Get rid of Incompatibility from Older Outlook Version with Newer Outlook Version

If you are using older version of Outlook i.e. 2000 or 2002 and you make an attempt to open an older Outlook version in newer Outlook version 2003 or 2007, you may likely to encounter an error message that states: “The file file_name.pst is not compatible with this version of the Personal Folders information service.
Contact your Administrator.”

Why Received Error Message? You received this error message when your information in .pst file was exported from Outlook 2003 or from Outlook 2007 with Import and Export Wizard. Actually, Outlook in version 2003 and 2007 uses Unicode format to export information to .pst files. Earlier Outlook versions (97, 2000, 2002/XP) use ANSI PST format.

How to Get Rid of Error Message? To overcome this problem, you need to copy the contents of .pst file Outlook 2003 and 2007 to a .pst file that has not been converted to Outlook 2003 or 2007 in Unicode format. Now, if you need a duplicate copy of this Unicode formatted .pst file in Outlook 2003 or 2007, follow the steps given below:

  • Start Outlook on your computer system
  • Then, Go to File menu
  • Now, click Data File Management
  • Click Add
  • Now click Outlook 97-2002 Personal Folders File (PST)
  • Click OK
  • Click OK, if you want to accept the default name, and then click OK again
  • Your Outlook 2003 creates a new .pst file that is based on the earlier .pst file and maintains the ANSI formatting for that .pst file
  • After creating new .pst file, click ‘Close’
  •  You can view Folder List at the bottom of the navigation pane
  •  Click the Folder List
  •  In the navigation pane, you can easily view the new .pst file


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