Microsoft-outlook

How to make a backup copy of a .pst file

If you are not using Outlook with Microsoft Exchange Server, Outlook stores all of its data in a .pst file. If you want to back up or to export a particular folder, such as a Contacts or a Calendar folder, go to the "How to export .pst data." section .

Use the following steps to back up the whole .pst file:

Quit any messaging programs such as Outlook, Microsoft Exchange, or Microsoft Windows Messaging.

Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

Double-click the Mail icon.

Click the Show Profiles button.

Click the appropriate profile, and then click Properties.

Click the Data Files button.

Click the Personal Folders Service that you want to back up. By default, this service is called Personal Folders. However, this service may have been named something else.

Note You may have more than one Personal Folders service in your profile. If this is true, you must back up each set of .pst files separately.

If there are not any Personal Folders services in your profile and you have been able to store information such as messages, contacts, or appointments in Outlook, your information is most likely being stored in a mailbox on an Exchange Server. If this is true, see the "Data on a Microsoft Exchange Server" section.

Click Settings, and then note the path and file name that is listed.

Note The .pst file contains all data that is stored in the MAPI folders that are used by Outlook in that file. If the file may be too large to place on a floppy disk. If this is true, use a CD-ROM or other portable drive device. You can reduce the size of a .pst file when you click Compact Now.

Close all of the Properties windows.

Make a copy of the file that you noted in step 5 by using Windows Explorer or My Computer.

You may have to restore a .pst file from a removable media, such as a floppy disk drive, a portable drive device, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape drive, or any other storage media. To do so, copy the backup copy of the file that you just created from the storage media back to the computer hard disk drive.

When you do this, make sure that the Read-Only attribute is cleared. If this attribute is selected, you may receive the following error message: