How to Restore Contacts & Folders in Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is one of the most frequently used programs on computers throughout the world. Outlook has become more than a simple email manager -- it also stores most of our contact information as well as important data concerning schedules, projects, notes and other business details. If you consistently protect your data by backing up Outlook's PST files in a separate location, it is very easy to quickly restore all of your contacts and folders into Outlook.

Things You'll Need

• Backup copies of Outlook .pst files

Instructions

1. Open Outlook. Go to "File" in the main menu and select "Import and Export..."

2. In the "Import Wizard" pop-up box, select "Import from another program or file." Click the "Next" button.

3. Select the "Personal Folder File (PST)" option as the type of file you would like to import. Click "Next."

4. Click the "Browse" button. Go to the location on your hard drive where you have the backup copy of the Outlook PST folder you want to recover. Select the PST folder you wish to import. Make sure that "Replace duplicates with items imported" is checked and click "Next."

5. Click the "Finish" button to complete the import process. Repeat these five steps with each folder you want to restore into Outlook.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember to backup your Outlook PST files frequently. This will allow you to easily restore any data back into Outlook. See the References section for details on how to easily back up your PST files.

References

• Microsoft Support: How to backup and restore Outlook folders and files