Methods to Backup Outlook Mailbox to PST

How would you handle it, if you wanted to back up all emails in a folder as a PST file in Outlook? This post will render you the solution to backup Outlook mailbox to PST. In fact, Microsoft Outlook actually has a native means to export the data of its account in a PST file. Of course, we will also take a look at different methods to backup Outlook mailboxes.

Microsoft Outlook is one of the most used and popular desktop email clients. So, it has huge userbase managing loads of mailbox data.

But the question is why do users want backup files? To know the answer keep reading the blog because in the upcoming section we are going to explain why the backup file is important and why you have to do this on regular basis.

Why Do Users Want to Backup Emails?

Microsoft Outlook is essentially an email client that also includes a calendar, task, contact management, and other features. Mail is the primary mode of business communication for the vast majority of firms. All emails, personal information, agreements, receipts, and other sensitive documents may be sent and kept safely and quickly via the platform. However, accidents do happen, so having a backup will help you avoid being in a bad situation.

• Generally, Outlook backups are highly crucial because of unanticipated occurrences such as data corruption, mistakenly deleting Outlook mails, hardware malfunctioning, system crash, malicious program installation, and so on. This will result in either harm to the Outlook data or the complete loss of mailbox items. And losing important emails is never a good thing.
• Plus, having a copy of the Outlook data also helps in keeping the inbox clean and managing the size of the Outlook data file.
• With a backup file, a user can easily transfer Outlook data to new computer, regardless of the reasons.

Now, after knowing the reason, let us understand the best way to backup the Outlook ems to PST.

How to Backup Outlook Mailbox to PST?

A user may wish to backup Outlook emails on either Windows or Mac Operating systems. After all Microsoft Outlook is available for both these platforms. That’s why we have separate methods for both platforms up ahead. Choose as per the requirements.

Windows: Using Import/Export Option

PST is a file type used by Microsoft Outlook to store vital information such as an account’s email data, contact information, file attachments, and much more. The procedures for exporting emails from Outlook to PST format are shown below.

• First, launch the Microsoft Outlook 2013 or above application on your system.
• After that, click on the File option from the menu bar that opens the Info tab.
• Now, click on the Open & Export option and choose Import/Export (import or export files and settings) from the list of given options.

• Choose Export to a file from the Import and Export Wizard window.

• After that, click on Outlook Data File (.pst) from the Export to a file window and click the Next button.

• Now, select the Outlook mailbox folder to take backup in PST format and click the Next button.

• Then, click on Browse and choose the destination location to save the PST file.

• At last click on the Finish button to backup Outlook mailbox to PST.
• In the Create Outlook Data File window that asks for a password, simply leave everything blank and click the OK button.

Once these steps are taken care of, the user can navigate to the destination folder provided in the aforementioned steps to find the exported PST file.

Mac: Backup Outlook Mailbox to PST

Outlook for Mac also supports PST format. However, unlike Outlook for Windows which provides both Import and Export functionality for the PST file, Outlook for Mac only supports importing the PST data items. Therefore, there are no native solutions to actually backup Outlook to PST on a Mac machine.

Additional Tips

Outlook saves and organizes email messages, contact information, file attachments, and much more, just the way a file with folders organizes papers. Other than the native method to export Outlook to PST format, this application also supports backing up emails in other supported formats via drag n drop. The instructions are shown below:

1. Select the files or items to be moved by left-clicking the mouse and holding it down over the things to be moved.
2. After selecting the objects to be moved, left-click on the items and hold it down, drag the items to the desktop or other folder where they are supposed to be stored, and then release the mouse by withdrawing your hand from the mouse you were clicking.
3. It will save Outlook emails as MSG files.

Note: The drag and drop method works on emails only. Windows Outlook does not support drag-drop of entire folder at once.

Best Way to Backup Outlook Mailbox to PST

It is evident that exporting Outlook data into PST is an easy job on a Windows machine. After all, Microsoft Outlook provides a native method to do so, as explained previously. However, there are no such methods on a Mac machine. So, the only choice of users is to opt for a professional tool to get the job done.

NXT Software is an all-in-one solution that gives the option to backup the Outlook mailbox into PST. Not just PST, the software also provides you with multiple options to save Outlook emails.

In addition, the tool also comes with the folder hierarchy option. It prevents the loss of data integrity and preserves the email attributes in a proper manner. Also, the tool supports all the versions of Outlook including Outlook 2019, 2016, etc.

Conclusion

This write-up contains several methods to backup Outlook mailbox to PST. The users can opt for the preferred solution as per their Operating system. Performing this task on a Windows machine is a no-brainer with the help of an easy native method. However, to backup Outlook mailbox on Mac, a professional method is recommended.