Archiving Your Email in Outlook for Mac

Archiving emails in Outlook for Mac creates copies of your email account from the server and stores them on your local computer.

Please note that Outlook for Mac saves the Archive file as an (.olm) file that can only be read on a Mac. Any information from your email account that you archive must be stored on your local hard drive and should not be stored on any cloud storage platforms. Storing .olm files on the cloud causes them to become unstable and significantly increases the risk of the archive file becoming corrupted.  

How to Archive Emails in Outlook for Mac 

  1. From your desktop, click on Go located in the top toolbar and select Applications.

    Screenshot of the Go menu with a red box around the Applications option and a red arrow pointing towards the Applications option.
     
  2. Scroll down in the Applications folder until you see the Microsoft Outlook icon. Double click to launch Microsoft Outlook.

    Screenshot of the Applications folder with a red box around Microsoft Outlook and a red arrow pointing towards the Microsoft Outlook icon.
     
  3. Click on the Tools tab at the top of the Outlook window and select Export.


     
  4. You will see the Export to Archive File (.olm) window. Select the items you wish to archive and then click on Continue

    Screenshot of the Export to Archive File window with a red box around the Continue Button and a red arrow pointing towards the Continue button.
     
  5. You can now name the archive in the Save As: field and choose where the file will be saved in the Where: field. Once you have set those fields, click on the Save button. 

    Screenshot of the Outlook Save archive file window with a red box around the Save button and a red arrow pointing towards the Save button.
     
  6. Once the progress bars for each of the selected items is complete, you will see the message Your data has been exported. Click on the Finish button. 

    Screenshot of the final Export to Archive File (.olm) window with a red box around the Finish button and a red arrow pointing towards the Finish button.
     
  7. Navigate to the folder where the archive is saved to verify that the process has been completed correctly. 


    Screenshot of the Documents folder with a red box around the Outlook for Mac Archive file file and a red arrow pointing towards the Outlook for Mac Archive file.

     

 

Need additional assistance?

Get Help