How to Recover a Lost Password in Microsoft Outlook 2010

The Post intends to help users recover their Outlook 2010 password that they may forgotten or have lost due to accident deletion or corrupt Outlook .pst password file. The methods explained in this article are reliable and simple enough to perform. However, it is to be noted that success or failure of any method entirely depends on how correctly you follow and implement the instructions.

Microsoft Outlook 2010 has many inbuilt features like data recovery through .pst files that store all the Outlook information including emails, drafts, deleted items, contacts, and calendar entries among others. There is an individual .pst file for each Outlook folder like inbox.pst, sent items.pst, drafts.pst, and outbox.pst among others. Below are the instructions that will educate you on password recovery.

Instructions:

You cannot recover your Outlook password when it is lost or forgotten. You will have to contact your ISP (Internet Service Provider) to get your Outlook password reset. Once you have your password reset, update your Outlook email account to gain access to your Outlook information.

You can gain access to your Outlook information from the Outlook .pst files. These files are used by Outlook to store all your Outlook data including emails, drafts, contacts, calendar entries etc. Locate the .pst file(s) by going into the Control Panel and double clicking on Mail (if you don’t see Mail, then click on Switch to Classic View). Click on the Data Files button, click on the file path (it would read like Mailbox – John Smith…..), and then click on the Open Folder option. Locate the .pst file and double click to open it to retrieve your Outlook information. It is to be noted that the .pst file(s) will only help you gain access to your emails etc. but not the password.

If you have password protected your .pst file(s) and have forgotten their password, then use this little tweak to release their password. Click on the Start menu and go to Run. When the Run window opens, type ‘pst19upg.exe -i filename.psx’ (as it is and without quotes), and hit Enter on the keyboard. This will release the password of the protected .pst files and enable you to access your Outlook information.

If Outlook is not accepting your password and the password you are entering is correct, then try this tweak. Disable unnecessary add-ins by going into the Outlook, clicking on the File tab at the top, and selecting Options. Click on the Trust Center, select Add-ins, select COM Add-ins next to the Manage List, and then click on the Go button. When the COM Add-ins window opens, remove check marks from the boxes next to the add-ins you want to disable, and then click on OK. Close Trust Center window, close Outlook, and then reopen it.

Start Outlook in the Safe mode. Click on the Start menu, go to Run, type ‘outlook.exe /safe’ (without quotes and as is) in the open box, and hit Enter on the keyboard. This will start Outlook without any third party service and/or programs such as antivirus, firewalls, or add-ins etc. other than Microsoft’s. If Outlook runs fine, then some third party program is causing the issue. You must contact your program vendor for the support.

You can also download and install a free or paid Outlook password recovery tool from trusted websites. Save the file and run it to recover your password. However, there is a drawback to this method. If you somehow downloaded a fake recovery tool from an illegal website, then you stand to the risk of losing your critical information.

Additional Tips:

When typing password, you must ensure that the caps lock on the keyboard is off (until you have a capital letter in your password). If it is on, then put it off. Generally, most of the ISPs do not require email passwords to contain capital letters. Some ISPs mandate the combination of uppercase and lowercase letter in email passwords.

You must also write down your password on a piece of paper and keep it at the safest place where you can collect it from in case you forget your password. You can also save your password in the Drafts folder in Outlook. This will help recover your password through the drafts.pst file that you can gain access to using the above mentioned method.

It is best to memorize your password in order to avoid losing it. We know that it is not possible as every user has so many passwords such as ATM, credit card etc. to remember that things like forgetting password happen easily. However, if you can, it will be well and good.

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