Corrupted Outlook for Mac 2011

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I downloaded the new OS X 10.7.3 last night (took 2 hours) and I opened my MacBook Pro this AM and everything worked great. This afternoon I reopened it and my Outlook 2011 was wiped clean, no email, no contacts no accounts!!!

I re-entered my account information thinking I could replace the data by going to the Microsoft Users data file and then import it. When I tried this I got an error message telling me that the file was damaged. In fact all the backup files for the Outlook accounts were "damaged". Has anyone seen this and if so is there a work around. I had very important messages on there (messages sent and not received) that I need. I do have a gmail account so I at least have that backup but not for messages that I sent and for contacts that I need.
Thanks for all your help!!!
 
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how to get your data back outlook 2011 sp2

Outlook 2011 14.2.4 Database corrupted after Power Loss - how to get your Data back
Hello,

this guide shows how I got back all my outlook data which I thought would be lost forever. It took me four hard days to figure out what to do, so enjoy having this shortcut now if you happen to have the same problem.

The problem:
After a battery rundown, my outlook 2011 14.2.4 database was corrupted. It prompted me to rebuild the database, but the database rebuilt always ended WITH NO SUCCESS. No matter what I did.
I tried all the tutorials on the microsoft webpage and everything I found on the web. Nothing helped. The data seemed lost.

To make matters worse, the backup I did of the outlook folder a few months before with Version 14.1.4 didn´t seem to work either, no matter what I tried. I couldn´t import it back into either 14.2.4. Nor did it work without effort in 14.1.4.

The solution:
In the end NOTHING WORKED WITH OUTLOOK VERSIONS AFTER SP2 = 14.2.0 - 14.2.4
FORGET THIS SCRAP!
BASICALLY ALL THE MICROSOFT TUTORIALS CAN WORK - BUT IN MANY CASES ONLY AFER YOU FIRST CONVERT BACK TO OUTLOOK 14.1.4
AFTER REBUILDING YOUR IDENTIY, YOU CAN EVENTUALLY GO BACK TO 14.2.4


What I did:
0.) make backups of your corrupted Identity

1.) delete the Office Programm files

2.) reinstall Office 2011

3.) upgrade to Version 14.1.4

4.) copy the Outlook Identity which is not working into Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office 2011 Identities

5.) start the Microsoft Database Utility (find it easy via spotlight)

6.) Inside the Utility, create a new Identity (usually it´s called identity 1)

7.) go to Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office 2011 Identities/Identity 1/Data records and copy the Database Headers folder from there OVER the Database Header folder of your Main Identity/The identiy you want to rescue ... so you basically replace the Header of your folder with a header from identiy 1 - a header which will be compatilbe with Version 14.1.4
After doing that, you can delete the identity 1 folder, you just created it to gain access to an appropiate header file.

8.) in your main identity, DELETE the File "Database"

9.) Now go back to the Database Utility, close it and restart it again

10.) now create a new Verison of your corrupted identiy - select your main indentity and click "create new"

11.) wait

12.) you are done!!! Heureka!


It took me four days to figure this out, four days of freaking out cause I thought all my data is gone and even the backup-file refused working.

If you really wanna use Outlook 14.2.4 or newer,
well, I think the best way is to export your database after restoring as an olm File in 14.1.4 and reimport it into 14.2.4 after the upgrade.

Like that you have a fresh database and hopefully not so many problems.


...


It is unbelievable that the 14.1.4 Database Utility solved the problem in a few minutes, while all the 14.2.0-14.2.4 Database Utilities just failed miserably DOING THE SAME TASK. It just didnt work with SP2 -no matter which dataheader-version the Database/identity possesed, no matter which "trick" I applied. All the microsoft tutorials just miss the most important point: convert back to 14.1.4 before doing anything with the database utility, and then make 14.1.4 believe that it´s actually working with 14.1.4 databases through exchanging the database headers.


Good to know: the single big "database" file just helps in organizing, the mails itself are hold in all the many hundred tiny folders and thousands of files.

So don´t worry if Timecapsule didn´t backup this database file (happens quite usually).
Just remember: to get your mails back, convert back to outlook 14.1.4., then do all the database-rebuilding stuff which will bring back your missing database file, then eventually upgrade back to 14.2.4 or newer.


Good luck!!

And, maybe be clever, make an .olm-export every week or month and backup the .olm File.
 
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You are my hero

YOU ARE MY HERO !!!!

Sorry for shouting in the title, but I was struggling since several days, trying to extract older and older backups from Timemachine with no solution, I also wasted hours and hours trying to reimport messages and so on...

Your solution worked perfectly. And you saved my 20> Gbytes of email, attachments and calendar.

I decided to sign on just to express all my gratitude.

An idea: would it be useful to save the working copy of Database Utility, upgrade Office to the latest patch and then restore the DB utility of 14.1? Could this work?

Thanks again!

A.
 
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I am in the same boat as OP. I updated my mac osx to Yosemite last night and also updated office 2011. Today morning after updates were installed and mac rebooted, all my emails data is gone from outlook and it displays blank. Have already tried the steps mentioned by xergon but m unable to rebuild and get error 18000 in step 4. I got the outlook checked from a tech and he also tried a few steps without any positive outcomes. At-last he told me that database is corrupt and unrecoverable.
 

chscag

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We can't stress this enough... Always make a backup prior to updating OS X and or Office. Once that Outlook data base becomes corrupt, it's very difficult to recover.
 

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