Summary: Moving Microsoft Outlook mail from one machine to another involves copying a single file once the new copy of Outlook has been set up.
How do I move my Microsoft Outlook mail & address book (not Outlook Express) from one computer to another?
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I've done this countless times back when I was using Microsoft Outlook.
My approach turns out to be extremely easy, though the steps may not be quite as obvious as you might hope.
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This technique assumes you have two machines. One I'll call it the "old" machine, that has Microsoft Outlook up and running and on which you currently receive email. The other that you're setting up I'll call the "new" machine. Your plan is to move your email and your email access from your old machine to your new one.
Almost everything you need to copy is in a single file, your "PST" or "Personal Store".
Step 1: Install Outlook on your new machine. Set it up as completely as you can, including email account definitions, but don't download any email. Not yet.
Step 2: Determine the location of the new PST file on the new machine. Where is my Outlook "PST" file located? will show you how.
Step 3: Determine the location of the old PST on the old machine. This is the PST file that contains all of your current email, contacts, and calendar.
Step 4: Save your rules to a file if you use Inbox Rules.
Step 5: Shut down Outlook on both old and new machines.
Step 6: Copy the old PST from the old machine to the new, replacing the new PST on the new machine. If required, rename the PST in the process to match the name of the PST on the new machine. (Typically copying is done via a network connection, but burning your PST to a CD or DVD is also quite common and a good way to create a backup of the file at the same time. Be sure to reset the read-only attribute when you copy the file to your new machine.) Also copy the file containing your Inbox Rules if you created one earlier.
Step 7: Fire up Outlook on your new machine. It should come up with your email, contacts, and calendar, all transferred from the old one.
Step 8: Finish configuring Outlook on the new machine. Particularly if you have Inbox Rules, this would be the time to import them and make sure they're working properly.
Step 9: Never use the Outlook on the old machine again. Doing so might cause some email to be downloaded into that old PST and if you're using your new machine to download email that's not where you want it. There's no simple way to transfer just "some" of the email from one machine to another. It's possible, but the steps are definitely more involved.
Related:
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Ask Leo! - Where is my Outlook "PST" file located?
Article C3180 - October 14, 2007
if I am using isp. I don't have exchange server to access the outlook mail then how will i get my address book.
Posted by: kamlesh at November 7, 2008 3:40 AMThanks Leo. Very informative. However, I want to transfer emails and contacts from my old XP machine running Office Outlook 2003 to my new pc running Vista and want to use Windows Live Mail. How do I do this?
08-Jan-2009
I have been trying for days to move my Microsoft Outlook mail and address book from my old laptop to my new PC which has Vista. I have been successful in moving my contacts and calendar into Microsoft Oulook XP, but I cannot get the email moved. I have tried all the suggestions on this site as well as others.
Help
Posted by: E. Dietel at January 14, 2009 5:33 PMI have a new Dell with Vista I plan to install microsoft office 2007. My old laptop has XP and office 2003. I have a transfer cable. Should I install office 2007 on both computers then use my transfer cable to move my files?
The microsoft office 2007 is new and a full version not a update.
Any help would be great I don't want to mess this up.
Thanks Debbie
Posted by: Debbie at January 20, 2009 2:37 PMMy boss got us new computers at work. I archived Outlook 2003 into a .pst file. New computer up and running, I loaded the .pst file. All emails are there, but my address book is wiped clean...no address book or any contacts. Is there something I am missing? or another step I missed in saving that info?
please help !! over 100 business contacts are now not there ! and I can find nothing on the net about what exactly the .pst file will hold.
Dave
Posted by: David at February 24, 2009 2:38 PMI copied the Outlook.PST from the old maching to the new maching and all the emails are there, but no addresses.
It says: The address list could not be displayed. The contcts folder associated with this address list could not be opened; It may have been moved or deleted, or you do not have permission. For information on how to remove this folder fron the Outlook Address Book, see Microsoft Office Outlook Help.
What do I do now?
Bill
Posted by: Bill Miller at May 12, 2009 1:24 PMI have a similar problem as Dave and Bill. I have copied my .pst files for Outlook 2003 from one XP Home computer to another XP Home computer using Outlook 2003. I can see the email messages but not the address book. What do I need to do to see the address book?
Posted by: Gordon at July 22, 2009 8:03 PMI found the PST on my 'old' computer (87.2 MB) with Windows XP but I cannot copy it, neither onto a CD nor a Flashdrive. Also I have not found it on my new PC with Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit. Any suggestions?
Posted by: Horst at August 29, 2009 6:32 PMLeo:
I transferred my .pst file from XP to Vista as instructed above. My Inbox is working fine and all those files transfered fine. However, when I try to click on any of the sub folders I created, or even the "sent items" folder, Outlook says "Loading", but just sits there. Arrgghh. Any ideas why it won't open?
Posted by: Steve at October 14, 2009 6:41 PMLeo is GREAT. What a great service. I hope you reap rewards from all the help you give.
Posted by: Nancy at October 25, 2009 6:19 AMThank you so much.
Nancy