# Outlook OST and PST Archive Searching

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Agent Ransack is able to search through all OST\PST Outlook archives from the older Outlook 97 right up to the latest versions. Also, since Agent Ransack 'understands' the actual underlying file format it doesn't require Outlook to be installed and can also bypass the password protection and encryption present on most Outlook files. However, since Agent Ransack is not dedicated to searching only Outlook files it can appear a little confusing as to how Outlook searching works. The overwhelming temptation is to use the file name field to identify the Outlook archive, e.g. *.pst, instead of the item within the PST archive, such as an email, that you are looking for.

Agent Ransack basically treats each individual Outlook item, ie an email, contact, calendar item etc., within a OST\PST file as a separate file. The 'file name' for each item is dependant on the item type, e.g. for email messages the email's subject is used as the file name. So to search an Outlook file follow these steps:

1. Specify the location of the OST\PST files (or a specific file) in the 'Look in' field

The location can include Outlook folders within the archive.

2. Switch on Outlook/Thunderbird Searching in the Options Tab

Without the option switched on the archives are treated as normal files and simply searched using binary content. If the 'Search attachments' option is checked then the attachments for each email are also searched, otherwise only the main email body is searched.

3. Use the 'File name' field to search by email subject and 'Containing text' to search by email content.

Each result is shown as a text file, which can be copied or dragged to another location. The results can also be explored using the Internal Viewer just like normal results.

Searching multiple PST files

The above example shows how to search through a single PST file but Agent Ransack can search multiple PST files in a single search. Instead of specifying a single PST file in the Look In field simply specify the folder (or the root of the sub-tree) where the PST files are located. To ensure that only pst files are searched add the location filter +.pst, e.g.

C:\Folder\Email;+.pst

To export the email and/or attachments to separate files you can copy/paste or drag/drop the required files to a location in Explorer or use the Bulk Copy feature.

Invalid Characters

Not all characters that appear in the subject are valid characters for the file name. When such characters are found they are replaced according to the table shown below:

Invalid | Replacement
\ | -
/ | -
" | '

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Help file version: 9.0
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