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What can I do about Outlook's huge PST?

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Summary: The PST or Personal STorage file for Microsoft Outlook can easily grow to an extreme size. There are some tips for managing its size.

What can I do about Outlook's huge PST?

.pst files are one of Outlook's repositories for email, contacts, calendar information, and much more. (Not Outlook Express, by the way.) There's a physical limit on .pst size that's up around 2 gigabytes but more practical considerations like speed often make us want to control the size well before reaching that stage.

Step one is pretty obvious: delete what you can. Remember though, when you delete an item in Outlook it is simply moved to the Deleted Items folder which doesn't actually free the space until you empty it. So right click on the Deleted Items folder and select the Empty "Deleted Items" Folder to permanently delete its contents. This will free up the space that the delete items took. But it will not immediately make the file smaller.

Let Me Show You...

Click the video above for a one minute video showing you how to add a .pst to Microsoft Outlook. (Windows Media 9 format, 408,492 bytes.)

I'd Like Your Comments: let me know if you find the video above useful, or if you have suggestions to make this technique more helpful. Thanks!

Step two: after you've permanently deleted what you can it's time to compress. Microsoft has a knowledge base article about compressing your .pst here. In short: File-> Data File Management, select your Personal Folders, Settings, and then Compact Now.

If the resulting file is still too big then it might be time to create an additional .pst. Outlook supports having multiple .pst's open at the same time. Your existing "Personal Folders" will remain the destination for email but you can easily move items into another .pst file.

To create a new .pst, select File-> New-> Outlook Data File..., then select "Office Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst)", and OK. In the next dialog box specify the location and name of your new .pst. I tend to place my archive .pst files in a common mail directory on another machine on my network but keeping it along side your existing personal folders is also common. Pick something that reflects how you'll organize your email and press OK. In the next dialog, specify the display name (I usually just use the file's name). Leave the other settings as they are for now and press OK.

Once you've created your new .pst, it will show up at the bottom of your email or file folders list. You can expand it, create sub folders in it, and drag and drop messages from your old .pst into your new one.

Your new pst will automatically show up each time you open Outlook. You can explicitly close it if you like (Right click on it, and select "Close") which will speed up Outlook's start time somewhat. To open it again later, select File-> Open-> Outlook Data File....

Update 16-Jan-2004: In Outlook 2000 and in other versions of Outlook as well, it might be easier to find the "Compact Now" button this way:

  • Make sure that View - Folder List is selected.
  • Right click on Outlook Today - [Personal Folders], and select Properties.
  • Press the Advanced button and you'll find the Compact Now button on the resulting dialog.

Related:

Article 125 | Posted December 7, 2003

Recent Comments
100 Comments

There are several other solutions for this problem:

First, you can splilt the huge PST file into several small ones, by following the instructions at http://www.datanumen.com/aor/split.htm

Second, in case oversized PST file problem occurs due to the huge file size, then you can follow the link at
http://www.datanumen.com/aor/problems/2gb-pst.htm

for a thorough and complete solution

Posted by: Alan at November 14, 2007 8:28 AM

Yeh that's just great if you want to plonk down $250 to buy Advanced Outlook Repair from datanumen but is there a solution for those of us that want to spend less on a utility for a program than the program itself cost us in the first place?

Posted by: vladtheimpaled at March 19, 2008 8:42 AM

I've always used OutlookFix by Cimaware to reduce the PST file size. It worked well for me and it's price is much better than Datanumen's tool. You can check it out here: http://www.cimaware.com/main/products/outlookfix.php

Posted by: Lauren at June 16, 2008 7:11 AM

Good efforts to solve the 2 GB size problem.You can use Inbox repair tool to solve this problem.If pst file is badly corrupted then go for pst repair software.To check the capability of the software download the free demo version from the site:
http://www.repair-outlook-pst.com/
In demo version you can see preview of 5 emails and 20% of your contact and calender.After getting desired result go for full version to complete your recovery.

Posted by: Justin at June 23, 2008 4:41 AM

What I did, was creating a new Archive folder from the current Archive, with cut-off date of e.g. one year. This reduced my pst file by 60%. Easy and automatic.

Posted by: Antti Linden at September 7, 2008 4:28 AM

Thanks so much for the advice! That would have taken me hours to figure out...you're a life saver!

Posted by: Jack Chamberlain at September 12, 2008 9:17 AM

I found my outlook pst file. However, I am unable to import it to Outlook because I cannot figure out a way to open or view the file. "Can't find this file. Make sure path and file name are correct" is the message I get. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Posted by: Lisa at September 22, 2008 8:59 AM

you guys are funny. microsoft provides free tools to scan corrupted .pst files and to trim them from the 2gb size so they can be read in outlook again.
lol spend all that money...

Posted by: kyle at October 30, 2008 3:51 PM

Well, using SCANPST.EXE is fine, WHEN it works. Doesn't work for me. RecoveryFIX works fine in Demo mode, but I don't really want to spend $79 bucks to get the version which will allow me to save the results.

Posted by: Danny at October 30, 2008 9:42 PM

Find details on 2GB .pst problem

http://www.repairpst.info/qd.php?questionid=12&pg=2gb_outlook_.pst_problem

Posted by: php2asp at November 13, 2008 1:04 AM

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