How do I recover my old email messages, my contacts and everything else I had in Outlook?

Hi Paul Duchaine,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. 

I understand that your Windows crash caused you to lose access to your old Outlook data. Let's go step-by-step to try and recover your emails, contacts, folders, and other Outlook items.

Step 1: Locate your old Outlook data file

• Open File Explorer.
• Go to the folder:

C:\Users<YourUsername>\Documents\Outlook Files\

or

C:\Users<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\

• Look for files ending with .pst (e.g., Outlook.pst) – this file contains all your emails, contacts, calendar, and folders.

If you do not see this file, do you have a backup copy on an external drive, USB, or cloud storage?

Step 2: Copy the PST file to a safe location

• Right-click the PST file > Copy.
• Paste it into an easy-to-find folder, for example Documents.

Step 3: Open the PST file in Outlook

• Open Outlook (desktop app, not browser version).
• Go to: File > Open & Export > Open Outlook Data File
• Select the copied PST file → click Open.
• Outlook will add a new folder tree next to your current mailbox. All your old emails, contacts, calendars, and folders will appear.

Step 4 (Optional): Import into your current profile

• If you want to merge it into your current Outlook profile:
• File > Open & Export > Import/Export > Import from another program or file > Outlook Data File (.pst)

Important Notes:

• If you only have a .ost file, you cannot open it directly > it requires special software to convert to PST, which is more complicated.
• PST files are the fastest, easiest, and safest way to restore your Outlook data.

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Please feel free to let me know if you have any further updates, thanks.