to the Documents folder->Open the Microsoft User Data folder.
3. Right-click the Office 2011 identities folder.
4. Select Duplicate.
5. This creates a copy of the identity folder.
6. Quit all applications.

Note: This backup can also be used by any third-party database recovery software.

4. Rebuild the database

1. Quit all applications.
2. Start Outlook 2011 by holding down the option key.
3. Select the database from the Database Utility window.
4. Click Rebuild.
5. The rebuilding process is shown in the Rebuilding Main Identify window.
6. Once done, it will display the message “Your database was rebuilt successfully.”
7. Click Done.
8. Restart Outlook

Note: You can alternatively open the Database Utility by opening the Application folder->Microsoft Office 2011 folder and double-clicking the Microsoft Database Utility.app.

5. Create a new identity

The Outlook might create separate identities in case you are using Outlook at more than one place like at home and at work. Here each identity will store separate sets of mail items including tasks, calendars, account settings, etc. However, there are chances that one of such identities gets damaged. In such case, you must create a new identity to resolve this problem.

1. Quit all applications
2. Click the Outlook icon in the dock by holding down the Option key on the keyboard.
3. Microsoft Database Utility opens.
4. Add a new identity by clicking the plus [+] sign.
5. Type a name for the new identity.
6. Select the newly created identity.
7. Click the Action button.
8. Select Set as Default.
9. Quit Microsoft Database Utility.
10.  Restart Outlook.

Note: You can alternatively open the Database Utility by opening the Application folder->Microsoft Office 2011 folder and double-clicking the Microsoft Database Utility app.

The above-mentioned steps are more likely to resolve the issue. However, if it does not work, then Outlook database is most likely to be damaged beyond repair. In such it is recommended to use a professional tool. Stellar Repair for OLM is a perfect tool to repair corrupt Mac Outlook database files and restores inaccessible mail items.

Follow the below-mentioned steps to repair your corrupt OLM file using the Stellar Repair for OLM.

1. Launch the Software.
2. Select the corrupt/damaged OLM file by clicking the ‘Browse’ button.
3. Click the ‘Start’ button to start the repairing process.
4. A ‘Scanning OLM File’ status bar is displayed to show the scanning process. You can click the ‘Stop’ button to stop the scanning process in between.
5. Once completed, the software provides the detailed summary of the entire process. It shows the number of recoverable mail objects including Mails, Contacts, Calendars, Notes, and Tasks.
6. Click the ‘Mail’ icon from the tool bar to see the preview.
7. The interface displays three-pane; left pane shows the mail folders, the middle pane shows the mails in the mail folder, and the right pane shows the content of the selected mail from the middle pane.
8. Click the ‘Calendar‘ icon from the tool bar to preview the recoverable calendar entries. All the calendar entries are displayed in the middle pane.
9. Click the ‘Notes‘ icon from the tool bar to preview the recoverable Notes entries. All the recoverable notes are displayed in the middle pane.
10. Click the ‘Tasks‘ icon on the tool bar to preview the recoverable Task entries. All the recoverable Tasks are displayed in the middle pane.
11. Click the ‘Save Repaired File‘ icon from the tool bar to save any desired recoverable item.
12. Choose any desired location to save the file.
13. The repaired file gets saved by the name –‘Main Identity.rge’.

Resource:

http://www.stellaroutlooktools.com/scan/olm-repair.php