PST files are Outlook data files used to store emails, contacts, calendar events, tasks, and more. They are particularly useful when you need to archive older or large emails to free up space in your mailbox.

This article will serve as a guide on how to organize emails for archiving, how to create and store a PST file, and how to load them into Outlook for later use.

    

Certain types or groups of emails may be strong candidates for archiving. Here are a few to consider:

    • Emails with large attachments (e.g., PDFs, images, multimedia) that are not needed frequently.

    • Email chains related to specific projects which you wish to keep for reference, but that are not often accessed

    • Older emails from specific vendors or organizations not necessary for day to day use

    • Entire groups of emails from a certain year (e.g. every email received in 2019)



Outlook Rules

To start, we can utilize Outlook rules to automatically sort emails you wish to archive into a single folder. As an example, we will archive all emails from January 2024:

  • Under File -> Manage Rules & Alerts, create a new rule.
  • Set up the rule to apply to the desired group of emails you wish to archive:
     

  • Check the "Run this rule now on messages already in Inbox" box to run the rule right away, and then click Finish.



  • This is a very simple example, but you may want to further organize your emails within the main folder you created. You can do this by making further rules that sort the emails in that folder. When we create the PST file, it will also keep all of your subfolders, if any.



Creating a PST File

After you have moved all the desired emails to a separate folder, we can turn it into a PST file with the following steps:

  • Go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export:


  • Select Export to a file and click Next.
  • Select Outlook Data File (.pst), then click Next.
  • Choose the folder you want to export (it may be within your Inbox folder):


  • Name your PST file, and select a location to save it.
    • Where to save PST files?
      • Where you decide to save these files will depend on your preference/storage needs. 
      • It is recommended to save them in your OneDrive folder, as they will be accessible from other computers, and backed up. 
      • You can also save them to your computer, though they will only be accessible on that computer if you do.

  • Choose your preference of what to do with duplicates, and then click Finish. Password is optional.


Loading PST Files into Outlook

When you need to reference or restore archived items, your PST file can be loaded into Outlook at any time:

  • Go to File > Open & Export > Open Outlook Data File.
  • Browse to the PST file’s location.
  • Select the PST file and click OK.
  • The PST file will appear as a separate folder under your other mailboxes:


  • When you are finished with the file, you can close it by right clicking the mailbox and clicking Close: