Best Way to Archive Outlook Emails

Nowadays, we are pretty much used to using Gmail and Outlook when it comes to receiving and sending emails. But we don’t always have enough space online to store them from time to time. In times like these, we feel the necessity to archive the emails locally. Cloud storage might be something that is really handy, but it also has its own fair share of drawbacks.

It doesn’t provide unlimited storage, and for that, we have to save it locally on our desktop for future use. You might be wondering what is the best way to archive outlook emails. To answer that question, we will shed light on how you can implement different methods to archive outlook emails.  

But how do we do that? What is the best way to archive Outlook emails? Well, here you go:

Creating an Archive File

To create an archive file, the first thing that you have to do is click on the File Menu and select the option Cleanup Tools. In the cleanup tools, you will find an option called archive. Click on that to pop up a create archive window.

From there, you can actually select which section you would like to archive. You can even archive a whole section like “Inbox” and others. You can also include the older emails that you didn’t archive by selecting the corresponding date.

Now you can finally select the place where you would like to store the emails. Outlook will create PST files for your system. The initial archiving might take a while, but eventually, it will take a really short time. The archived emails will have the same structure as the ones from your online mailbox. It will include the subfolders if you properly select the file that you want to archive.

Moving Emails to Archive

Another method among the best way to archive emails is you can actually drop the emails that you want to archive in the archive section. To move numerous emails, you must select them and right-click to open the context menu and select the archive folders under the folder section and then click ok.

You can also create auto-archive by selecting the specific folder and right-click on that, and select properties. From there, you have to navigate to auto archive and select the most suitable settings for you. For implementing it to all of your emails, open Outlook Option from the menu and select advanced settings, from there, click on auto-archive settings and create rules for auto-archiving the emails in your inbox. This is one of the best ways to archive emails in Outlook nowadays.

Moving an Archive File

Here is another situation; this time, you might need to switch devices for that you have to move the emails and link it again.

Sounds tricky? Well, it’s simple. 

De-link and Move the Archive File

Before moving the files, the first thing that you have to do is remove the link from your profile. To do that you have to open the file menu and select account settings and navigate your way to the data files section where you will find the files that you have been maintaining in your system. 

Now you have to select the archive file and click on the remove button. This will not destroy or delete the files rather, it will de-link within Outlook. Now you can move the files to its new location.

Linking the Archive File

To continue with the best way to archive Outlook emails, you need to link the files you have. Go to the account settings again and press the add button and import all the PST files that you have backed up and open them from the archive.

Compacting the Archive File

Size is a really important factor here. If you are saving it in your local hard disk, it won’t be a problem but if you are sharing a device you should think about compacting the file for future purpose. Right-click the Archive section in the right panel to compress the archive size, then pick Data File Properties. Click on the Advanced button to open the data file for Outlook. All you have to do is land a click on that Compact now button, and that should reduce the file size.

Conclusion

Archiving is something that will help you in ways that can’t be noticed with the human eye. It will help you to store your emails and share them on multiple devices without any hassle. These are small tips and tricks that will help you improve your efficiency and operate your daily works more swiftly and efficiently. These methods described above are the best ways to archive emails for Outlook.

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