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Turn Off Cached Mode In Outlook 2016

Cached Exchange Mode is one of the two modes to connect the Outlook application with an Exchange account. The other one is Online Mode. The cached mode has a job of keeping a local copy of the user’s exchange mailbox stored on the hard drive in the form of an OST file. While the Cached mode is enabled in Outlook, the Outlook client will check the OST file for all the information and searches, and another process will constantly update the mail and synchronize it will open the cached file.

Now Exit and Restart Microsoft Outlook. How to Turn Cached Exchange Mode Off? To turn this mode Off, performs the same steps as discussed above. Under the Microsoft Exchange Server section, uncheck the checkbox for Use Cached Mode. Again, Exit and restart Outlook. NOTE: An E-mail message may remain in Outlook for one minute until the next. So what you need to do is leave Outlook’s default settings of caching 1 year of mail on the users primary computer but block Outlook caching on shared computers like boardrooms. The problem is that Outlooks cached mode settings in HKeyCurrentUser (HKCU) and you need to apply it only to some computers. Features - Modify user settings - then in the middle window, MS outlook 2016, account settings, exchange, cached exchange mode. And they're both there - on/off and the time syncing. I either missed it before (most likely) or it was only available today since I just copied the admx and adml files into this computer and then ran OCT. How to Disable Cached Mode in Outlook. Exchange mail accounts by default use cached exchange mode, which makes Outlook store your recent messages and contacts on your computer for easier access.

The cached Exchange mode provides following benefits to the user –

  1. Apart from primary mailbox, cached mode keeps a copy of Offline Global Address Book (GAL).
  2. A user can make changes in the mailbox like accessing emails and saving drafts even when the Internet is down.
  3. It is useful for high latency connections.
  4. Searching files and information is quite easy in offline storage (OST) files.
  5. In satellite and radio-frequency based connections, OST file works much better than the online files.

Difference between Cached Exchange Mode and Online Mode –

  1. Cached Exchange Mode requires a lot of disk space in comparison to Online Mode.
  2. The number of features in Cached Exchange Mode and Online Mode is different.
  3. An index can be prepared by searching content locally in cached mode.
  4. In Cached Exchange Mode, you cannot perform searching in emails.
Turn Off Cached Mode In Outlook 20162016

Issues You May Face While Working in Cached Exchange Mode

Cached Mode is beneficial when you want to work offline. But while working in the cached mode, multiple issues can occur with Outlook.

Here are some examples:

Outlook
  • Some of the messages may be stored only in the OST file and will not be available in the Exchange mailbox.
  • Some important information like calendar items will point to the local files rather than the Server files; so it is difficult to share the calendar entries in the cached mode
  • If you enable the cached mode to an existing mailbox that already has large amount of data, that may create downloading issues.
  • The response time for the identification of the corruption issue in the mailbox may take more time.
  • If the OST file that has been created after enabling the Exchange Mode becomes corrupt, then all its data will be lost before connecting with the Exchange Server. Also, if the OST file gets disassociated with the account, then all information saved in it will be lost.

How can I Access the Content From an Inaccessible OST File?

A user cannot open an inaccessible or corrupt OST file. Although the scanPST tool can check for the corruption in the OST file, it is not suitable to retrieve data from inaccessible OST files. In such cases, you need to assistance of professional software. Kernel for OST to PST Converter is specialized software for restoring data from OST files. It can recover the data, provide the preview, filter the recovered data, and save it in multiple formats including the PST file.

How to turn on Cached Exchange Mode in Microsoft Outlook application?

Cached Exchange Mode is perfectly suitable for Exchange Server users. It saves a local copy of your online mailbox to your computer. Follow the simple procedure here –

  1. Follow File>>Account Settings>>Account Settings.
  2. Select the Exchange Account and click Change.
  3. In the Offline Settings, check Use Cached Exchange Mode.
  4. Restart the Outlook application again.

Enable Cached mode in Outlook 2010

The user can turn on the cached mode in Outlook 2010 using the following steps-

  1. Click File in the top menu bar.
  2. Follow Account Settings >> Account Settings.
  3. Select the Exchange account from the account list in the Email tab and click Change.
  4. Go to the Microsoft Exchange Server field, and below the name of the Exchange, use the checkbox to select ‘Use Cached Exchange Mode.’

In the Cached Exchange Mode, the user gets the Download preferences to download mailbox data in different situations.

  1. Follow Send/Receive >> Preferences >> Download Preferences.
  2. Choose amongst the given options – Download Full Items, Download Header and then Full Items, Download Headers, On Slow Connections Download Headers Only.

How to turn off Cached Exchange Mode in Microsoft Outlook application?

If you want to turn off the Cached Exchange Mode, then follow the above-given method and uncheck the Use Cached Exchange Mode.

There is no Cached Exchange Mode in my Microsoft Outlook application –

If there is no Cached Exchange Mode option in your Outlook application, then there can be following reasons behind this scenario –

  1. Microsoft Outlook does not have an Exchange Account –
    If there is not Exchange Account included in the Microsoft Outlook, then there will be no option of Cached Exchange Mode. POP3 and IMAP accounts do not have this feature.
  2. Exchange server administrator has disabled this feature –
    An Exchange Server administrator can easily disable the feature of Cached Exchange Mode.
  3. Microsoft terminal service is installed –
    If the windows computer has Microsoft terminal installed in it, then cached Exchange Mode will not be available also.

How can I verify that Cached Exchange Mode is enabled?

Verifying the status of Cached Exchange Mode is quite easy to check. Look at the bottom of the right-hand side of Outlook application, it should say Connected to Microsoft Exchange, and an OST file is present in the computer. It means that the Cached Exchange Mode is enabled.
If Cached Exchange Mode is not enabled, then it will say Online with Microsoft Exchange. Heat transfer in metal rod.

How can I access the content from an inaccessible OST file?

A user cannot open an inaccessible file in Outlook application. If you want to recover the content of an OST file, then you should use a professional tool like Kernel for OST to PST which can recover complete OST file data. OST to PST converter is one such tool which can recover a severely corrupt OST file by converting it into PST format which is accessible in Outlook.

Ugra Narayan Pandey | December 7th, 2019 | Data Recovery

The Cached Exchange mode provides a better user experience while using an Exchange account. In Use Cached Exchange Mode, a copy of the mailbox is stored on the local machine. This facilitates the user to quickly access the data. Also, the data is updated with the server which runs Microsoft Exchange. Some points to be noted down are:

  • Cached mode is the default option when an Exchange of Office 365 account is added.
  • It is always recommended to use Cached Exchange Mode with Office 365 account.

After performing the below mentioned manual method to resolve cached Exchange mode grayed out in Microsoft Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003 and below versions, opt an Outlook OST Recovery Tool to Repair OST File.

Download 100% Secure OST Recovery Tool
Outlook (cached mode) not updating folders from Exchange

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Reasons Due To Which Use Cached Exchange Mode Is Grayed Out Outlook 2013

There are various reasons when Use Cached Exchange Mode is grayed out. Some of the factors are stated below:

  • No Exchange account exists on Microsoft Outlook account
  • The admin of Exchange Server has deactivated the functionality
  • When Microsoft Terminal Services is installed

Solution To Enable the Use Cached Exchange Mode 2016 Option

A user has to go through the following set of instructions to enable the cached option:

  1. Press Windows key+R. Alternatively, click on Start and then Run
  2. Then, type regedit and hit on OK
  3. Go to plus sign next to HKEY_CURRENT_USER. Then select Software >> Microsoft >> Office >> 12.0 >> Outlook >> OST
  4. Right-click on NoOST entry present at the right-hand side and then, choose an alternative of Modify
  5. Pass it a value of 0
  6. Restart Outlook and then, you will see Use Exchange Mode option Outlook is not grayed out anymore

Another problem which is frequently faced by the Exchange Server users is given below:

“Outlook 2013 started generating a lot of NST files, around 183. This leads to improper working of Outlook and degraded its performance factor. I tried deleting them, but Outlook recreates them every time I open it. These files appear in the same folder as PST. It means the generation of NST file does not occur in the new profile. For that time, the problem is solved. But, I want to know what is NST file and how to repair them? I came to know that these files have something to do with Lotus Notes. Please help me.”

Microsoft Outlook users are aware of PST and OST file. But, they do not have much knowledge about NST file. NST is also a storage file in Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, and 2007. NST file is automatically created in Microsoft Outlook under 2 possible scenarios:

  • When a user configures Office 365 account in Outlook
  • When users make use of Outlook connector for Lotus Domino Server

The NST file consists of all mailbox data like emails, address book, tasks, etc. The data of NST file is also stored on the local system where Outlook is synced with Office 365 account.

What Will Happen If NST Files Get Corrupted?

The NST files can be repaired in case, they are damaged. To repair the NST file, the .nst file extension is replaced by .ost extension. The OST file can be fixed with the help of third party tool named as SysTools OST Recovery. This automated tool will resolve all the issues of NST file and provides an option to save NST file in various formats.

Follow these steps to change the extension of .nst file to .ost:

  1. Exit all the Outlook related processes and applications. Then, go to the path where the corrupted NST file is saved
  2. Right-click on the desired file and select the option of Copy. Afterwards, paste it somewhere else like, desktop
  3. Then, right-click on the pasted file and choose the option of Properties
  4. Under the General tab, change the extension from .nst to .ost. Click on OK to save the changes.

Turn Off Cached Mode Outlook 2016 Registry

Once the extension has been changed, recover the corrupted Outlook offline data file.

The Observational Verdict

Use Cached Exchange Mode is an option which makes the experience of the Exchange Server far better. In case, the feature is grayed out, users can enable it with the help of steps explained in the post. Another issue faced by the user is regarding NST file. The post also explains how to remove corruption in NST file and what is NST file all about.