Tips to open PAB file

Can't open the PAB file? You are not the only one. Thousands of users face similar problems every day. Below you will find tips on how to open PAB files as well as a list of programs that support PAB files.

PAB file extension

File Name Personal Address Book
File Developer Microsoft
File Category Data Files

The PAB file is supported on 2 operating systems. Depending on your operating system, you may need different software to handle the PAB files. Below is a summary of the number of programs that support and open the PAB file on each system platform.

Operating systems
  • 3
  • 1
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

What is PAB file?

The file with the extension PAB is the Data Files file type. The creator of this file is Microsoft. In addition to this file, the Data Files category includes 1326 related files. Personal Address Book is supported by 2 operating systems. The file will work on Mac OS, Windows systems, unfortunately not on others. It is recommended to use Microsoft Outlook to handle this file. This is a program created by Microsoft Corporation. There are also 3 alternative programs to handle the PAB file. Microsoft Office, Microsoft Outlook Express will apply when it is not possible to use Microsoft Outlook.

How to open PAB file?

An often recurring problem with Personal Address Book is that PAB is not associated with the correct program file. This causes the file PAB to open by system applications not designed for this purpose, or to display a message that there is no associated program. How to solve such a problem?

The first thing you should do is just "doubleclick" on the PAB file icon you want to open. If the operating system has an appropriate application to support it and there is also an association between the file and the program, the file should be opened.

Step 1. Install Microsoft Outlook

An often overlooked issue is to make sure that Microsoft Outlook is installed on the computer. This can be achieved by typing Microsoft Outlook into the operating system search engine. If we do not have this program, it is worth installing it, as it will help you automatically associate the file PAB with Microsoft Outlook. Below you will find a list of applications that support PAB files.

Step 2. Create association of Microsoft Outlook with PAB files

However, it may happen that the application itself does not cause the PAB file to open in the Microsoft Outlook application, but you can set it manually. The association can be created using the drop-down list available by right-clicking on the file and selecting Properties. The window will show, among other things, the type of the file and the information by which the program is used to launch the file. Using the "Change" button we can select the desired program. The program should be visible in the window, otherwise it should be selected manually using the "Browse" button and the program installation directory should be indicated. The "always use the selected program ..." field will set the Microsoft Outlook application as the default for handling the PAB file.

Step 3. Update Microsoft Outlook to the latest version

The fault may also lie with the Microsoft Outlook program, it is possible that Personal Address Book requires a newer version of the program. In this case, use the Microsoft Corporation website or update the program from the application.

Step 4. Check for the following problems with the PAB file

If the above steps do not help, you can assume that the file itself is not correct. This could be due to the file itself, the cleanest issues are:

The affected file may be 0 KB or smaller than expected. This is most often caused by a problem while downloading the PAB file. The file should be downloaded again, making sure that the process has finished correctly.
The most common cause here is computer viruses. Perform a virus scan using available and up-to-date anti-virus software. Some antivirus vendors also provide free online scanners. The scan should cover the entire computer, not only the PAB file that we want to open. However, remember that not every infected PAB file can be recovered, so it is important to take care of regular backups.
A typical compatibility error - the program does not support the older version of the PAB file. Help should be sought from the software developer, as they usually recommend using free file converters or installing an older version of the program.
There can be many reasons for this. Depending on the type of file, it is necessary to repair it accordingly. Some programs offer the ability to automatically repair PAB file corruption. You can restore the file from a backup or use Microsoft help.
When reading, a message appears that the file was encrypted or corrupted. The encrypted PAB files can be used by the device on which they were encrypted, on any other device it is required to have the appropriate cryptographic key and decrypt the file before its recovery.
Some of the system directories are excluded from modification. These directories are write-protected to them and it's very hard to fix this problem. It is best to move PAB to a different directory.
This problem usually affects more complex files. In this case, the PAB file is blocked by the first application to open it. Running programs (including those in the background) should be verified. If the error persists after closing other programs, wait for a while. However, some background programs may block the PAB file while scanning. If the problem persists, restart the machine.