How to Archive Old Mail in Outlook

By eHow Internet Editor

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Many people use Microsoft Outlook to send and receive email at home or in the office but don't know how to archive the old email to save on disk storage space. There is a way to organize and store old Outlook email by using the "Import and Export Wizard." Archive your email in Outlook by following these steps.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Personal computer
Microsoft Outlook email software

Step1

Decide how often you want or need to archive Outlook email. You may choose to archive email yearly, quarterly or monthly. The more email you receive, the more often you may want to archive to save disk space.

Step2

Open the Microsoft Outlook email program. Go to the "File" menu item and select the "Import and Export" option. The Import and Export Wizard opens.

Step3

Click on the "Export to a file" option listed under the heading, "Choose an action to perform." Click the "Next" button.

Step4

Select the "Personal Folder File (.pst)" option listed under the heading, "Create a file of type." Click the "Next" button.

Step5

Select the folder you want to archive under the heading, "Select the folder to export from." If you want to export all subfolders included in the selected main folder, click the checkbox next to, "Include subfolders." Click the "Next" button.

Step6

Decide where you want to save the file archive. Click the "Browse" button under the heading, "Save exported file as." Browse the folders until you find the one in which to store the Outlook email archive file.

Step7

Name the archive file. Put the current month and year in the file name for easy future reference. Click the "Ok" button.

Step8

Choose any other applicable options in the "Export Personal Folder" dialogue box. Click the "Finish" button to complete the export of the Outlook email archive.

Tips & Warnings

To open an archived Outlook email file easily, go to the "File" menu item and select "Open," then "Outlook Data File." Click on the file name and click, "Ok." The file opens in the list of email folders under the "Personal Folders" list.
Be aware of the location of the folder you use to store the archived email file so that you can retrieve it if you have to.