EMAIL BACKUPS: HOW TO FIND/COPY OUTLOOK PST FILES

If you are using Outlook, you might need to copy or backup your Outlook data periodically. Outlook keeps all it's data (contacts, calendar, email history,etc) in PST (personal storage) files, which are usually stored on your computer's C: drive.

Finding these files can be tricky since sometimes those files are kept in hidden locations.

Here is a way to find them:

1) SEARCH FOR OUTLOOK PST FILES

Search you computer for any file that ends with .pst and make sure you specify to include hidden locations:

START > Search > All Files and Folders > *.pst > More Advanced Options > Search hidden files


You will likely find these .PST files in one or more of the following locations:

• C:\Documents and Settings\youruserid\...\Outlook
• C:\Documents and Settings\youruserid\My Documents\Outlook
• My Documents\OutlookData

and you might find them in other locations on your computer.



2) DETERMINE WHICH FILES ARE WHICH

It's possible that you will find more than one file called outlook.pst in different folders.
The tricky part is determining which ones are valid and that you need. You might need all of them, or you might only need one or two of them. It's beyond the scope of this instructional article to tell you how to determine which are absolutely necessary. The safest thing is to copy all of them, but you have to be careful since they have the same name. You might be able to look at the "Last Modified" date of the .PST file to determine which file(s) you need.

3) COPY THE PST FILES

Once you've found all the .PST files and determined which you need to copy, you can copy them to a external USB hard drive, or a USB memory stick, etc.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Because you can't copy a PST file that is in use, make sure that you exit all software that might have those PST open. This includes Outlook, as well as other software like BlackBerry Desktop, iTunes, Palm Desktop, Act! or any other software what might use Outlook information.


4) TEST THESE PST COPIES

Since it's easy to copy these files incorrectly, it's a good idea to check them periodically.
One method to check them is to get another computer that has Outlook installed, carefully copy those backup PST files to that computer and then try to open them in Outlook to make sure they are okay, are compelte and contain the information you expect.


NOTE: One important thing to consider when trying to create a backup copy of your Outlook file, is that you might already have an backup of your Contacts and Calendar information on your BlackBerry or iPhone. If you already have your Outlook syncronizing with your phone, you probably already have a copy of all your contacts and recent calendar events on your phone. If you loose you Outlook file on your computer, you will loose all your email history, but you might be able to recover your Contact and Calendar information from your phone.