Introduction

Many Outlook users accumulate large volumes of email in their Exchange mailboxes. To remain within the mailbox quota, it is necessary for Outlook users to manage their files effectively by archiving out-of-date email and maintaining this information on their local file system. This document is intended to act as a guide in archiving Outlook files and their subsequent access.

AutoArchiving Folders

The Outlook AutoArchiving tool scans your Outlook folders and archives out-of-date items to a file on your home directory space or your local disk drive. This process removes items permanently from the Exchange server, so it is important you back up those archive files on your local hard disc.

Enabling AutoArchiving

1. Click on the Tools menu. Choose Options. Click the Other tab then the AutoArchive button. The resulting dialogue looks like this:
2. 
   
   Ensure the AutoArchive every 14 days at startup, and prompt before AutoArchive options are checked.
3. Enter the location of the default archive file. E.g. C:\Archives\archive.pst. The filename must end with the .pst extension. If you use a public PC to access your email, the archive must be located in your home directory. If you access your email from your private PC, then you can create the file on your local hard disk.

The folder ageing periods and defaults are set as follows:

(*) The Contacts folder cannot be archived

In setting default ageing periods, consider how often you refer to old email, and Calendar items. The ageing period should be set so that you only have to refer to your archives occasionally. For example, if you have projects stretching over six months, it may be pointless to set the ageing period to less than that.

Note: Each time that the archive runs, the messages to be archived are appended to the existing archive file. Thus the archive (.pst) file will grow over time.

The first time you archive may take some time, especially if you have a large amount of old mail in your folders. Subsequent archives should be much faster.

To set or view the current AutoArchive settings for a folder

You can check, or set archiving on your folders, as follows:

1. Click the right mouse-button on the folder from either the Outlook Bar or folder view.
2. Select the Properties option from the menu. Click the AutoArchive tab. The top half of the resulting dialogue looks like this:

The Clean out items older than checkbox enables AutoArchiving on that folder. Items older than the specified limit will be AutoArchived each time the AutoArchiver examines files.

The defaults are fine for most folders, but you may want to change the default for your Inbox and other mail folders. Try to decide on an archive period which will reflect your usage of mail and that particular folder and allow you to refer back to old mail.

Retrieving information from Outlook archives

You can retrieve items from the archive files in one of two ways: you can either put the items back onto the Exchange server, or open them on your local file system. We recommend restoring them to your local file system.

Reading archives as a Personal Folder

1. In the main Outlook window, select the Tools menu and choose the Services... option.
2. Click Add...
3. In the Available information services window, click on Personal Folders. Click OK.
4. A system browser window will pop up. Use the window to browse your local file system to find the archive file (.pst file) you wish to open. When you have browsed to the directory containing the file, highlight the file by clicking it once.
5. Click Open.
6. Click OK. Click OK again to close the Services window.

Your archive will be restored under Personal Folders in the Outlook folder view. The directory structure of the archive is preserved. All subsequent archives will appear automatically once this procedure has been invoked.

Below is an example of a restored archive:

Note: Archives that are imported back into your mailbox take up their original space on the Exchange server. This may result in you exceeding your quota. Archives that are imported into your Personal folders only take up space on your disks, not on the Exchange server.