Archiving emails in Outlook will shift all the selected emails to a chosen folder in your local operating system of the network mail server. There you will still be able to find and read them via Outlook credentials.
If you want to archive some of your emails that are looking for effective methods, this blog will come in handy. This article will take you through the manual and automatic methods of how to archive emails in Outlook of all kinds of versions. Not only this, but you will also learn how to find, access, and retrieve archived emails in Outlook.
Before learning the methods of how to archive emails in Outlook, make sure you read what are the benefits if you archive some of your emails in Outlook.
Why You Should Archive Emails in Outlook?
Irrespective of the type of your Outlook email account, Business or Personal, you just send and receive numerous email messages in a day. After all, emailing is the best way to communicate. But, we all need to store and protect our emails and an email account storing an ample number of emails can overburden the Data Servers. Whereas archiving email messages in Outlook can solve such issues. Here are the 5 most important reasons why you should archive emails in Outlook.
- Security – If you know the right method of how to archive emails in Outlook, your personal data and emails are going to be safeguarded with the capabilities of data. Even though your old emails are “out of reach” doesn’t mean they aren’t safe in your live inbox setting as well as emails.
- Restoration – As the archive data files take less space in comparison to non-archive emails. The email archiving will speed up the process if your data needs to be retrieved depending on the backup solutions you already have in place.
- Compliance – These days, industries need business records for keeping organizations. And because emails also contain these records, deleting them is not an option. Many sectors, such as health care, banking, pharmaceuticals, and more, have far more strict rules on what business records need to be maintained. Hence, archiving emails has been reported as one of the best solutions to all.
- Storage – When email data is stored on live servers, performance can be greatly reduced as the server gets overloaded. The other possibilities are either to entirely delete emails, which is not a wise option, as important data can be lost forever. Hence, archiving emails in Outlook is the best option to go ahead with.
After reading the aforementioned pointers, we hope you know how important it is to archive some emails. To execute that, you must learn how to archive emails in Outlook.
How to Access Archived Emails in Outlook?
Read the next section and follow the method as per your version of Outlook application.
Before applying the below-mentioned methods of how to archive emails in Outlook, remember, when you will finish archiving the selected emails in Outlook, all the archived email messages will no longer be available in your main mailbox.
How to Archive Emails in Outlook 2013?
If you have an Outlook office of the 2013 version and want to archive some of your emails, here are the essential steps that you must follow.
Also looking for how to automatically archive emails in Outlook 2010, the enlisted steps will also come in handy for those who use Outlook 2010.
- To start with the process of how to archive emails in Outlook 2013, let’s open the Outlook Web App installed on your device and click on the ‘File’ tab.
- Expand the options of the ‘Tab’ and click on the ‘Account Information’. Choose the option of ‘Cleanup Tool’ and further select the ‘Mailbox Cleanup’.
- Hit the tab of ‘Archive’ from the expanded options ‘Menu’.
- The dialogue box of ‘Archive’ will display on your screen. Select the option of ‘Archive this folder and all subfolders’.
- Here, select a folder where you can store the archived emails. In case you want to archive all received and sent email messages in Outlook, choose the node with your Outlook login address.
- Select the expand the options by clicking on the ‘Archive items older than’ and choose the recent date to archive the emails.
- A calendar will prompt on your screen, click on any ‘Date’ and select it in the current month.
(All the email messages older than the chosen date will be archived.)
- In case you want to archive email messages that are not supposed to be archived automatically using the ‘AutoArchive’ feature, choose the option of ‘Include items’ and check the box of ‘AutoArchive’.
- In case you want to change the ‘Location’ of archived files that are stored, hit on the ‘Browse’ button and select a new or different ‘Name’ of the archive file.
- At last, to end the process of how to archive emails in Outlook 2013, tap on the ‘OK’ and save all the changes.
After following the aforementioned steps, we hope you learned how to archive emails in Outlook version 2013. In case you have another version of Outlook, look at the next procedure.
How to Archive Emails in Outlook 365?
Every Outlook 365 user is enabled with an amazing feature of ‘Online Archive Feature’. If you want to archive your email messages and looking for the easiest way, here it is. Follow the below-mentioned steps one by one and know how to archive emails in Outlook version 365.
Before archiving emails, you must set up an ‘Archive Policy’ in Outlook 365 to make the method even more convenient.
- Start your system and open Outlook 365 on the web account.
- Navigate towards the left side and in the list of the ‘Folders’, right-click on any and choose the option of ‘Custom Created Folder’.
(In this folder, you can assign an ‘Archive policy’).
- Right-click on the ‘New Folder’ and drop down the options, select the option of ‘Assign policy’.
- Further, expand the options of ‘Archive Policy’ and you will see the enlisted options:
- Personal 6 month move to archive (for 7 months)
- Personal 1 year move to archive (for 1 year)
- Personal 5 year move to archive (for 5 years)
- Personal never move to archive (Never)
- Use parent folder policy
From the aforementioned options of ‘Archive policy’, you may choose any option as per your choice. You may also be asked to set the ‘Retention Policy’, drop down its options, and choose as per your wish.
Now that you have set an ‘Archive Policy’, follow the rest of the steps of how to archive emails in Outlook 365.
- Go back to the home page and navigate towards the ‘File’ tab and tap on it.
- Move towards its options and click on the ‘Info’ to further select the option of ‘Tools’.
- Now, expand the options of ‘Tools’ by clicking on the ‘Arrow’ and choose the ‘Cleanup Files’.
- There will be an option of ‘Archive this folder’, choose the folder you want to archive
- Then, under the window, there will be an option to ‘Archive items other than’, click on the ‘Date’ tab beside it and choose a date from the ‘Calendar’.
- At last, click on the ‘Ok’ button and close the ‘Archive’ window.
After following the aforementioned steps of how to archive emails in Outlook 365, you will be able to archive emails by the name of the ‘Folder’.
How to Archive Emails in Outlook 2016?
Follow the below-mentioned steps to know the automatic method of how to archive emails in Outlook 2016.
- When Outlook will send a notification, ‘Would you like AutoArchive your old items now?’, click on the ‘Yes’ button.
- Click on the ‘File’ on the home page and select the ‘Options’.
- Scroll down the options and click on ‘Advanced’ tab and choose the ‘AutoArchive Settings’.
- Once the dialogue box of ‘AutoArchive’ opens on your screen, you will be allowed to ‘Disable’ or ‘Enable’ only one option that is ‘Run AutoArchive every N Days’, else other options will be grayed out.
- Check the box and enable the option.
Set the details mentioned under the ‘Run AutoArchive every N Days’ such as:
- Relace the ‘N’ with the ‘Number of days’ you want to run AutoArchive
- Check the box of ‘Prompt before AutoArchives runs’, otherwise, your important files may get archived even without letting you know
- Check the box of ‘Archive or Delete Old items’ and welcome to other options
- Select the ‘Number of the months’ in front of the ‘Clean out items older than’
- Under the ‘Move old items to’, click on the ‘Browse’ and select the ‘Folder’ that will keep the old-deleted items
After following the aforementioned steps thoroughly and filling the details as per choice, you will learn how to archive emails in Outlook 2016.
Now that you have learned the manual and automatic method of how to archive emails in Outlook in different versions, learn how to find archived emails in Outlook from the enlisted method.
How to Find Archived Emails in Outlook?
Archiving emails are so beneficial that we often archive email messages by automatic method or manual method. But, when we want to access those archived emails, we are stuck with the steps as we do not know how to access archived emails in Outlook. Here are the essential steps that you must follow in order to view and read the archived email messages in your Outlook profile.
- Start your system and open the installed ‘Outlook Web App’ on it.
- Sign in to your Outlook email account by providing the correct login credentials.
- When you have arrived on the homepage, navigate towards the ‘File’ menu.
- From the expanded options of ‘File’, click on the ‘Open & Export’ option.
- Navigate towards your ‘Outlook email address’ and click on it.
- Under the ‘Open’ section, click on the very second option that is ‘Outlook Outlook Data File’.
- Go to the location where the archived file (.pst) is stored.
- Click on the archive file by its ‘Name’ (.pst) and hit the button of ‘Open’.
Once you follow the above-mentioned steps one by one, you will be able to learn how to find archived emails in Outlook in any version 2010/2013.
In case you have multiple archived files, you will need to open each file at once. All files cannot be opened or found together.
How to Retrieve Archived Emails in Outlook 2016?
If you want to restore or retrieve all the archived emails in Outlook, follow the enlisted tapes thoroughly. Also, remember that the restored archived file will show on your desktop as a form of Outlook online files. The 50GB storage space provided by Outlook will be used in the method of how to retrieve archived emails in Outlook.
- Start your system and open the installed ‘Outlook Web App’ on it.
- Sign in to your Outlook email account by providing the correct login credentials.
- When you have arrived on the homepage, navigate towards the ‘File’ menu.
- From the expanded options of ‘File’, click on the ‘Open & Export’ option.
- Navigate towards your ‘Outlook email address’ and click on it.
- Under the ‘Open’ section, click on the third option that is ‘Import/ Export’.
- After doing this, an ‘Import and Export Wizard’ will open, click on the ‘Choose an action to perform’ and under the same choose the option of ‘Import from another program or file’.
- Click on the ‘Next’ button and an ‘Import a file’ window will open, choose the ‘Outlook Data File (pst.) from the options of ‘Select file type to import from:’ and click on the ‘Next’.
- ‘Import Outlook Data File’ window will open, under the ‘File to import’ click on the ‘Browse’, select the file you wish to retrieve to your email account, and click on the ‘Next’.
- Browse the ‘Folders’ of the system and select the ‘File to Import’ and tap on the ‘Open’ button.
- In the next window, check the option that reads, ‘Do not import duplicates’ and click on the ‘Next’ button.
- Check the box of ‘Include Subfolders’ and another option that is ‘Import items into the same folder in’.
- Type the accurate ‘Email Address’ you want to restore the archived file into, click on the ‘Import items into the same folder in:’ and end the process by clicking on ‘Finish’.
The aforementioned steps will come in handy not only for the Outlook 2016 users but those who are looking for solutions to how to retrieve archived emails in Outlook 2003 or other Outlook versions, can also apply the same steps to their Outlook profile.
Also Read: How To Pin An email In Outlook
