Reset PST Password – Automated & Manual Method with Complete Guide

MS Outlook is the most widely used email client to send and receive mail. All your emails, calendars, contacts and tasks are stored in PST files. If you don’t want anyone else to see your information in Outlook, you can set a password for the PST. But most users forget this password and they don’t know how to reset PST password.

Don’t worry…. You are at the right place. In this blog, you’ll get proper automated and manual solutions to change PST passwords, with their limitations and benefits. So let’s explore each of them one by one.

Needs to Change PST Password – Common Reasons

Resetting the password for an Outlook PST file can be important for the following reasons:

• Routine security updates: Regularly updating/changing passwords, including PST file passwords, helps prevent unauthorized access and maintains data security.
• Device Changes: Changing the PST file password might be easier when you move to a new computer or system, or if you reinstall Outlook. Therefore, it becomes necessary to reset PST password.
• Error Correction: Sometimes, users mistype or mistakenly set a PST file password in a hurry and decide to reset it later to recall the password or to fix the error.
• Technical issues: Software updates or other changes in Outlook’s environment may cause problems with password recognition, which may require you to change the PST password.
• Sharing needs: Many times there’s a need to share PST files with a colleague or team, resetting the password can facilitate easier and more secure access.

How to Reset PST Password ? – Manual Solution

Resetting the password of a PST file manually in MS Outlook can be a bit tricky since Outlook itself doesn’t provide a direct option to reset a lost or forgotten password for a PST file. However, you can change the password if you know the current one.

If You Know the Current Password:

1. Open “MS Outlook” on your system.
2. Go to the “File” menu and select “Account Settings”, then again “Account Settings” from the dropdown.
3. In the Account Settings window, click on the “Data Files” tab and select the PST file for which you want to change the password.
4. Click on “Settings” or “Properties” This option may vary according to the Outlook version.
5. In the opened window, click on “Change Password” and Enter the old password, then the new password, and confirm the new password.
6. Click “OK” to apply the changes and close the dialogue box.

Limitations – Manually Change PST Password

• Outlook doesn’t provide a direct feature for recovering a forgotten PST password. The manual method only allows you to change the password if you already know the current one.
• If you forget your PST file password, there is no any manual way to reset or recover it directly through Outlook; access to the Outlook data file is completely restricted.
• Incorrect handling of PST files, especially when attempting to use unofficial methods to reset PST password, can lead to data corruption or loss.
• If you use a simple/common password or don’t update it regularly, relying only on the manual method can pose a security risk, as the password might be easier to guess or hack.
• This manual process to change PST password does not support bulk changes. Each PST file must be individually accessed and updated, which can be time-consuming if managing multiple files.

How to Reset PST Password – Automated Solution

If You Forgot the Password:

If you don’t remember your current PST password, Outlook doesn’t offer a native feature to recover or reset it. You will need to use a reliable third-party tool among multiple utilities, specially designed for this purpose. Therefore, you can use MSOutlookTools PST Password Recovery Tool to reset all types of passwords from your Outlook PST file.

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Moreover, you can easily remove and reset PST passwords without any Outlook installation or configuration. It provides many advanced features, such as compatibility with both ANSI & Unicode and the ability to recover passwords from an unlimited number of PST files. It also displays a lock icon for password-protected files.

Working Steps – To Reset / Change PST Password

1. First, Download and Run the software to reset the password of the PST file.
   
2. Click on the “Add Files” or “Add Folder” option to browse the Outlook PST files or folder.
   
3. The software provides a “Search PST File” option to search for the password-protected PST file on your system. So that the user can easily reset PST password.
   
4. Once the PST file is added to the software. It will display the PST files and their current status as a lock icon on the software screen.
   
5. Lastly, click on the “Remove Password” button and unlock password-protected PST files.
   

Features of the Utility:

This PST Password Recovery Tool is a useful utility for managing the security of PST files. Here are some important features to change PST password using this software:

• This tool can quickly recover and reset all types of PST file passwords, so you don’t have to worry about losing your important email, contacts, or calendar entries.
• Besides recovery/changing passwords, the tool also allows you to remove passwords from PST files completely, so you can have unlimited access without having to enter a password.
• Another great feature of this utility is that it doesn’t rely on Microsoft Outlook. You don’t need to install Outlook on your system to reset PST password using this tool.
• One of the important significant advantages is that this software works with all versions of Outlook, whether it’s ANSI or Unicode files.
• Users can easily change or remove passwords from multiple PST files simultaneously, saving you time and effort if you’re managing multiple files.
• It has an easy-to-use interface, so it’s accessible to users of all levels of technical knowledge.

Conclusion

As we have seen, many users set a password for PST files but often forget it. Additionally, they don’t know how to reset PST password. Therefore, in this blog, we have explored both automated and manual solutions to change PST password, discussing their limitations and benefits.