How to Backup Emails in Microsoft Outlook 2010

The article intends to explain the procedure of backing up email messages in Outlook 2010. The methods explained in the article are reliable and correct to the date. However, it is still recommended that you follow the instructions to successfully backup your email data without encountering common Microsoft Outlook problems.

Do you want to backup your important Outlook email messages in the fear of losing them some day or in the need of reformatting your computer or hard drive? Or are you one of those users who want to backup their important email data without desiring to contact the paid Microsoft tech support services? If yes, then the article is dedicated to you. We have brought you a step by step guide that will not only help you create a backup of your email data but also educate you through additional tips.

Instructions:

Open Outlook, click on the File menu, click on Open, and then click on Import. When the Import and Export Wizard window opens up, click to highlight Export to a file from the listed options and click on the Next button. Under Create a file of type heading, click Outlook Data File (.pst) and then click on the Next button. Click to choose the folder whose data you want to export for backup in the next window and also put a checkmark in the box next to Include Subfolders. Since you are backing up the email data, you can choose to click the Inbox folder or Sent Items, Drafts etc. as well (if you want). If you want to back up the entire Outlook data, then click to select your email account (your email address like johnsmith@hotmail.com) and also check the Include Subfolders box. When done, click on the Next button. In the next window under the Save exported file as, you will see the location of the exported file. If you want you can click on the Browse button to save the exported file to a desired location. Choose any of the three options viz. Replace duplicates with items exported, Allow duplicates to be created, and Do not export duplicate items and then click on the Finish button to close the window complete the backup procedure. You can let the default option Replace duplicates with items exported be selected. Your emails have been successfully backed up now. If you want, you can password protect your backup file in order to protect it from unauthorized access.

Additional Tidbits:

If you are using Outlook with Microsoft Exchange or other server, then your emails must have a periodic backup on server set by your network administrator. If you use Outlook without any exchange server, then all your data is stored in .pst files.