Import Archived mail from a PST file

You can only import archived mail from the Outlook desktop client. You cannot import for Outlook for the Web.

 

Locate Your Mail Archive File

  1. Open Outlook.
  2. Locate the archive in the list of folders on the left side.
    Outlook-Folder-List.jpg
  3. Right click on the archive folder to open the context menu and select Data File Properties.
    Outlook-Data_File_Properties.jpg
  4. In the data file properties dialog, click on the Advanced button.
    Outlook-Data_File_Properties2.jpg
  5. The location of your archive file is listed next to the Filename field. In most cases, this file will be located in your Documents in a folder called Outlook Files. Remember this location. Copy it to a text file if you need to.
    Outlook-Data_File_Properties-Advanced.jpg

Repeat steps 2-5 if you have more than one archive file.

Close the Archive File

  1. Open Outlook.
  2. Locate the archive in the list of folders on the left side.
    Outlook-Folder-List.jpg
  3. Right click on the archive folder to open the context menu and select Close "Archive". Archive may be different than what is shown in the image below. It will be whatever the name of the Outlook Data File is. In this case, it is called Arhive. If the name was archive1, then the context menu would show Close "archive1".
    Outlook-Context_Menu-Close.jpg

Repeat steps 2 and 3 if you have more than one archive file.

Importing you Archived Mail using Outlook.

Now that you have the location of the archive file(s), it is time to import the messages. The following instructions are valid for Outlook 2013, 2016, 2019 and M365.

Note: The Open dialog in Outlook 2013 uses a different set of icons and will looks slightly different than 2016 and 2019. All images below are from Outlook 2019. While the icons may be different the text is identical in all three versions.

You cannot import an archive file that is already loaded in Outlook. It must be closed before you can import it. Please refer to the previous section for instructions on closing the archive file.
  1. Open Outlook.
  2. Select File from the top menu bar.
    Win-Outlook-Add_Account-File_Menu.jpg
  3. Select Open & Export then Import/Export.
    Outlook-Open_Import_Export.jpg
  4. On the Import and Export Wizard dialog, select Import from another program or file and clcik on Next.
    Outlook-Import_Export_Wizard-Step1.jpg
  5. On the Import a File dialog, select Outlook Data File (.pst) and click Next.
    Outlook-Import_Export_Wizard-Step2.jpg
  6. Use the Browse button on the Import Outlook Data File dialog to locate the archive file you identified previously. Under the Options section, leave the default selection Replace duplicates with items imported and click on Next.
    Outlook-Import_Data_File-Step2.jpg
  7. To copy all of the messages (including folders) to your A-State M365 inbox:
    1. Under Select the folder to import from:, click on the top level. This is the default unless you change it.
    2. Select Include subfolders. This is the default unless you change it.
    3. Select Import items into the same folder in:. This is the default unless you change it.
    4. Make sure your email address is select in the dropdown box.
    5. Click on Finish.
      Outlook-Import_Data_File-Step3.jpg

Depending on the size of your archive file, it may take some time to import all the messages.

Repeat steps 2-7 for each additional archive file you want to import.

 

Additional Microsoft resources

 

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