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How to Backup Outlook Files

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Jon
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Overview

While you can utilize Microsoft VSS to create a copy of the open Outlook PST file, it is not recommended to perform backups of Outlook .PST files while Outlook is open.

Outlook essentially manages a database to store it's information, it just isn't called on directly. As is true with any active database, some things may not work every time if you just copy the open file housing all of the information (while a database is open, parts are staged to alternate locations and in RAM to optimize transactions, not directly in the database file itself).

More information about Outlook Data Files can be found at Microsoft Office Support: 
Introduction to Outlook Data Files (.pst and .ost)

Contents:

  • Outlook Accounts using .OST file(s)
  • Configure NovaBACKUP to include your Outlook .PST file(s)
  • 3rd Party .PST Tools
  • Manually Back Up or Copy Your Outlook Mail, Contacts and Other Data
  • What Outlook Data and Settings Are Not Kept in PST Files?
  • Manually Back Up or Copy Your Outlook 2000–2007 Mail, Contacts and Other Data

Outlook accounts using .OST file(s)

Note that OST files (files whose names—in the Location column—end in .ost) keep certain emails locally for Exchange and possibly IMAP email accounts. You can copy these OST files, but restoring data from them is not simply a matter of opening or importing the file; you may be able to extract data from OST files using third-party tools (such as OST to PST Converter or NovaStor Granular Restore - included with NovaBACKUP Business Essentials only)

NovaBACKUP cannot utilize Microsoft VSS to perform backups or copies of these files.

Please see our KB article titled Outlook .OST file cannot be backed up if VSS is enabled to see more information on backing up .OST files.

Configure NovaBACKUP to include your Outlook .PST file(s)

NovaBACKUP Technical Support recommends creating a separate job to protect your Outlook data, so that a couple of settings can be changed. Copy will function the same as a Windows File Copy, while a Backup will store the selected files in a single output file container.

Copy Settings

  • "Enable open file backup" - should be cleared for both Copy or Backup jobs.
  • "Copy Overwrite Options" - should be set to "Overwrite older files only" to only move files that have changed.
  • Exclude the Outlook .PST file(s) from your other Copy jobs

Backup Settings

  • "Enable open file backup" - should be cleared for both Copy or Backup jobs.
  • For versioning you will need to use "Append" for the "Write Mode" to create a new output file each time the Backup Job runs.
  • The "Backup Mode" should always be "Full".
  • Exclude the Outlook .PST file(s) from your other Backup jobs

Find your .PST file(s)

The most important file to backup for Outlook is the .PST file.

To locate the active Outlook Account files:

  1. Click File in Outlook.
  2. Open the Info category.
  3. Click Account Settings ▾ under Account Information.
  4. Select Account Settings… from the menu that has appeared.
  5. Open the Data Files tab.

The default path to your PST file(s) will be:

C:\Users\%USERNAME%\Documents\Outlook Files        (Outlook 2010, 2013, 2016)
C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\MicrosoftOutlook (Outlook 2003-2007)

3rd Party .PST Tools

As an alternative to backing up the PST file directly, you can use a two-stage process: use another application to copy your PST file, then back up the copy with NovaBACKUP. This process grants NovaBACKUP full access to back up the copied file, because it is not actively in use.

There are a number of tools that can be used to copy your PST file, including:

To back up the copied file, follow the instructions below.

  1. Select a PST copy tool.
  2. Configure the tool to copy your PST file as needed (for example, once per day).
  3. Change your backup file selection to include the copied PST file.
  4. Wait for the copy of the PST file to back up completely.
  5. Change your backup file selection to exclude the original (non-copy) PST file.

Manually Back Up or Copy Your Outlook Mail, Contacts and Other Data

To manually create a copy of the PST files that hold most of your Outlook data (including email, calendar, and contact information):

  1. Click File in Outlook.
  2. Open the Info category.
  3. Click Account Settings ▾ under Account Information.
  4. Select Account Settings… from the menu that has appeared.
  5. Open the Data Files tab.
  6. For each PST file you want to archive:
    1. Highlight the data file in the Data Files list.
      • Note that OST files (files whose names—in the Location column—end in .ost) keep certain emails locally for Exchange and possibly IMAP email accounts. You can copy these OST files, but restoring data from them is not simply a matter of opening or importing the file; you can extract data from OST files using third-party tools (such as OST to PST Converter.
    2. Click Open File Location ….
    3. Right-Click on the highlighted file.
    4. Select Copy from the context menu that has shown.
      • You can also click Copy on Windows Explorer's Home ribbon or press Ctrl-C.
    5. Go to the folder in which you want the backup or copy of the PST file.
    6. Select Paste from the Home ribbon in Windows Explorer.
      • You can also press Ctrl-V.
    7. Close the Windows Explorer window.
  7. Click Close in the Account Settings Outlook dialog.
 

What Outlook Data and Settings Are Not Kept in PST Files?

Outlook stores most important data in PST files, but some settings are stored in separate files, which you may want to back up or copy as well.

Specifically, these files and their default locations include:

NOTE: you can type %AppData% directly into the Windows address bar, or browse through the folder structure: 
%AppData% =      C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming
%LocalAppData% = C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local
 

Email Signatures

  • Email signatures you have created in Outlook.
  • .rtf, .txt and .htm files (one for each format) named like the signature in the following default location: 
    • %AppData%\Microsoft\Signatures
 

Send/Receive Profiles

  • Settings for send and receive schedules in Outlook.
  • .srs files (​Outlook.srs, for example) 
    • %AppData%\Microsoft\Outlook
 

Email Stationery

  • Email stationery (including, for instance, background images and font settings).
  • .htm files (Garden.htm, for example) 
    • \Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Stationery (Windows Vista and later)
    • \Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Stationery (Windows Vista and later, using 32-bit Outlook)
 

Message (and Other) Templates

  • Emails you have saved as templates for re-use.
  • .oft files (Template.oft, for example) 
    • %AppData%\Microsoft\Templates
 

Spelling Checker Dictionaries

  • Dictionaries that contain words you do not want the Outlook spelling checker to mark as misspellings.
  • .dic files (Custom.dic, for example) 
    • %AppData%\Microsoft\UProof
 

Outlook Print Styles

  • Printer settings (including, for example, page sizes and header or footer text) for emails you have created in Outlook.
  • OutlPrnt
    • %AppData%\Microsoft\Outlook
 

Navigation Pane Settings

  • Options for the Outlook navigation pane (such as favorite folders).
  • .xml files named like the Outlook profile (Personal.xml, for example) 
    • %AppData%\Microsoft\Outlook
 

Versions of Outlook prior to Outlook 2010 included a few more settings files (these settings are included in PST or OST files beginning with Outlook 2010):

 

Auto-Complete Lists (Before Outlook 2010)

  • Addresses suggested for email recipients in Outlook versions prior to 2010.
  • .n2k files (Personal.n2k, for example) 
    • %AppData%\Microsoft\Outlook
 

Email Filter Rules (Before Outlook 2010)

  • Rules for filtering messages in Outlook versions prior to 2010.
  • .rwz files 
    • %AppData%\Microsoft\Outlook
 

Personal Address Book (Before Outlook 2007)

  • The address book used with Outlook versions 97, 98, 2000 and 2002.
  • .pab files 
    • %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Outlook
 

Manually Back Up or Copy Your Outlook 2000–2007 Mail, Contacts and Other Data

To create a copy of your mail, contacts, calendar and other data in Outlook for backup or copying:

  • Go to your Outlook folder in Windows Explorer.
  • Highlight all files ending in .pst.​
    • Make sure in particular your selection includes outlook.pst and archive.pst.
    • If you have Windows Explorer configured not to show file extensions for known formats, look for Microsoft Office Outlook Personal Folders files.
  • Select Edit > Copy from the menu to copy the selected files.
  • Open the folder where you want to put your backup copies in Windows Explorer.
    • Ideally, this will be on another computer, on a removable disk stored far away from your home, somewhere on the Internet, or at least on a different hard disk.
  • Select Edit > Paste from the menu to paste your .pst files to the backup location.
 

Restore from Your Outlook Backup

Your backup copy of Outlook data is now in place, ready to be restored when you need it.

 

Much of this article was adapted from Lifewire and CrashPlan

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