Archiving FolderIn Outlook, archiving is a way to back up or delete old items, such as e-mail messages, appointments, contacts, tasks, journal entries, notes, posted items, and documents. AutoArchive backs up items for you automatically by using either the default settings or settings that you specify. However, sometimes you might not want to worry about all of those settings and just archive an individual folder manually.
Manually archive a folderOn the Go menu, click Folder List.
Click the folder that you want to archive. In this procedure, the folder being archived is Home Networking.
On the File menu, click Archive.
Click one of the following options:
Archive all folders to their AutoArchive settings Allows you to use your AutoArchive settings to archive the Home Networking folder.
Archive this folder and all the subfolders Allows you to archive the Home Networking folder using the options available in the Archive dialog box.
In the Archive items older than list, choose a date from the date picker. In this example, items in the folder created before January 19, 2004 are archived.
To include items that you previously selected not to archive, select the Include items with "Do not AutoArchive" checked check box.
NOTE To see if items have the Do not AutoArchive this item check box selected, open the item. On the File menu, click Properties. On the General tab, verify that the Do not AutoArchive this item check box is selected.
To archive the folder to a file other than the default Archive.pst file, click Browse, and then specify a different file name, such as Home Networking Archive.pst, and a location, such as My Documents.
NOTE The default location for Archive.pst is C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\. A Personal Folders file (.pst) is an Outlook data file that stores items such as e-mail messages, contacts, calendar data, tasks, and notes.
Click OK.
The items in the folder are moved out of the folder and into the .pst file that you specified. To view the folder items again, open the .pst file.
Restoring archived itemsMethod 1) Copy all archived items from a .pst file back into their original folders
1. On the File menu, click Import and Export.
2. Click Import from another program or file. Click Next.
3. Click Personal Folder File (.pst). Click Next.
4. In the File to import box, change the default file name in the path from backup.pst to the name of the archive file you're importing from. Click Next.
5. Click the folder to import from. If you want, click Include subfolders.
6. Specify how you want Outlook to handle duplicate items.
7. Click Import items into the same folder in, and then click the folders with the same name as the folders you're importing from.
8. Click Finish.
Method 2) Copy all archived items from a .pst file into a new folder
1. In Outlook, create a new folder to copy the archived items to.
2. On the Go menu, click Folder List, and then in the Folder List, click the new folder.
3. On the File menu, click Import and Export.
4. Click Import from another program or file. Click Next.
5. Click Personal Folder File (.pst). Click Next.
6. In the File to import box, change the default file name in the path from backup.pst to the name of the archive file you're importing from. Click Next.
7. Click the folder to import from. If you want, click Include subfolders.
8. Specify how you want Outlook to handle duplicate items.
9. Click Import items into the current folder.
10.Click Finish.
