Restore your pst-file to a convenient locationīefore starting to configure Outlook, restore the pst-file to a location on your local hard disk which is convenient for you. While the instructions below will allow you to restore your pst-file with your rules intact, it never hurts to export your rules to a separate rwz-file just in case. If you created the backup of your pst-file as a direct copy of the original rather than using an Export, then you'll indeed find various customizations are still there after a proper restore. When setting up Outlook on your new computer or when you recreate your mail profile, it is indeed best to directly configure it with your original POP3 pst-file rather than connecting to it afterwards. That sounds great and I would prefer not to lose too many of my settings but how exactly do I need to restore my POP3 pst-file to keep all these things?
That way I should be able to keep my rules, view settings and various other personalization settings. I've been told not to use the Import feature to restore my pst-file but to reuse it when setting up my account in Outlook.
Windows 98/ME store the files in a different location but they are not hidden, so Search (Find) will find them or you can browse for them using Windows Explorer.I've backed up my pst-file of my POP3 account from my old computer and now want to use it on my new computer. In Windows XP, open Windows Explorer and go to it's Tools, Folder Options menu.Ĭlick on the View tab and change the settings to show all hidden files and folders.Īfter changing the setting, you can use Windows Explorer to navigate to your user folder then to the folder containing the files.
To show all hidden files and folders in Windows 7 or Vista, open Windows Explorer and click on the Organize button on the left, then select Folder and Search Options from the menu. To show all hidden files and folders in Windows 8, look on the View ribbon in Windows Explorer and add a check to Hidden items. To browse for the pst using Windows Explorer, you need to show all hidden files and folders. In Win 7 and 8, open Windows explorer and type the file name in the Search field on the right. (Windows XP search shown in screenshot for Vista, choose Advanced Search in the search results window.) In order to find hidden files using Search, you need to use the Advanced search option to search all hidden files and folders and all system files. %USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook Searching for the filesīy default, Windows hides a lot of files and folders, including these files. You can use the following shortcut in the Windows Explorer address bar in Windows XP: The folder holding the toolbar, Outlprnt, VBA, rules, and nickname files isĬ:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook To see the PST files in Windows XP, paste this line on the address bar of Windows Explorer: If you are using Windows XP or Windows 2000, the files are in the following locations:Ĭ:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook %appdata%\Microsoft\Outlook Windows XP or Windows 2000: To access the folder holding the toolbar, Outlprnt, VBA, navigation pane, and nickname files in Windows 7/8 or Vista, use the following shortcut line: Other Outlook files, like the Navigation pane customization file (*.xml), toolbar customization file (outcmd.dat), send and receive customizations (*.srs), and print customizations (outlprnt) are atĬ:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook Outlook support files (xml, srs, outlprnt, VBA, etc): In Windows 7/8 or Vista, use this shortcut to access the pst file and other files in the local app data folder: (This method does not require you to change the Hidden Files and Folders setting.)
Instead of browsing for the folders, you can copy or type the following lines into Windows Explorer address bar or in the Start menu's search folder and press Enter to open Explorer to the correct folder. If you are using Windows 7, 8 or Vista, the default location for the PST isĬ:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook
You can close the Data File Management dialog (and Outlook, if desired) once Windows Explorer is open.
( File, Account settings, Data files tab in Outlook 2010 or 2013.) Select the PST and click Open folder. If Outlook is open, you can open Windows Explorer to the pst location from the File, Data File Management menu. IMAP and Outlook Hotmail Connector data files remain in the local appdata \microsoft\outlook folder. If you upgraded to Outlook 2010 or 2013 and kept the old profile, the *.pst file is not moved. In Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2013, the default *.pst location for POP3 accounts in new profiles is My Document\Outlook Files.