How do I archive email to a PST file?

Best Practices for Managing Your E-mail

Proper management of your e-mail ensures that Outlook runs smoothly and allows you to locate important messages when you need them. Outlook is not designed for nor was it ever meant to be a file cabinet. Rather, it is a tool to send information quickly from one person to another.  Your firm has contracted for a specific size of mailbox for each member of your firm.  If you don’t know what your maximum mailbox size is, please see your firm administrator or office manager.  The following information will assist you in the management of your Outlook mailbox.

Xcentric Recommendations

  • Keep your mailbox under the size provided by your firm. Outlook notifies you when near to reaching the maximum.
  • Delete unneeded messages daily and clear your deleted messages on a regular basis.  Some people choose to delete on exit and others save for a few days to ensure that they have not deleted something important.  If you save deleted messages, they still need to be permanently deleted on a regular basis.
  • Save attachments, especially large ones, to a network drive in an appropriate place for those needing access to it, then remove the attachments from your mailbox.
  • Xcentric's recommended best practice is to archive important must-have e-mails in a PST file (Personal Folders) with a name that is descriptive so you can easily identify items archived to the file, for example: “2008 archives,” “XYZ Project,” “Personal,” “Client’s names”.  
PST files can be attached to your mailbox allowing you to move messages into them easily.  Your archived e-mail remains accessible but manageable.  It is preferable to archive messages manually and have control over the process rather than to use the AutoArchive feature in Outlook.  This is especially important in Xcentric Cloud to ensure that your PST file is stored in your user directory. Using the Outlook default location on the C: drive will result in lost files for Xcentric Cloud users.

The following sections provide you with instructions on how to view your mailbox size and how to archive messages to a PST file.  At the end of this article are links to Microsoft on-line training for additional instruction on managing your mailbox.

Cleaning Up a Mailbox

  1. In Outlook, click on the Tools menu and select Mailbox Cleanup.
  2. Click the View Mailbox Size button to view the size of your mailbox and to see the individual size of each folder.
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  3. If your mailbox is larger than the size you have been allocated, take steps to remove unwanted mail. See the following  suggestions:
    » Delete items older than 365 days or create a PST file and archive them.
    » Delete items larger than 1,000kb or remove attachments and save to a network drive leaving only the e-mail in your mailbox.
    » Empty Deleted Items folder.
    » Empty Sent Items folder.
    » Archive important items to a PST file.

Archiving to a PST File

  1. In Outlook, click on the File menu and select Import and Export.
  2. Select Export to a file in the Import and Export Wizard dialog box and click Next. 
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  3. Select Personal Folder file (.pst) and click Next. 
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  4. Select the folder from which you want to export. Check the Include subfolders box if needed.  Note that you can export from the entire mailbox by selecting the Mailbox folder at the top of the list and by checking the Include subfolders box. 
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  5. Click the Filter button to limit the items you are exporting. For example, use the filter to export all messages from a specific client or all messages with an attachment over 5MB in size.
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  6. Click OK once you have set appropriate filter options, then click Next. 
  7. You need to specify a location for saving the new PST file. It is very important that you DO NOT use the default location on the C: drive. If you use a location on the C: drive the archived material will be lost when you log out of the Xcentric Cloud Network. We recommend that all PST files be saved to your personal U: drive with a name identifying the contents so as you create additional PST files it is clear what information is in each file.
    Click the Browse button and select a location on your U: drive (recommended) or on a shared network drive for the new PST.
  8. Enter a descriptive file name to identify the material in this PST file. (For example, 2008 Archive.)  Click OK. 
  9. Verify the path and file name you have chosen.  Make selections as needed under Options and click the Finish button. 
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  10. The Create Microsoft Personal Folders dialog box appears. Enter a descriptive name in the Name box. This name will be the title of the folder set in your Outlook navigation pane.  We recommend that you use the same description as you used for the file name. (For example, 2008 Archive.)
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  11. You may choose to add a password to the PST file.  Note that if you add a password you will need to enter the password to attach the PST in Outlook and when you start Outlook as long as the file remains attached, which may be cumbersome. Click OK.
  12. The messages that you specified by folder and/or by filter will be exported from your mailbox into the PST file.  The time required for the export will depend upon the number of messages exported, the size of your mailbox, and the filter options specified.  

To open a PST archive file in Outlook so that you can access the messages, please see the knowledgebase article titled How Can I Open a PST File in Outlook? 


For additional information and assistance with managing your Mailbox, please visit the course topics below, provided by Microsoft.

Manage your mailbox I: Find its size and trim it down

Manage your mailbox II: Understand your choices for storing

Manage your mailbox III: Move or copy messages to Personal folders

Manage your mailbox IV: Archive old messages

Manage your mailbox V: Retrieve, back up or share messages

 

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