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Users who use Microsoft Outlook with Microsoft Exchange Server Information services find it extremely useful to work with Outlook in the offline mode. This saves them from worries of untimely network interruptions or slow connections to the Exchange server. Once they have finished working on the contents stored in their Offline Storage Folders (OST files), they can always use the synchronization feature to copy all the changes into the online folder and copy any new data or messages into the offline folder. Sometimes, however, there are problems during the synchronization process. Most of these problems can be quickly resolved and do not result in any serious loss of data. If there is any damage to the OST files, you may need to use a more sophisticated method to recover OST data.

For example, when you are using Outlook in an offline mode and are using the OST files, you might wish to delete certain folders. Suddenly you may be faced with an error message that says 'Outlook cannot delete this folder since there are items in it pending synchronization with the server'. This error message is actually due to a bug in the application itself that leads it to count the number of items in a folder, erroneously. As a result, there is a discrepancy in the number of items in the offline folder and that in the online folder. This causes problems during synchronization and can be resolved in the following manner. Simply right click on the folder that you are unable to delete and click 'Clear Offline Items'. This will force the particular folder to resynchronize and get the correct item count. You may also need to manually resynchronize other Outlook folders to recover OST data before you do this.

If you plan to use Outlook Offline Storage Files (OST files) while working with Microsoft Exchange server, it may be a good idea to confirm beforehand that your offline folders are synchronizing correctly.

·        Choose the folders that you want to verify are synchronizing properly. Now right click on each individual folder and go to Properties.

·        Click on the Synchronization tab. If you do not see any tab titled Synchronization, you have quite obviously not set up this Outlook profile to use offline folders or OST files.

·        When you click on the Synchronization tab, you will be taken to the option 'Statistics For This Folder'. Under this, you will be able to verify the settings for the following fields: Last Synchronized on: Date, Server folder contains: No. of Items, Offline folder contains: No. of Items. Obviously, if the number of items in the offline folder is the same as the one in the server folder, then synchronization is working fine.