Microsoft Outlook - Create a PST Archive File.

Microsoft Outlook - Create a PST Archive File.

Create a Microsoft Outlook PST Archive

Having a archive of emails can be done manually or automatically via third party software and Outlook itself does have a automatic time based archive to PST solution, however as many computer users need to be selective about what to archive we leave that selection process up to the user.

This guide shows you how to manually create a Outlook PST file for moving emails from your primary inbox and folders to a separate PST file that you may archive. Most often is when the primary mailbox is near full capacity this process is needed.

We recommend archiving by year, see archiving questions raised in link: https://help.supportu.nz/portal/kb/articles/how-to-archive-email

Things to note about Outlook PST
  1. Has a maximum size of 50GB when using Microsoft Outlook 2013 onwards
  2. Does not sync with your primary account, it resides only on the computer created or later added to another computer for access. (so backup the computer regularly!)
  3. PST files are portable, simply copy the newly created PST file from the actual folder it resides on to make a duplicate is a simple way to backup a PST file.
  4. PST files can only be used with Microsoft Outlook, so if you need to recover a computer, Microsoft Office needs to be installed before importing a PST file for use.
Microsoft has their own support articles that you should refer to, this is simply a generic guide to assist our clients.

Open Microsoft Outlook and click on "File"
Select the "Info", then Account Settings
Select "Data Files" window tab, then add
Create a name for the new PST file, we typically choose a year to archive but this can be anything you like.
Close the window, you can see the newly created PST file
Right click the new PST file in your Outlook mail view, add "New Folder" and give this a name, we typically place all content for a year into one main folder including content from inbox, sent, and other mail folders.
Final view of Outlook with new PST files and folder added. Add content to this. Always backup the PST files as this is the only copy of that content you place into this PST Archive. (remember you want to shrink your mail quota from the primary mailbox so you won't have two copies by default)


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