How to Archive an Outlook Mailbox

You can keep Outlook running in top form by archiving old messages.

A Microsoft Outlook mailbox can grow exponentially as you receive email and decide that you just cannot do without the messages and attachments that you receive. As the size of the file containing the mailbox grows, the performance of the software diminishes. It is not necessary to delete messages to meet the objective of a smaller file, though. Archiving them to a separate file shrinks the mailbox and keeps the messages available for later access.

Instructions

1. Select the mailbox that you want to archive. The message headers should be displayed.

2. Select "File" and "Archive" from the menu. The Archive dialog box will appear. Set the parameters for your archiving operation in this dialog. Select the date for archiving. All messages prior to that date will be moved to the archive file. You must also select the archive file that you want to send the messages to. You do not need to use the default name given. Provide a more meaningful file name to remind you what is stored in the file.

3. Click "OK" to move the messages to the archive. If you want to access these messages in the future, use Outlook to open the archive file by clicking on "File," "Open" and "Outlook Data File."

References

• Practical Hacks: Reduce Outlook Mailbox Size With Archiving
• Western Washington University: How to Stay Within Your Outlook Quota and Keep All Messages You Need