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Leaving the Institute? Learn How to Take Your Emails With You

One way to pack your email messages is by copying or moving them to a PST file. A PST file, which stands for Personal STore file, contains archived or copies of personal information used by Microsoft email programs such as folders, messages, contact information, and other data. You can save, copy or move a PST file to:

  • Another location on your hard drive
  • To a CD or external drive
  • To a shared directory on the network
  • An entirely new computer

PST files can only be opened or accessed using Microsoft Outlook on a Mac or Windows computer. Please continue reading for two easy ways to back up your emails to a PST file.

Creating a .pst File

To create a PST file while Outlook is running, follow these steps:

  1. From your inbox, select New Items > More Items > Outlook Data File.
  2. In the Types of storage area, select Outlook data file (.pst).
  3. Navigate to the folder location where you want to save your .pst file. Saving it to the I:\ drive is ideal.
  4. In the File name box, type a name for the new .pst file, or you can use the default name.
  5. Click OK.
  6. The newly created .pst file is added to your list of available mailboxes in your Inbox view. You are now ready to drag items from your mailbox to this newly created personal store. You can also create sub-folders within this newly created personal store to better organize the information that you are storing in it.

To add a PST file via the Windows system menus, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Windows Start Menu and search for "Control Panel". , point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Mail.
  2. Navigate to Control Panel > Mail (Microsoft Outlook 2016).
  3. Click Data Files.
  4. In the Account Settings dialogue window, click Add.
  5. In the Types of storage area, select Outlook data file (.pst).
  6. Navigate to the folder location where you want to save your .pst file. Saving it to the I:\ drive is ideal.
  7. In the File name box, type a name for the new .pst file, or you can use the default name.
  8. Click OK.
  9. The newly created .pst file is added to your list of available mailboxes in your Inbox view. You are now ready to drag items from your mailbox to this newly created personal store. You can also create sub-folders within this newly created personal store to better organize the information that you are storing in it.
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