How to automatically back up your personal folders file in Outlook

This article describes how to automatically back up your personal folders (.pst) file in Microsoft Outlook 2002, Microsoft Office Outlook 2003, and Microsoft Office Outlook 2007.

Your .pst file contains all the local Outlook folders, such as Calendar, Inbox, Tasks, Sent Items, Outbox, Deleted Items, and user-created folders. To automatically back up these folders, create a backup of your .pst file.

The Microsoft Outlook Personal Folders Backup tool is an Outlook add-in that automates the backup process. The Microsoft Outlook Personal Folders Backup tool works with Outlook 2000, Outlook 2002, Outlook 2003, and Outlook 2007. To download the add-in, visit the following Microsoft Web site: With the Personal Folders Backup add-in, you can choose which of your .pst files you want to back up and how frequently you want to back them up.

Each .pst file contains all your Outlook folders. This includes the Inbox, Calendar, and Contacts. You can have a single .pst file (usually called "Internet Folders" or "Personal Folders" in your Folder List), but you might also have an additional .pst file that you use for archiving ("Archive Folders"). The Personal Folders Backup add-in lets you back up any of these .pst files.

Note The Personal Folders Backup add-in backs up only .pst files. If you have a Microsoft Exchange Server mailbox, the server mailbox folders are backed up regularly by the server administrator.

To use the Personal Folders Backup add-in, follow these steps:

1. Start Outlook.
2. On the File menu, click Backup.
3. Click Options and select the .pst files that you want to back up.

To use the Personal Folders Backup add-in with Outlook 2010, follow these steps:

1. Configure Outlook to allow the Personal Folders Backup add-in to run automatically on exit. For more information on how to do this, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
   
   2030523 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2030523) How to enable Personal Folders Backup add-in to work with Outlook 2010
   
   Note This step only needs to be performed one time.
   
2. Start Outlook.
3. On the Ribbon, click the Add-ins tab.
4. Click the Backup button.
5. Click Options and select the .pst files that you want to back up.

The Personal Folders Backup add-in can back up files to a disk. However, the add-in cannot spread the .pst file across multiple disks. When you change backup options, select a storage location that has sufficient free space to handle your whole .pst file.

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