Comments for How do I upgrade my Outlook PST to 2003 format?

Comment from Matt on 2011-08-15

2011-08-15T15:00:19Z

What about using the Import command?

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/convert-a-non-unicode-data-file-pst-to-a-unicode-data-file-pst-HP010080700.aspx

Although you have to be careful with that too - when I converted my dad over I ran into some issues because his old files had actually somehow grown to larger than 2GB - so I had to go back to the old computer and old Outlook and split the files into smaller chunks before moving them over - man was that a long day.

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Comment from Bryan on 2011-06-11

2011-06-12T04:28:41Z

You will also need to export your rules to a file and import them in the new PST file. I notice mine were gone and had to do a 5 step dance to get them back.

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Comment from Tyler on 2010-06-01

2010-06-02T06:45:07Z

ANSI PST Files has file size limitation of 2 GB
and when this limit is reached PST file get corrupted.
UNICODE PST file support upto 20 GB. To save ANSI PST file
from corruption better is to convert PST file to UNICODE.

Check this link
SysInfoTools PST Upgrade and Downgrade for converting PST files.

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Comment from Eran Livneh on 2009-10-25

2009-10-25T17:26:20Z

And one more thing: don't forget the Tasks folder if you have any (it's one of the "speacial" folders so you would have to copy the tasks from the existing folder to the new one).

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Comment from Eran Livneh on 2009-10-25

2009-10-25T17:24:30Z

Very helpful instructions, thank you! One thing that did not work for me as described is the calendar folder. I could not find a List view in Outlook 2003. Instead, I used the Active Appointments view. You can also customize the view to inlcude appointments for any time range.

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Comment from Marc on 2009-07-03

2009-07-03T12:54:14Z

Thanks for these posts. One obvious question that wasn't answered by this and related articles on this site, is whether the 2 GB pst repair problems affect 97 format PST, 2003 format PST, or both. I have Outlook 2003 with the old 97 format PST, and Outlook simply stops putting any more in the PST once it reaches 2 GB (eg. stops receiving email etc), thus preventing the file from growing larger than that. Which suggests problems with PST files > 2 GB might only be with 2003 format PSTs? But given all the comments, that's not at all clear, despite the fact that none of the 2 GB repair tool solutions mentioned say anything about 97 vs 2003 formats. In other words, I want to know whether by upgrading to the 2003 format, and of course quickly exceeding 2 GB, I'll now make my PST susceptible to not being repairable. If that's the case, the whole article's purpose is questionable, so I want to know :-) Can this be clarified?

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Comment from Robert Ingenthron on 2009-06-15

2009-06-15T23:57:54Z

Great article and good comments, too.

If you are like me, getting about 500 emails per day and running at least 12 mailbox rules to sort email, one extra step that is helpful due to the time-consuming nature of this "upgrade" process is to stop the incoming mail flow until everything is ready to go.

In Outlook 2003, go to "Options", "Mail Setup", then click the "Send/Receive" option button. Form there, you can "Edit" the "All accounts" group. In there, you can either uncheck the "Receive email" checkbox, or uncheck the "Include in this group" option".

Or, if you don't like mucking with settings, simply pull the Ethernet cable until you are done. (If you are just copying from an old PST format to a new format, it won't matter if you are on an Exchange server.)

-- Rob "I" --

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Comment from Wendy on 2009-02-06

2009-02-06T15:43:06Z

After an 18 hour power failure (while many programs were open)we have no email or contacts when we open Outlook 2000. We have an old pst file from last year. Is it possible to have lost the current pst file entirely?

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Comment from Ricki on 2009-01-05

2009-01-06T03:38:38Z

Thanks for the tip! I would like to add one other tip - I use a handheld (HP IPAQ) - after doing what you suggested activesync no longer worked and told me that the outlook profile changed - the specific code was
"activesync support code 0x8503001F"
I needed to then go in and delete the partnership and recreate it.

Just a note I am working with outlook 2003 on Windows Vista.

thanks again..

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Comment from Effy Teva on 2008-10-15

2008-10-15T21:55:56Z

Too bad PST upgrade isn't free for home users !
Otherwise it might be useful ...

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Comment from Sammy Samuels on 2008-06-24

2008-06-25T05:59:29Z

There is one more easy solution to upgrade Outlook to Outlook 2003 (Unicode). Download easy & quick SysTools PST Upgrade Tool to upgrade PST files of Outlook to Outlook 2003/2007.

Download the software from: http://www.pstupgrade.com

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Comment from Lauren on 2008-06-16

2008-06-16T13:51:30Z

Whenever I have trouble with PST files that weight more than 2GB I use this http://www.cimaware.com/main/products/outlookfix.php to fix it. It allows me to reduce the file size by splitting it up it several smaller files.

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Comment from Jo�o Carlos on 2008-02-24

2008-02-24T08:32:43Z

Thank you very much for this tip. Everything worked well except the fact that I get an error message when I try to bring contacts at the New Message dialogue. I click OK, the the contacts list shows empty. I have to pulldown the address book list on the top right corner and choose the second occurrence of "Contacts".

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Comment from Alan on 2007-11-29

2007-11-29T16:19:24Z

Hi, Macro,

You can use Outlook 2003 to create a new data file in the old Outlook 97 format, and dump all the data from the Outlook 2003 format file.

You may also follow the instructions in http://www.datanumen.com/aor/convert-unicode-to-ansi.htm , though such a downgrade requirement is rare.

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Comment from Alan on 2007-11-29

2007-11-29T16:15:21Z

The most easy way is to create a new Outlook data file in 2003 format, and then import all the data from the old PST file with Microsoft Outlook 2003. Outlook 2007 can also work in this way.

In case your file has already get into the 2 gb problem, then Outlook cannot help you. But you can still follow the way in http://www.datanumen.com/aor/problems/convert-2gb-pst.htm to make the conversion and upgrade.

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Comment from MJP on 2007-09-30

2007-10-01T04:18:49Z

Everything worked great, except for the calendar. I do not get "List " as an option (from View > Arrange By > Current View).

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Comment from FrankG on 2007-09-07

2007-09-07T09:25:42Z

Is is possible to associate the extension .PST with outlook.exe 2003 or later such that when double-clicking on such a PST file from explorer(without encryption or password protection) that outlook opens the PST without having to use the "Data File Management" wizard ? Using explorer, a new message is opened and the PST is embedded in the email and can also not be opened by double-clicking on the file.

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Comment from John on 2007-09-05

2007-09-05T14:15:17Z

Leo, I tried this, but there's a problem. When I transfer my Outlook 2000 recurring all-day calendar items, once it gets into Outlook 2003, each all-day items now spans across 2 days, rather than being for one day. Any idea how to solve that?

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Comment from Marco on 2007-07-24

2007-07-24T10:55:06Z

Hi, does anybody know how I downgrade a .pst file from outlook 2003 to 2002? I am switching computers the "old" has outlook 2003 and for the new I only have outlook 2002 availeble. Tx, Marco

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Comment from Nathan Schultz on 2007-06-13

2007-06-14T04:46:37Z

Microsoft's suggested upgrade path to 2003/7 format:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HP100807001033.aspx?pid=CH100788841033

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Comment from Gil Sudai on 2007-05-29

2007-05-29T11:34:40Z

This procedure does not work with Outlook 2003 and IMAP. When I create IMAP account it uses the old PST format. Renaming it (like suggested here) does not work. HELP!!!

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Comment from Karl Fisher on 2007-04-20

2007-04-20T14:48:15Z

I tried doing this with an IMAP account. It worked in 2007 except that now Outlook asks for my password three or four times a day even if I check the box to remember. In Outlook 2003 I couldn't get it to work, when I create a new IMAP account, it uses the old 97-2002 format, and if I try to rename it to a new format I created, it just doesn't work. Thoughts?

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Comment from flipdoubt on 2007-04-20

2007-04-20T13:04:59Z

Um, why not just close Outlook, rename and backup your existing PST, open Outlook (forcing it to create a new, empty PST in the current format), and then use File -> Import from your old PST? I found copying over each data folder to be an error prone process.

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Comment from Paul Baderman on 2007-04-16

2007-04-16T14:30:34Z

Hi Leo
Great tips - many thanks. Don't know why Microsoft in all their wisdom couldn't put such a helpful page together, or better still, release a free gizmo that does it all for you. Anyway, I am following through your steps and all is fine until I get to the Calendar section. There is no option anywhere to select List view. Without it, I can't drag and drop as you suggest. I'm stuck now. Help please ..? Thanks.

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Comment from Leo Notenboom on 2007-02-09

2007-02-10T00:12:54Z

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

The original Outlook.pst - if it's something you've never actually used,
can be closed and ignored.

Rules are not stored in the PST. You can, in the rules dialog, export
them to a file, and then import them from a file.

I'm not aware of an easy way to migrate account settings. I've heard of
an add-on commercial (for $$) tool, but have never used one. I've always
retyped by hand when I've needed it.

Leo
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (MingW32)

iD8DBQFFzQ3oCMEe9B/8oqERAhKhAKCIYD+lT+VY++rkNslaA/h0TFrIJgCgi7D6
qtNB1miseV/3iaILGZoI3Os=
=wEHc
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Comment from Josh on 2007-02-08

2007-02-08T19:22:51Z

Hi, Leo. This is my first time checking out your site, and it's great. Thanks very much for such a helpful service! I have two questions about your advice for porting into Outlook (Office) 2003 Pro: (1) When I did everything according to your directions (and they're much better than Microsoft's, so thank you!), I ended up with three .pst files -- (a) the default "Outlook.pst" file created when I first install Outlook 2003 and use the wizard to set up an email account; (b) the .pst file you suggest we create by going to File/New/Outlook Data File (In your example, we name this one "Personal Folders (New).pst"), and (c) our original .pst which I've been using for a couple of years (I call this "MyGoodData.pst."). When I exit Outlook and swap the names, the NEW data file I created (which had been called "Personal Folders (New).pst") is now called "MyGoodData.pst," and the file I've been using for years is renamed to be "Personal Folders (New).pst." So...what happens to "Outlook.pst," which is the default created by Outlook when I first install 2003 Pro? Question # 2 is: I can port over all of my data by using your instructions, *except* that my rules/alerts AND my email accounts are NOT imported, so is there a way to handle these? Again, thanks so very much!

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Comment from Leo Notenboom on 2007-01-31

2007-02-01T07:22:52Z

You'll need to get an Outlook 2007 in order to read that PST in the new format.

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Comment from A. on 2007-01-31

2007-02-01T02:51:19Z

I was using Office 2007 Beta before. But today it is expired.
I re-install my Office to 2003, but I could not open my Personal Folder that created by Office 2007 in Office 2003.
What should I do??

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Comment from Greg Walter on 2007-01-30

2007-01-30T14:40:13Z

I just upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003. I installed 2003 over XP and went to implement your procedure for upgrading my Outlook.pst from XP format to 2003 format. When I try to create a new Outlook data file (File > New > Outlook Data File) the dialog box that comes up is empty -- I can't choose a "type of storage" or go any further. Any suggestions?

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Comment from CCYong on 2006-12-22

2006-12-22T16:56:54Z

sorry, my previos post :
"Hi Leo, I have a when receiving plain text file in my Outlook 2003. " should be

Hi Leo, I have a problem when receiving plain text file in my Outlook 2003 (the email body is blank).

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Comment from CCYong on 2006-12-22

2006-12-22T16:55:21Z

Hi Leo, I have a when receiving plain text file in my Outlook 2003. I found the explaination in MS web site. It is because I am using the older 97-02 outlook data file format. But I found an slightly easier solution for transfering old data file to 2003 format.

Here:
After you created the new format, no need to exit and swap the file. Just try copying all the necessary folder in the OLD data file into the NEW data file, by right click on each of the folder and copy. (Some folder may not be able to copy)

Then goto Tool-Email Account-View&Change. Select the new data file in the "Deliver new e-mail to the following location:

Then exit outlook and restart. If the Junk Email folder is missing (My case), just try dragging the Old data file's Junk Email folder into the new one, then some error might occur, later the JunkEMail will be working again.

You may need to create a new Archive folder too and change the archive into the new folder to support UniCode.

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Comment from Leo Notenboom on 2006-12-07

2006-12-08T01:50:51Z

Any particular reason you can't just File->Open->Outlook datafile?

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Comment from Lou Gascon on 2006-12-02

2006-12-02T08:22:16Z

Well now Leo, you naughty little Lion. I do like to come here and see your little tweaks and advice notes, and today�s newsletter certainly puts the Cat amongst the Pigeons for me...!

Based on the notes above, I gotta assume that I need to reformat my main PST files to keep them sylph like within office 2003...

My problem is, and before I do; I have 13 old PST files in addition to 3 main files called:
1] (Admin/outlook) Personal folders(1).pst
2] F:\Outlook\Personal Folders pst\Outlook.pst
3] F:\Outlook\Personal Folders pst\2.1.08Kb\outlook.pst
And two other files called:
4] F:\My Documents\My.Pst files\ MyPracticePst.pst
5] F:\My Documents\My Practice Files\ManagePST\ ManagePST.pst

I believe 1] to be the main file currently in use. And I think 2] and 3] were created as a result of a previous tweak done with you; Personal Folders: why am I seeing them listed more than once in Outlook? - 4] & 5] I�m not sure about...!

However, the other 13 are all old saved files that I had accidentally deleted (Don�t ask!) and retrieved by using a variety of retrieval programs during March of this year�

The problem is, I need to see what is in those 13 files and to place any required files into my main folder before I delete the old files...?

On my knees now: How can I read the old PST files...?

Regards
Lou

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