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E-mail FAQ 25: Archiving e-mail

QUESTIONS:

How do I archive e-mail in Outlook?

How do I retrieve archived e-mails?

How can I hide the archived folder?

ANSWER:

You can use Outlook's AutoArchive to back up or delete e-mail items and save them to another location such as your Summit home drive, i.e., the H: drive. By default, archived files will be called archive.pst. This file can be renamed to something more meaningful, such as archiveMay04-May05.pst.

Ways to AutoArchive

There are three ways to archive e-mail using Outlook.

• Archive all of your Microsoft Outlook e-mail folders automatically every x number of days
  1. Open Outlook.
  2. Under the Tools menu, choose Options….
  3. Click Other tab.
  4. Click the AutoArchive… button.
  5. On the AutoArchive window, make sure there is a check in the checkbox next to Run AutoArchive every x days where x is a value provided in the select list.
  6. In the select list referenced in the previous step, choose the number of days you would like between archives.
  7. You have the following archiving options:
     • Delete expired items (e-mail folders only): Choosing this option deletes expired messages instead of adding them to an archive folder. Messages only expire if you set an expiration date.
     • Archive or delete old items: Choosing this option moves messages to an archive folder or deletes them. You need to have this checked to run the archiving.
     • Show archive folder in folder listing: Choosing this option causes the archive folder to display in the Folder List.
     • Permanently delete old items: Do not choose this option if you want to keep your messages in an archive folder. This option permanently deletes old messages.
  8. Use the select boxes next to Clean out items older than to determine how long to keep items before archiving or deleting them.
  9. If you wish to move old messages to an archive folder, click the radio button next to Move old items to:
  10. Click the Browse… button and select the folder where you want your archived e-mail to be stored such as your Summit home drive, i.e., the H: drive.
  11. Click OK.
  12. Click OK.
• Archive specified e-mail folders automatically every x number of days
  1. Open Outlook.
  2. Click the Folder List tab in the bottom, left corner.
  3. Right-click on the folder in the Folder List which contains e-mails to be archived.
  4. Click Properties.
  5. Click the AutoArchive tab.
  6. You have the following archiving options:
     • Do not archive items in this folder: Choosing this option indicates that you do not want to archive the messages in the selected folder.
     • Archive items in this folder using the default settings: Choosing this option causes the messages in the selected folder to be archived using the default archiving rules.
     • Archive this folder using these settings: Choosing this option allows you to create archiving rules for the selected folder. You have the following options:
       • Clean out items older than: Use the select boxes next to this header to determine how long to keep items before archiving or deleting them.
       • Move old items to default archive folder: Choose this option to move messages to the archive folder specified by the default AutoArchive settings.
       • Move old items to: Choose this option move messages to an archive folder of your choosing.
         1. Click the Browse… button and select the folder where you want your archived e-mail to be stored such as your Summit home drive, i.e., the H: drive.
         2. Click OK.
       • Permanently delete old items: Do not choose this option if you want to keep your messages in an archive folder. This option permanently deletes old messages.
  7. Click OK.
• Manually archive e-mail
  Create an archive from a specified date which will be saved as an archive.pst file in a location you specify. This .pst file can also be burned to a CD.
  1. Open Outlook.
  2. Under the File menu choose Archive….
  3. Choose one of the following options:
     • Archive all folders according to their AutoArchive settings: Choose this option if you have customized the AutoArchive settings for all of the folders in the Folder List.
     • Archive this folder and all subfolders: Choose this option if you wish to select which folder, and any folders contained therein, contains messages that you would like to have archived.
  4. Click the down arrow to the right of Archive items older than:.
     • Click the left and right arrows on each side of the month on the pop-up calendar to scroll between months.
     • Click on the appropriate date below the month name.
  5. You can choose to archive items even if they are set to not be archived by clicking the checkbox next to Include items with "Do not AutoArchive" checked.
  6. Click the Browse… button and select the folder where you want your archived e-mail to be stored such as your Summit home drive, i.e., the H: drive.
  7. Click OK.
  8. Click OK.

Retrieving Archived E-mails

1. Open Outlook.
2. Under the File menu choose Open
3. Under the Open menu choose Outlook Data File….
4. Browse to the location of your .pst file and click on it.
5. Click OK.

Files will be displayed in the Personal Folder mailbox if you did not change the name.

Closing The Archived E-mail Folder

You can close the archive so that it does not display on your Folder List.

1. Open Outlook.
2. Right-click on the archive folder.
3. Select Close "Archive Folders".

You can also burn your archive to a CD.