OL97: Working with Personal Folders

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Outlook 97

SUMMARY

Personal Folders are folders that you create to store mail messages on your local hard disk or on another server. You add a main Personal Folders as a service to the User Profile and give it a file name. Personal Folders have a .PST extension. For MSMail Post Offices, a Personal Folders is set up automatically because the Inbox and Outlook folders have to reside there.

MORE INFORMATION

The Personal Folders file contains folders, messages, forms, and files. You work with a Personal Folders file as you would with any other file, and you can save, copy, and move a .pst file to another location on your hard disk, a floppy disk, or a server. You can also designate a Personal Folders file as the delivery location for your incoming messages.

To set the delivery location, follow these steps:

1. On the Tools menu, click Services.

2. In the Services dialog box, click the Delivery tab.

3. In the "Deliver new mail to the following location box," click where you want to send and receive messages.

   If you set up a computer to use Remote Mail, you must click the name of a personal folder file. If you set up a computer to use offline folders, you must click the name of your Microsoft Exchange Server mailbox.

4. Click OK.

5. Quit and restart Outlook.

Backing Up Your Personal Folders File

Follow these steps to back up your Personal Folders file and all subfolders:

1. On the Outlook File menu, click Import And Export to open the Import And Export Wizard.

2. In the "Choose an action to perform" list, click to select "Export to a personal folder file (.pst)" and click Next.

3. In the "Select the folder to export from" list, click "Personal Folders."

4. Click to select the "Include subfolders" check box, and then click Next.

5. In the "Save exported file as" box, type the path and file name of a destination .pst file, or click Browse and select a destination .pst file.

6. Under Options, click the button corresponding to how you want duplicate items treated, and click Finish.

Backing Up Outlook Folders

Outlook folders, such as Calendar, Contacts, Journal, Tasks, and e-mail message folders are components of the Personal Folders file. This procedure will back up an individual Outlook folder in a different Personal Folders (.pst) file. Follow these steps to individually back up your Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Journal, or mail folders:

1. On the Outlook File menu, click Import And Export to open the Import And Export Wizard.

2. In the "Choose an action to perform" list, click to select "Export to a personal folder file (.pst)," and then click Next.

3. In the "Select the folder to export from" list, click to select the Outlook item folder you want to back up. For example, select your Contacts folder to back up your Contacts in a different .pst file.

4. Click Next.

5. In the "Save exported file as" box, type the path and file name of a destination .pst file or click Browse and select a destination .pst file.

6. Under Options, click the button corresponding with how you want duplicate items treated, and click Finish.

Exporting Outlook Folders to Another File Format

Follow these steps to export your Outlook folders to a different file format:

1. On the Outlook File menu, click Import And Export to open the Import And Export Wizard.

2. In the "Choose an action to perform" list, click to select "Export to a file," and click Next.

3. In the "Select the folder to export from" list, click to select the Outlook item folder you want to export. For example, select your Contacts folder to export your Contacts in a different file format.

4. Click Next.

5. In the "Create a file of type" list, click to select the export file format, and click Next.

6. In the "Save exported file as" box type a path and file name, or click Browse to select a destination file.

7. Click Next.

8. Click "Map Custom Fields" if you want to control how fields export; otherwise, click Finish to start the export.