[Outlook Import Wizard Portablel UPDATED
Kody Coste
Whilst Outlook emails (as well as calendars, contacts, tasks, and notes) are stored within the Outlook Data File (.pst) file, some other files and settings such as account settings, signatures, templates, custom forms are stored in separate files. Therefore, if you want to transfer your Outlook account from the old computer to a new one in full, backing up only the .pst file may not be enough.
There may be different situations when you might want to back up Outlook mails - for example, when you are moving to another computer or restoring your Outlook data after a crash. In the second case, having a healthy Outlook backup can significantly alleviate the pain, so it's a wise strategy to back-up your Outlook emails once in a while, especially if you are using email for work.
You are finished! Just keep in mind that exporting a big .pst file may take a while, and the progress bar will stay on the screen until the backup process is completed. So, please be patient :)
How to backup Outlook 2010 emailsTo make an Outlook 2010 backup, go to the File tab, and click Options > Advanced > Export:
Now that your Outlook data is exported in a .pst file, you can move or copy the file in the usual way. For example, you can save your Outlook backup to Dropbox or OneDrive, and later on import it to a new computer.
Advantages: Exporting a .pst file is a quick, intuitive and safe way to backup Outlook emails that can be easily accomplished even by unexperienced users. Additionally, it lets you make a selective backup, i.e. export only relevant data leaving out unimportant folders like Junk or Deleted items.
Drawbacks: Exporting a .pst file is not a complete Outlook backup (despite the fact that the default name of the exported file is backup.pst). This method copies the most essential items such as mails, contacts, appointments, tasks, and notes. Some Outlook data is lost during export, even if you include all folders and subfolders. Among others, exporting does not save the following data: message rules, signatures, custom forms, custom views, and folder properties.
If you aim to backup Outlook data to the maximum extent possible, consider using one of the third-party "all-in-one" Outlook backup tools, or make a copy of the .pst file manually. In addition, you can back up files that store your Outlook templates, signatures, themes, and custom forms. Full details follow below.
For experienced users, the fastest way to take Outlook backup is copy the .pst file manually, and then restore it by pasting. The main complication of this approach is that different Outlook versions store a .pst file in different locations.
C:\Users\\Documents\Outlook Files
PST file in Outlook 2010On all operating systems including Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10, the default location of the Personal Folders file is this:
Note. AppData is a hidden folder. To be able to see it, go to Control Panel > Folder Options, switch to the View tab, and select Show hidden files, folders, or drives under Hidden files and folders.
And now, close your Outlook (an open Outlook won't let you copy the .pst file), and copy the file as usual: right-click, and click Copy. Or, press the Ctrl+C shortcut to copy the file, and Ctrl+V to paste it.
Back up Outlook rulesStarting from Outlook 2003, email rules are stored in a .pst file. So, copying a .pst file makes a backup of the rules, and the correct migration of the backup to a new profile restores the rules (please see safe way to import .pst). The only adjustment that you will have to make is remap "Move to folder" and "Copy to folder" rules. To do this, open Outlook, click Manage Rules and Alerts, select the rule, click the folder name in the bottom pane, and click OK to confirm the folder.
Advantages: Making a direct copy of the .pst file rather than using the export feature allows you to save more data - after a proper restore your Outlook rules as well as some other customizations will be still there.
Drawbacks: You need to know where the .pst file is stored in your Outlook, or be able to find its location. If you have several Outlook accounts that store data in different .pst files, you should be 100% confident that you backed up the correct file.
How to back up Outlook signatures, templates, custom forms and settingsApart from Outlook emails, you may want to back up other items and settings. Below, you will find a list of places where Outlook stores them.
Usually, you don't need to backup Office 365 mailbox (outlook.office365.com) because it is stored in the cloud and you can access your emails and other data from any place in the world. In some cases, for example when changing jobs and as the result moving to another Office 365 account, you may want to have a local copy of your emails. Here's how:
Exchange accounts keep all data on the server, and your computer stores the Offline Outlook Data File (.ost), which is a synchronized copy of your Exchange account. The .ost file is stored in one of the following locations, depending on your Outlook version and account type:
Alternatively, you can export your emails to a .pst file, and restore it later by importing.
How to restore Outlook backup by importing .pst fileThe most reliable and safe way to restore Outlook backup is to let the built-in Import and Export wizard walk you through the process.
Under Options, choose how you want to deal with duplicated items, and click Next. In most cases, it makes sense to go with the default Replace duplicates with items imported.
- If your Outlook backup is password protected, enter the password, and click OK.
- In case you have two or more Outlook accounts, select Import items into the same folder in, open the drop-down list, choose the account where you want to import the backup, and click Finish. If you have just one account, you can leave the default selection, whichever it is.
Clicking the Finish button will start importing the contents of your .pst file immediately, and the progress box will stay on the screen until it's finished.
Import .pst file to Outlook 2010To migrate your backup to Outlook 2010, click File > Open > Import. This will start the Import wizard, and you follow the above steps to do importing.
Import .pst file to Outlook 2007In Outlook 2007, you run the Import wizard by clicking File > Import and Export, and then follow steps 2 - 6 of the above instructions.
How to restore Outlook backup manuallyAs you have just seen, importing a .pst file is quick and straightforward. But direct copying/pasting is even faster. If you need to backup Outlook emails on a regular basis, you can save time using the following way to restore the backup.
First off, it should be noted that copying / pasting the .pst file will delete all current data in your account. So, if you want to keep both the current and backed-up data, import the .pst file rather than paste it manually. Importing will merge the current data and backup data in a single .pst file.
If you have just created a new Outlook account (which automatically creates a new empty .pst file) and you are absolutely confident that your Outlook backup is correct and uncorrupted, you can simply copy/paste the backed-up pst to the location of the current .pst file, and save it there under the same name, overwriting the current .pst. Otherwise, it might be reasonable to test the backup first. Knowing that the current .pst works anyway will surely make testing and restoring less stressful.
If you have not created an account yet, you can connect your pst backup to a new account during the setup process. This option is available only for the manual account configuration, which is why this method is best suited for administrators and experienced Outlook users who know the Server Information and other important details.
If you want to back up an OST file into PST file format, you can use Softaken OST to PST Converter Tool. This is tech savvy and safe program that can back up you OST records to PST format with no error of misfortune or defilement. The tool ensures that all the data, including emails, contacts, calendars, attachments, and other mailbox items, are accurately transferred from the OST file to the PST file. Additionally, it provides a user-friendly interface and supports batch conversion, allowing you to back up multiple OST files into PST format simultaneously.
Here are the steps to use it:
1. Download and install this professional OST to PST Converter application from its official website for more integrity.
2. Launch the app and pick the OST file you wish to back up by clicking the Add File option.
3. You can preview the OST file contents and select the items you want to back up.
4. Choose PST as the output format from the Export Options menu.
5. Select an objective location to save the reinforcement PST record and snap on the Convert button.
6. Wait for the backup process to finish and then open the PST file in Outlook.
I am using outlook 2013 outlook capacity only 10 GB but the have lot of mails
and in a outlook and i also want old mails i will try one time is get failure
.but i want the old mail and new mail also ..
Good afternoon,
Many of our users have PST files on the local disk (Outlook 2013 does not work well when they are on a shared drive. Do you know a tool which can periodically copy PST files to a shared drive? there are issues around PST file state (we would prefer to not force Outlook to close).
Merci.
Hi,
If i do my outlook backup, will this action leave any trace, notification message to the server or something similar? I wish to manage to do it with nobody being able to see that the backup hust happened.