Way to resolve Error “Outlook Data File cannot be accessed”

Though Outlook is the commonly used Email platform in multiple number of organizations for its featured functionalities, users cannot avoid the errors that are associated with it. Among them, one of the error is encountered when user is unable to send or receive email in Outlook that displays the error message as following: “0x8004010F: Outlook data file cannot be accessed.” The blog will be discussing about the same error and the possible solution to troubleshoot this error.

About the Error

Outlook data file cannot be accessed’ Error is the error that is caused by corrupted Outlook profile. Corruption mainly happens due to issues in synchronization of OST file. This error popup while user is trying to synchronize Offline Address Book (OAB) & perform send/receive operations, which involves downloading OAB files in an incorrectly configured Outlook profile. Other reasons for the occurrence of this error are:

Corrupted or inaccessible OST file
Existence of multiple OAB version folders of same type
Missing objects in OAB list and incorrect address list
Clients trying to download OAB files from public folder store that has not received the replicated updates

How to troubleshoot the Error

Steps involved in resolving the Outlook error are as follows:

1. Determine the location of Outlook data file

Click on Start >> Control Panel
Go to Mail in the Control Panel Folder
In the Mail setup dialog box, select ‘Show Profiles’
Select the current Outlook profile & go to Properties
In the Mail setup popup, click on Data Files
Select the Data Files Tab in the Account Settings dialog box
Name & location of the default data file will be noted
Click on Close

2. Create a new Outlook Profile

i) Use auto account setup to create an IMAP or POP3 Email Account

If the mail server user has, supports both IMAP & POP3, auto account setup will create an IMAP account by default but for creation of POP3 account, manual steps needs to be followed. However, if the email server supports only a POP3 account, auto account setup will create POP3 account.

Steps for auto-account setup are as follows:

Go to Start >> Control Panel
Click on Mail and select Show Profiles in mail setup window
Click on Add option present in the Mail dialog box
Type a new profile name and click OK
Add the email account credentials and click Next
After successful configuration of the account, click on Finish

ii) Create an IMAP or POP3 email account manually

Steps involved for creating IMAP or POP3 email account are:

Click on Start >> Control Panel >> Mail
Select Show Profiles in the Mail Setup-Outlook
Click on Add option in the Mail dialog box
Type a name for the new profile and click OK
Select Manually Configure server settings or additional server types in Add New Account dialog box and click Next
In a new window for choosing service, Select Internet E-mail & click Next
Enter the account details in the Internet E-mail settings
To test the account, click on Test Account Settings
Select Existing Outlook data file and click on Browse
Select the Outlook data file that we have earlier located and click OK
Click on Next and select Close in the Test Accounts Settings
Click on Finish

3. Configuration of new Outlook profile as default profile

Go to Mail in the Control Panel folder
Select Always use this profile option in the Mail dialog box
Now, click on the new Outlook profile using drop down list
Click OK to close the Mail dialog box

Conclusion:

The blog has discussed about one of the most common error faced by users of Outlook, due to which users are unable to send or receive their emails. The error “Outlook Data File cannot be accessed” is mainly due to the corruption of Outlook profile. The possible causes of the error and the solution to resolve this error has been defined in the blog.