Outlook & Exchange/Windows Messaging Backup and Dual-Boot

For Outlook 2007, see Outlook 2007 File Locations. Includes file locations in Vista and Windows 7. Outlook 2010's backup information is at Outlook 2010 File Locations.

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.)

See Moving Outlook to a New Computer for the steps needed to move Outlook files to a new computer.

See How to move the IMAP personal folder (*.pst) for the proper way to move IMAP and Internet Subscription folders.

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 and MSN Connector message stores can not be moved. See How to move the IMAP personal folder (*.pst) for the proper way to move IMAP and Internet Subscription folders.

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 and Windows 7 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.

Personal Folders 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:

Offline Folders File

Personal Address Book

Other Files

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:

Accounts

Tools in the Spotlight

More Tools

Notes

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.

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