BACKING UP

  1. The following procedure is valid only for Microsoft Office Outlook 2007.
  2. You can determine which version you are using by opening Outlook and clicking on Help > About Microsoft Outlook.
  3. The Personal Folder file (.pst / PST) is the place where Outlook stores its data (when you’re using Outlook without Microsoft® Exchange Server).
    1. Each Personal Folder file contains all of your Outlook folders, including the Inbox, Calendar, and Contacts. You may have a single .pst file (usually called “Internet Folders” or “Personal Folders” in your Folder List), and you may also have an additional .pst file that you use to archive messages (named “Archive Folders”).
    2. By backing up these PST files you will be backing up all your Outlook information.
    3. In previous versions of Outlook, it was difficult to locate the folder containing the personal folder files. Developers have made this task much easier in Outlook 2007.
  4. There are three ways to access the location of your data files.
    1. In the Microsoft Outlook 2007 Main Menu, you can either click File > Data File Management
    2. Or In the Microsoft Outlook 2007 Main Menu, click Tools > Account Settings
    3. Or if you’re unable to access Microsoft Outlook, simply click Start (from the windows taskbar) > Control Panel (please choose classic view if you’re using Microsoft Vista to be able to see all options availoable) > Mail
  5. If not already selected, click on the “Data Files” tab.
    1. You may have a single data file or multiple data files.
    2. These “Data Files” are where you store your email messages, calendar, tasks and other items.
  6. Highlight the data file that you are interested in backing up and click on the “Open Folder…” icon.
    1. Clicking on this icon will automatically launch Windows Explorer and take you to the location where this data file is stored.
  7. Within the folder you should find an outlook.pst file .
    1. Burn or copy this file to a CD, DVD, Thumb-drive or other backup source.
    2. If you archive your email, be sure to backup the archive.pst file as well.
    3. Prior to backing up these files, Outlook will need to be closed.

Additional Note

The table below lists key Outlook files that you may want to back up in addition to your Personal Folder(s). You will need to completely exit Outlook prior to copying these files. Depending upon your configuration some or all of these files may be present in your Outlook directory.

Type of File (Name or Extension)
Personal Folders (.pst files)
Outlook Bar shortcuts (.fav files)
Rules Wizard rules (.rwz files)
RSS subscription names (.sharing.xml.obi files)
Known feed list for RSS (.xml.kfl files)
Nicknames (.nick files)
Customized toolbar settings (outcmd.dat)
Customized system folder views (Views.dat
Macros and VBA programs     VbaProject.otm
Signatures (.rtf, .htm, and .txt files)
Stationary (.htm files)
Templates (.oft files)
Dictionary (.dic files)
Stores a reference to which extensions (addins) you have loaded. (extend.dat files)

Compatibility Note
Microsoft introduced a new .pst format with the release of Office 2003 which has a greater storage capacity and supports multilingual Unicode (Unicode: A character encoding standard that enables multiple languages to be represented by using a single character set.).

Personal folder files (.pst) created using Office 2003 or 2007 will not be able to be opened by earlier versions of Office. To create a data file that is compatible with Outlook 2002 and earlier, you must first create a new data file in the Outlook 97-2002 format using the “Add” icon in the Data Files dialog box. Then you must select File > Import and Export from the main menu and import your email from the 2003/2007 .pst data file to the new 97-2002 data file that you just created. Visit this link for more information.

RESTORE

There are two methods that can be used to restore the Backup that has been created. The first is a known and proper method (normally used when re-installing your OS with a fresh install of Microsoft XP/Vista) and the second is a quick and dirty method should you need to recover files/folders that have been accidentally deleted.

Method 1

You can use the backup copy of your .pst file to restore your Outlook data if the original .pst file is damaged or lost. Everything that is saved in the .pst file is returned to Outlook.

Follow these steps to restore, or import, your data into Outlook:

  1. If the .pst file that you want to import is stored on a removable device, such as a floppy disk, a portable hard disk drive, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape cassette, or any other storage medium, insert or connect the storage device, and then copy the .pst file to the hard disk drive of the computer.When you copy the .pst file, make sure that the Read-Only attribute is not selected. If this attribute is selected, you might receive the following error message:The specified device, file, or path could not be accessed. It may have been deleted, it may be in use, you may be experiencing network problems, or you may not have sufficient permission to access it. Close any application using this file and try again. If you receive this error message, clear the Read-Only attribute, and then copy the file again.
  2. Open Outlook.
  3. On the File menu, click Import And Export. If the command is not available, rest the pointer over the chevrons at the bottom of the menu, and then click Import and Export.
  4. Click Import from another program or file, and then click Next.
  5. Click Personal Folder File (.pst), and then click Next.
  6. Type the path and the name of the .pst file that you want to import, and then click Next.
  7. Select the folder that you want to import. To import everything in the .pst file, select the top of the hierarchy.
  8. Click Finish.

Method 2

  1. If you have followed the steps above to backup your Outlook data, restoring is simple.
  2. All you do is copy the backup PST file(s) into the folder that you located when you initially backed up your work.