Outlook and Exchange/Windows Messaging Backup and Dual-Boot

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Outlook & Exchange/Windows Messaging Backup and Dual-Boot

For Outlook 2007, see Outlook 2007 File Locations. Includes file locations in Vista.

Where is my Outlook data stored, people often ask? Your Outlook folders are either in a mailbox on an Exchange Server or in Personal Folders .pst files on your system. You may also have a Personal Address Book .pab file if you use an older version of Outlook, however we recommend you import it into your Contacts folder as it is no longer supported.

Backup and dual-booting between Windows versions all involve using the same files. There is no backup process built into Outlook. To back up, simply exit Outlook, then copy the files you want to back up. Below we provide a chart of Outlook 2000/2002/2003 file locations, followed by notes on particular files and where they might be found in earlier versions.

These files are also the ones that you'd want to copy back and forth between machines if you need to use the same information at the office and at home, for example. If you have Outlook profiles, name them the same on both machines, so you can use the same .fav and .rwz files. Then use Tools | Services (or Tools | Accounts) to point the Personal Folders and Personal Address Book services to the files that you've copied. (TIP: You can use the Briefcase to help automate the process of copying the files.)

If you dual-boot, use the same profiles in each operating system. Your profile can point to the same .pst, .ost and .pab files, but you would need to copy the .fav, .rwz and .rtf files and the Outlprnt file.

Outlook 2000/2002/2003 File Locations

Where do you find these files? You can always start by using your operating system's Search or Find command to locate the particular file types. On Windows 2000 or XP, you may need to use Tools | Folder Options | View in Windows Explorer and select Show hidden files and folders.

Under Outlook 2000 and later versions, most files will be in a subfolder under the Application Data folder on your system, though the exact location of the Application Data folder can vary. On a Windows 98 system without individual user logins, look for \Windows\Application Data. On a Windows 98 system with individual user logins, look for \Windows\Profiles\<user name>\Application Data and \Windows\Profiles\<user name>\Local Settings\Application Data. On a Windows NT system, look for \Winnt\Profiles\<user name>\Application Data and \Winnt\Profiles\<user name>\Local Settings\Application Data. The Personal Folders .pst file on an NT system or a Windows 98 system with user profiles will be located by default in the second set of Application Data folders.

When using Windows 2000/XP, Outlook stores *.pst, *.ost, *.msnpst, *.pab, *.oab, and extend.dat in C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. Extend.dat, Hotmail, IMAP, and MSN Connector message stores can not be moved.

All other Outlook configuration files are stored in C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook and cannot be moved.

Tip: Copy and paste these lines in Windows Explorer address bar to open the folder:
To access the folder holding the toolbar, VBA, rules, and nickname files, paste:

%USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

To see the message store files, paste:

%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

Vista uses C:\Users\username\AppData for data storage, with the Local and Roaming subfolders. Outlook 2007 File Locations has more information on the files stored in the Local and Roaming subfolders.

Note: Storing Personal Folders on an network file share is not recommended and may cause corruption and data loss.

Type of File	Name or Extension	Outlook Profile Specific	Subfolder under \Application Data\Microsoft
Personal Folders	.pst files		Outlook (default, but .pst files can be anywhere on system)
Personal Address Book	.pab files		Outlook (default, but .pab files can be anywhere on system)
Offline folders used by Exchange server, MSN's Outlook connector, and MOOL.	.ost files		Outlook (default, can be moved to anywhere on the system)
MSN's Outlook Connector folders (MSN accounts set up prior to 1/2005)	.msnpst		Outlook
Outlook Bar shortcuts	.fav files	X	Outlook
Rules Wizard rules (Outlook 2000 and earlier versions)	.rwz files	X	Outlook
Nicknames for AutoResolution	.nick files	X	Outlook
Nicknames for AutoComplete (Outlook 2002/2003)	.nk2 files		Outlook
Customized print settings	OutlPrnt		Outlook
Customized toolbar settings	Outcmd.dat		Outlook
Customized system folder views	Views.dat		Outlook
Macros and VBA programs	VbaProject.otm		Outlook
Navigation bar customizations (Outlook 2003)	.xml files	X	Outlook
Send/Receive group settings (Outlook 2002 and later)	.srs files	X	Outlook
Signatures	.rtf, .htm, and .txt files	X (only in Outlook 97)	Signatures
Stationery	.htm files		Stationery
Templates	.oft files		Templates
Dictionary	.dic files		Proof
Junk and Adult Senders lists (Outlook 2000 and 2002)	Junk Senders.txt Adult Senders.txt		Outlook
Outlook 2003 Safe and Blocked senders lists	Stored in mailbox as a hidden message
Installed Add-ins	extend.dat		Outlook-- This file does not need to be backed up, Outlook will create a new copy.

Personal Folders Files

If you are not connecting to Microsoft Exchange Server, all your Microsoft Outlook data is stored in one or more Personal Folders (.pst) files.

In Outlook 97 and Outlook 98 or Outlook 2000 in Corporate/Workgroup mode, check the properties for Personal Folders in Tools | Services (or Tools | Account Settings) to determine the exact location on your system.

In Outlook 98 or Outlook 2000 in Internet Mail Only mode, right-click on Outlook Today or the top level of any other set of folders and then choose Properties.

Some people like to export a folder, such as Contacts, to a separate backup .pst file. That's fine for the data, but it does not back up any folder customizations such as views and custom forms. If you want to back up those, too, copy the entire folder to a new .pst file instead of using the export feature.

Also see:

Why .pst Files Are Unsupported Over a LAN or WAN Link

XCLN Default Personal Folder File Creation Path Needs to Be Configurable - hotfix available; provides ForcePSTPath registry value

Offline Folders File

If you do use Microsoft Exchange Server, you may have an offline folders (.ost) file. You shouldn't need to back it up, since you can always refresh it by synchronizing with the server. However, be sure you understand the procedure for Recovering data from offline folders. If something ever goes wrong with your Exchange Server mailbox, this technique can save time and information, but you must apply it before you try to connect to the server again.

Personal Address Book

The Personal Address Book (.pab file) can be used to store addresses in Outlook 97 and Outlook 98 or Outlook 2000 in Corporate/Workgroup mode. Again, check Tools | Services to see if you're using a PAB and where it's located.

Note that the PAB is depreciated and may not be supported in future versions. For this reason you should import the contents to your Contacts folder and remove it from your profile.

Other Files

You may want to back up the .fav, .rwz and .rtf files, normally found in the \Windows folder under Outlook 97 and Outlook 98, one for each profile on your machine. These are the Outlook Bar shortcuts, Rules Wizard rules and rich-text format AutoSignature files, respectively.

Under Outlook 97 and Outlook 98, the Outlprnt file in the \Windows folder contains your custom print settings.

Some other miscellaneous files, not necessarily worth backing up:

*.adr -- Field mappings for Outlook import/export

Extend.dat -- Information about installed add-ins. Will be recreated if you delete it.

Outitems.log -- Outlook items to be placed automatically in the Journal

Offitems.log -- Office items to be placed automatically in the Journal

Outform.dat -- Information about Outlook forms (not sure what it does)

Outlook.box -- Custom control toolbox for forms design.

Frmcache.dat -- Outlook forms cache file. See How the Microsoft Outlook forms cache works.

Accounts

Account information is held in the user's Windows registry, not in a file. If Outlook 98 or 2000 is in Internet Mail Only mode, you can use the Tools | Accounts | Export to export account details, but not passwords.

Tools

Advanced Exchange Recovery	Advanced Exchange Recovery (AEXR) is a powerful tool to repair and recover corrupted Microsoft Exchange offline storage (.ost) files. When disaster occurs on Microsoft Exchange server, such as server crashes, the Exchange offline storage files (.ost) on the client computer still contain the mail messages and all other items of your Exchange mail account. AEXR can scan the orphaned OST files and recover your mail messages and other items, including folders, posts, appointments, meeting requests, contacts, distribution lists, tasks, journals and notes. The recovered items are saved in PST format readable by Outlook, Other important features are: support to recover attachments, support to recover deleted items, support to recover oversized 2GB OST files, support to convert OST files into PST files.
Easy Email Backup	Easy Email Backup can backup data from Outlook as well as Outlook Express, Internet Explorer, My documents folder and Desktop. You can also select and add data from other folders to the backup file. Use it to create backups on a regular basis with �Quick Backup�, a single click backup option and burn your backup directly to a DVD or CD ROM without using any disc burning utility or upload your backup to a FTP location. Version 2.0.0.160
Genie Outlook Backup	Backup utility for Outlook 2000, 2002, 2003 handling folder data and key user options, including toolbar and Outlook bar settings, signatures, stationery, and Internet account information. Version 6.
Mobiliti	Use Mobiliti to synchronize and backup files from any source to any destination including external drives, FTP, or WebDAV locations. While not limited to backing up your Outlook data, you can use it for unattended and transparent backup and synchronization of large Outlook files in seconds, including at startup, shut down, when logged to the network, or any time, via any type of connection. The real time synchronization ensures that source and destination files are always in sync. Basic, Plus and Enterprise versions available. Version 7.1
OutBack Plus	Backup your Outlook Personal Folders (.pst files) in a compressed, zip compatible, archive for a smaller and more easily managed file. All of your critical Outlook control files are included in the backup - Signatures, Stationery, Wizard Rules, etc are preserved for easy recovery. OutBack Plus allows you to restore the backup data to the same or another machine. Automatic reminder to backup after a set number of days - according to your needs. Also backs up Documents and Desktop folders, Internet Explorer Favorites, Cookies, offline folders and Firefox Browser data. Works with Outlook 2007, 2003, 2002 (XP), 2000, and 98, on Windows Vista, XP, Media Center, 2003, Windows 2000, Windows ME, and Windows 98. Version 6.
Outlook 2003/2002 Add-in: Personal Folders Backup	The Personal Folders Backup download creates backup copies of your .PST files at regular intervals, in Outlook 2002 and later versions, making it easy to keep all of your Outlook folders safely backed up.
Outlook Backup	Backup and restore Outlook data files, interface options, and settings. Backup and restore operations can be run from the command line, with your favorite Windows scheduling program for unattended operation. Supports Outlook 2007, 2003, 2002, and 2000. Version 2.899.
OutSource-XP	OutSource-XP automatically collects all important Outlook 2002/2003 files and lists them so you can choose the files (and settings) you want to backup. The unregistered version of OutSource-XP v2 saves the files into a pre-selected backup-folder, but does not compress the files. The registered version compresses the backup into one single file, and offers a Quick-Backup feature which creates a backup just with a single mouse-click. Version 2. Supports Outlook 2007.

Notes

If your network is set up so that you can use Outlook at any machine ("roving profiles"), your Outlook files may be in a different location. Try using Start | Find to locate each type of file. If you don't see any .pst files after you search, you may need to adjust the settings in Windows Explorer to show hidden and system files. Choose Tools | Folder Options, then switch to the View tab, and select Show hidden files and folders.

Personal Folders .pst files are among the files that are normally not included in a Windows 2000 (or later) offline files synchronization. However, you can edit the system policy that controls the file types so that .pst files can be included. See Error Message Files of This Type Cannot Be Made Available Offline.