Manual Archive to Personal Folders

Personal folders are Outlook folders stored on a hard-drive (local or networked) rather than on the Microsoft Exchange Server.

We don't recommend moving messages off the Exchange server as it causes confusion when people are looking for archived messages. For example: you have archived messages to Z: drive from your office computer and then you go home and read email and you don't have access to the Z: drive... Instead of archiving messages we really prefer you make your best effort at mailbox cleanup and if you are still running into quota limits then just ask for an increase from mail-admin@slac.stanford.edu.

If you are convinced that manual archive is what you want to do then we recommend you store your personal folders on your Windows home directory (Z: drive) instead of your local computer so that it can be backed up centrally. Keep in mind that unless Outlook is closed your file cannot be backed up since it is still in use by Outlook. Please close Outlook every night.

Adding Personal Folders

Start by creating a folder on your Windows home directory (Z:) called Private where you'll store the e-mail. After you create the folder, give it the proper Windows permissions so that it is not visible to everyone. What you want to see when you right-click on it and select Properties and Security is your windows account, System, and Administrators. Do not include Everyone or Authenticated Users. If you need help with the permissions please ask your Desktop Administrator.

Then open Outlook and to menu bar:

• Choose File;
• New;
• Outlook Data File;
• Click on Outlook Personal Folders File (this will allow you to save > 2Gig in the file);
• Click the OK button.

In the next dialog box, locate your Windows home directory and double-click on the Private folder you created above. Go to the bottom of the dialog box under File name: and enter a name for the file. Be sure to make it easily identifiable (e.g. EmailArchive) and click the OK button.

In the next window you can give the folders a descriptive name like "EmailArchive" as well. Defaults for all other options are best. Click OK button.

Before you start moving your e-mails to your Z: drive you should check your current quota and free space: finding Z: quota for users; requesting a quota increase.

Now you can just drag e-mails and/or folders from the Exchange server to this new set of folders. They are accessible to you via Outlook from this computer as long as the Z: drive is connected to your computer.