.PST Files

Learn what .PST files are, how they relate to amber, and what to expect regarding PST file support.

.PST Files

What Are .PST Files?

A PST file (Personal Storage Table) is a Microsoft Outlook data file format used to store local copies of emails, calendar events, contacts, and other mailbox items. PST files are commonly used for:

Archiving emails – Users export older emails from their mailbox into .pst files to free up server storage.
Backing up mailbox data – PST files serve as local backups of important email correspondence.
Offline access – Emails stored in PST files can be accessed without an internet connection.
POP3 accounts – Outlook stores all data from POP email accounts in .pst files by default.

PST files typically have the file extension .pst and are stored locally on a user's computer or on network drives (file shares). They can grow very large over time and may contain years of email history.

.PST Files vs. .OST Files

Feature	.PST File	.OST File
Full Name	Personal Storage Table	Offline Storage Table
Purpose	Local archive / backup	Offline cache of server mailbox
Account Types	POP3, manual exports	Exchange, IMAP, Microsoft 365
Location	User-defined (local or network drive)	Automatically managed by Outlook
Portability	Can be moved and shared	Tied to the Outlook profile

.PST Files and amber

Many organizations store large volumes of .pst files on network drives or file shares. These files often contain critical business correspondence and institutional knowledge that users want to find through amber.

Current Status

amber does not currently support indexing and searching the contents of .pst files. This means that while a .pst file itself may appear as a document on a connected file share, the individual emails and attachments contained within it cannot be searched.

What You Can Do Instead

If making the email content searchable is important for your team, consider the following alternatives:

Import PST files back into Exchange / Microsoft 365 – Once emails are in an active mailbox or shared mailbox, amber can index them via the Outlook / Exchange connector.
Use a Mailstore connector – If your organization uses Mailstore for email archiving, amber can connect to Mailstore and index the archived emails directly.
Re-export as individual files – Exporting emails from a PST file as individual .msg or .eml files onto a file share allows amber to index them through the Windows Shares or SharePoint connector.

Roadmap

Support for .pst file indexing is on the amber product roadmap. This is a larger development effort, and we are actively working towards making PST file contents searchable in future releases. We will communicate updates through our changelog as soon as this feature becomes available.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I can see the .pst file in amber, but I cannot search for emails inside it. Is this expected? A: Yes. Currently, amber indexes the .pst file as a single document but cannot extract and index the individual emails within it.

Q: Will amber support .pst files in the future? A: Yes, .pst file support is on our roadmap. It is a significant development effort, and we will announce availability through our official channels.

Q: What is the best workaround right now? A: The most effective approach is to import the PST file contents back into a Microsoft 365 or Exchange mailbox, which amber can then index through the Outlook connector.