A lot of people use Outlook only; it should be clear and accepted. It’s easy, and the application is a part of the MS Office package. Its interface is more or less routine, why reinvent the wheel and look for something new?
Moreover, a high number of Microsoft Exchange Server features are supported by this client only. Emails in plain text? Forget it. It is a relic from the past! Outlook represents not emails only, but also calendars, events, meeting.
But suddenly, when trying to receive or send an email, you see the following: 0x8004010F: Outlook data file cannot be accessed. What’s this? Is the game up, buddy, or do we still have a chance to do something? Let us take a closer look.
The Outlook Format File Is Nowhere to Be Found
Is it gone with the wind? Just lost somewhere? A couple of disk sectors are corrupted at a very inappropriate moment? It is not significant if the email uses IMAP protocol, and it is stored on Exchange Server or Office365/Yahoo Mail/Gmail/Mail.ru/Hotmail or similar.
Remember that local data from Outlook represents a copy of server data only. Therefore, you may quickly access the server and get the data. The point is, in our opinion, that we stop using the available local email data file (which is not openable anyhow).
Then we create an alternative one, for now, where we record everything that is stored on the server. What does it look like? It is a session of data synchronization within the cloud. What should we do in this case?
Recreate a Local Mailbox in Outlook
For this purpose:
- Open Outlook.
- Choose Account Settings.
- Select a problem account.
- Click the Change folder.
- In a new window, choose New Outlook Data File
- Click ОК.
- Try to send and receive mail once more.
Breathe easy if everything goes fine. But what if the plan does not work?
There are many possibilities. For example, if your mailbox does not use a remote server, then it is stored locally using the POP3 protocol. All copies are removed from the server immediately after the data reception. We now need a new plan. Fortunately, we do have one. we will not abandon you.
To begin, let’s check. It is too early to panic. The issue relates to some incorrect Windows parameters. For example, it could be the access rights to Outlook files? We need to do the following:
- Choose the file in the Windows Explorer. If you do not know where it is stored, search in the Explorer, look for a file of .PST format
- Right-click on the detected file.
- Choose Properties.
- Do you see the Read Only checkbox? If yes, remove it.
- Go to the Security tab
- Select a user, logged in to the system, and check their permissions: need to allow all operations with the file.
- Click ОК, to confirm the changes.
The permissions seem to be correct, but the issue is not resolved? The pickings are slim here, regardless of a significant number of Google links that are related to the problem: 0x8004010F: Outlook data file cannot be accessed.
It is either an email backup or third-party services of data recovery, nothing more. Do you have a backup? Great! No need to read the rest of this text, restore, no other issues. If you do not have a backup, there is no need to panic. Not all is lost.
Outlook Data Recovery
Outlook has its own data recovery solution. It is named Inbox Repair Tool. The software is not complicated. Nothing matters more than it is free. It is already installed on your PC and can be found in the folders of Microsoft Office:
- Outlook 2019: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16
- Outlook 2016: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16
- Outlook 2013: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15
- Outlook 2010: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14
- Outlook 2007: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12
Try to resolve the issue using Inbox Repair Tool. In most cases, it is enough to fix the issue, saving you time and money. Unfortunately, it does not always help. If this is the case, read more. There is no way out; we cannot survive without email and therefore need to solve the issue at all costs.
For real, there are several data recovery services; for example, this one: https://outlook.recoverytoolbox.com/online/#/. On the webpage, you need to provide the correct path to a damaged file of PST or OST format on the local HDD. After this, do the following:
- Provide your email address
- Enter CAPTCHA
- Finally, pay for a session of data recovery
If you did it correctly (you probably did, it is not that complicated), download a recovered file during the last stage.
Now there is the matter of price and confidentiality. You can upload a damaged file on the remote server and ask for it to be fixed. It is inexpensive — it costs $10 for a file not larger than 1 Gb.
However, it could be dangerous. It is not usually likely that your personal correspondence would interest someone. But who knows? Think, do you have bank emails, credentials for your own space, photos of credit cards in your mailbox?
If you are not sure — do not do it. It is not necessary to upload your email to a remote server. There are other options.
For Example, the Following Tool: Recovery Toolbox for Outlook (https://outlook.recoverytoolbox.com)
First of all, noted the safety of the application. We could not find anyone claiming the theft of personal information by this service. Recovery Toolbox for Outlook is a small program installed on the computer.
It does not establish connections to any external sites. Typically, it is more accessible than you may think. Developers understand that users read instructions after the damage is done. So, there is nothing to harm here, open it, and launch.
Before you launch the Recovery Toolbox, it makes sense to copy a PST file from Microsoft Outlook to another disk as a backup. Yes, when analyzing data, Recovery Toolbox for Outlook does not change the input file.
However, by making a copy of the PST file, we kill two birds with one stone. Firstly, a spare copy of a business-critical Outlook file will not be necessary. Secondly, we check the integrity of the HDD.
Wasn’t that easy? If an attempt of PST file copying causes a Windows error, please accept my sincere condolences. The issue is worse than expected. We need to recover the whole system, which is an entirely different story.
By the way, for the future, remember it is much easier to prevent an issue than to fix its consequences. The most important thing is to do a regular backup of all data, which helps to save your money and mental health.
How to fix the issue: 0x8004010F: Outlook data file cannot be accessed
To correct the following issue 8004010F when using POP3/SMTP accounts in Microsoft Outlook, do the following:
- Download, install and start Recovery Toolbox for Outlook from the site: https://outlook.recoverytoolbox.com/
- Choose a damaged .PST file in the first window
- Choose Recovery Mode
- Choose a folder to save a recovered file
- Replace the damaged PST file by a recovered one
Yes, in the very end, you should replace the corrupted file to a recovered one or merely add the recovered file to the list of data files in Outlook. For the following versions of Outlook: 2019, 2016, 2013, it is done as follows:
- Choose the menu item “File | Info.”
- Click the button “Account settings.”
- Choose “Account settings” in the popup menu.
- Choose the “Data Files”
- Choose a data file from the list below.
- Click the following button “Open File Location.”
In this case, do not forget to remove the old damaged file to avoid new issues in the future.
Lastly, you can finally open Microsoft Outlook and keep on working with the email. If there are no issues with email sending and receiving, then you have done everything correctly. There only remains for me to be happy with you. Alternatively, try to reread the article and understand what went wrong.
Google suggests a variety of solutions regarding this issue: 0x8004010F: Outlook data file cannot be accessed. But, if you have got confused, contact the support department tech.support@recoverytoolbox.com and describe, what’s up. Sure, it makes sense only if you have paid for the recovery or purchased Recovery Toolbox for Outlook.
Good luck to everyone. We hope you will never encounter viruses and bad HDD sectors.