Archiving Your Email in Outlook 2016 or 2019

Archiving emails in Outlook 2016-2019 removes emails in certain date ranges and folders from the mail server and permanently stores them on your local computer.

Please note that any Outlook Archive File (.pst) must be stored on your local hard drive and should not be stored on any cloud storage platforms. Storing .pst files on the cloud causes them to become unstable and significantly increases the risk of the archive file becoming corrupted.  

The instructions and screenshots below are for Outlook 2016, but will work for Outlook 2019 as well. 

How to Archive your Emails in Outlook 2016 - 2019

  1. Go to the Start menu in the bottom left hand corner of your desktop and scroll down until you see Outlook 2016. Open Outlook 2016.

    Screenshot of the Windows 10 Start Menu with a red box around the Outlook 2016 icon and a red arrow pointing towards the Outlook 2016 icon.
     
  2. Click on the File tab in the top right hand corner and select Cleanup Tools.

    Screenshot of the File tab in Outlook with a red box around the Cleanup Tools button and a red arrow pointing towards the Cleanup Tools button.
     
  3. From the Cleanup Tools menu, select Archive...

    Screenshot of the Cleanup Tools menu with a red box around the Archive... option and a red arrow pointing towards the Archive... option.
     
  4. Select which folders you would like to archive. If you would like to archive every message in the email account, select the email address at the top of the window. You may also choose a specific folder to save the archive in. Click Browse... to select a different folder. Once you have made all of your selections, click OK. 

    Screenshot of the Archive window with a red box around the Browse... button, a red box around the OK button, and a red arrow pointing towards the OK button.
     
  5. Look in the toolbar across the bottom of the Outlook window. You will see an archiving progress bar.

    Screenshot of the Outlook toolbar with a red box around the Archiving progress bar.
     
  6. When that finishes you will be able to access your Archives from the navigation menu on the left, under the heading Archives.

    Screenshot of the Outlook Navigation pane with a red box around the Archives section and a red arrow pointing towards the Archives section.

     
    *Remember, emails archived are only visible on the computer they were archived on. You will not be able to see that folder on any other computer or in the Office 365 Online Mail App. 

 

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