Relocating The Outlook PST file

I strongly recommend shifting the outlook PST file to my documents

where this can be loaded into a backup profile such a Synch Back and can be backed up on a regular basis.

In a case where your laptop or desktop data is not accessible or damaged you can directly use the outlook PST file to rebuild your outlook.

You will however have to recreate your email settings , your signatures, your rules and some other minor setting which are not backed up in the outlook PST file.

I regularly take a backup of my Outlook PST file on a daily basis

Here is the procedure you will have to follow

Relocating the PST-file (optional)

I assume lots of you have already relocated the My Documents folder to a more convenient location by right clicking it on the Desktop-> Properties-> tab Target. I’ve got mine set to D:\My Documents so I won’t have to rescue my data in the (worst) case that I have to reformat my C:\ drive. As I see the PST-file to be data, just like a Word file, I like to have it where I keep all my important documents; in the My Documents folder. In the My Documents folder I have a folder called My Outlook where I store the file in.

To configure Outlook with a new PST-file location do the following;

1. Make sure Outlook is closed
2. Go the the location of your PST-file
3. Copy it to the new location (D:\My Documents\My Outlook)
4. Rename the file in the old location to .old
5. Start Outlook; after a warning message it will prompt you to locate the PST-file. Use the Browse button to direct it to the location you’ve set in step 3
6. You’re done! If all is successful you can delete the renamed PST-file in the old location to get some space back on your C:\-drive. You might need to recreate some "move to folder" Wizard Rules to update the new location.