Creating backup of your outlook data and email account settings is as essential as creating backup of any data. This will help you in case of data loss or migrating from one system to other. In Outlook 2007 your e-mails are saved in a Personal Folder File with a .pst extension which does not include in your normal backup operation. Following these simple steps can help you to save and restore your e-mail, contacts, rules, task and more.
Backup your Email data – Microsoft Outlook 2007
1. The data is saved in a Personal Folder File (.pst) only if you are not using Microsoft Exchange account or Windows Live Mail account. For Microsoft Exchange Account or Windows Live Mail account your backup data is saved locally on your computer instead of the e-mail server.
There are two .pst files, one is the personal folder file which includes all of your Outlook folders, such as the Inbox, Calendar, tasks and Contacts and the other is the Archive Folder which includes archive messages of your Outlook.
2. You can easily locate the data files in outlook 2007 using the following steps.
Go to Main Menu of Outlook 2007, Click File and select Data File Management and Account setting window will pop up. The other way is to click on Tools menu and select Account settings from the drop down menu.
3. Click on the Data Files tab. You may have a single data file or multiple data files. These are the Data Files, wherein you store your email messages, tasks, calendar, tasks and other items.
4. Click on the Open Folder icon. Windows Explorer will be opened automatically and will take you to the location where this data file is stored. Now select the outlook.pst and archive.pst file you want to backup.
5. Now you can copy this file to any backup storage device. Make sure that your Outlook is closed before you backup these files.
Restore your Email data – Outlook 2007
Restoring is as simple as to backup your data. All you have to do is copy the backup PST files into the folder that you located when you backed up your work initially.
Backup/Export Account Settings - Outlook 2007
- Start > Run > type ‘regedit’
- Locate the following path in your ‘Registry Editor’
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles\Outlook
Now right click on the key outlook and select option: Export and save .reg files to your desired location. You can run the same file while restoring your outlook. This will restore your old outlook profile with all your email accounts settings and rules. You will need to enter your password as Password is not stored into .reg file.
It is difficult to locate the Personal folder files in the previous versions of Outlook; however it’s much simpler in Outlook 2007. Backing up and restoring data is easier, faster with the new Outlook 2007.
Thank you so much. Your solution works beautifully. I wasted many hours trying to recover calendar data from XP to Windows 7. In addition, I needed to copy the following files:
wab32.dll
wab32res.dll
From:
\Program Files\Common Files\System
To:
\Windows\System32
Now Microsoft Outlook is fully functional.
I as well was trying to migrate Outlook 2007 settings to a new PC -old on XP too- and perplexed by lack of OS/free tools.
Reading thread convinced me, took the plunge and worked perfectly. I usually stay away from editing Registry, thus not only backed it up but set a Restore Point in case any issue came up. Thankfully no need to use them.
As I rely on an Exchange server, mailbox was a .OST file nor a .PST one. But took the chance and copied .OST as well, moved to same location on new PC, added Registry key and 15 mins later I was working again.
As shared in posts, passwords need to be setup again, but no need to import rules as those are migrated as part of process. Signatures and macros didn't migrate either, but recreating them was no biggie as had old machine handy.
Thus in a nutshell, thanks Naresh and followers for such good posts.
Will the reg copying technique work if I'm moving Outlook 2007 from an XP box to Outlook 2007 on Win 7?
Thanks.
-T
Hello, I didn't tried it, but when I'm looking to the Windows 7 registry, there are the same entries for Outlook like in XP. So I think you can try this without any worries.
XP to Windows 7 will not work. I personally tried it and it really screwed up my outlook. The only explanation I can come up with is because of the file path that the Outlook personal folders are located differ. Remember, XP and Windows 7 have different file management structures:
Windows XP:
C:\documents and settings\ ........
Windows 7:
C:\Users\.........
This is a great article Jan.
When exporting it's just for the Outlook key correct? I do not have to export the sub-keys?
Can you be a bit more detailed on how to import the registry settings in the new location? You mention "You can run the same file while restoring your outlook." What does that mean exactly? I figured it to mean open regedit and import the saved key.
Is that correct?
-T
Thanks T :-) Select the Outlook key when exporting. The sub-keys should be automatically included to the export.
Importing exported registry entries is very easy. You should have a .reg file. When you double click on it, the system will ask if it should import the entries to its register.
I have to change my outgoing mail settings in outlook 2007 depending whether I am working out of one location or another. Normally I work using an ATT DSL setup, so my outgoing email is through the sbc server. But when I work in another office with a comcast connection, everything sends fine, but @hotmail.com and other microsoft email addresses reject my email and will not deliver it, because I am on a comcast connection but sending through SBC.
Thus I have to change my outgoing server, username and password back and forth between the two.
Is there a way to backup these settings, restore the other, and vice versa depending where I am working?
This should helps you I think.
http://www.outlookpower.com/issues/issue200403/00001248001.html
http://windows.ittoolbox.com/groups/technical-functional/ms-exchange-l/s...
I took the backup of Outlook 2007 using the Export Option, and after the 4th of the backup I upgrade my system with Windows 7. Now in this window 7 again I restore the outllok 2007 backup .pst file.
My problem is that I can't see all the mail in outlook which I receive in between the Backup date and Restore Date.
can Anyone help me on that.
Hi,
i can follow the registry string till: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\
the folowing does not exist:
Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles\Outlook
i am running win Vista and i did that things before on same PC and OS. strange but the rest of the string is symply not there. any ideas?
thanks
Dave
If you are interested in doing a reinstall of outlook 2007, or wanting to move your outlook "ALL Your Settings", Including Accounts and Rules and pst's and archives, in one swell swoop. Migwiz worked for me.
On your computer with outlook 2007 email files, open migwiz from the 'run' command (Migration Wizard).
Select "Old Computer"
Select "other" for the transfer method, and select a storage location.. preferably on the target computer you are wanting to restore outlook to.
Select "Setting Only"!!! (believe me when I say it will copy the pst files and registry settings)
Select "Let me select a custom list of files" !!!! very important.
Remove everything except "Microsoft Office"
Thats it, allow to finish.
Then go to target computer.
Run MigWiz
Select "New Computer"
Select "I don't need the Wizard Disk"
Browse to the location of the saved migwiz file from above.
Finish.
When done, you will have an exact replica of your Outlook 2007, email, archives, accounts and rules.
Made me happy.
Regards
JimG
Hi Guys,
MigWiz is a good way to transfer all your outlook settings and email accounts to the new computer, BUT it does not import settings from Windows x64 to Windows x86 (32 bit). It says cannot transfer settings from Windows 64 bit to Windows 32 bit. Be very careful.
If you have this situation, then try the registry backup method. That works. Except, that you will have to have the same data paths for the .pst files.
Have Fun,
Harpreet
Great thread.
I am in the process of changing from Windows 7 32 bit to 64 bit and realise a clean install is required.
Question 1:
Will migwiz work for transferring Outlook 2007 setttings etc. My main priority is to be able to transfer my 12 or so account settings, with passwords if at all possible. (one or two passwords I am not sure of)
Question 2
Will the registry key transfer as noted above work in this scenario?
Thank you,
zzzmuzz
Hello, zzzmuzz. I think it should work. There is the same settings in both 32bit and 64bit Windows 7. But I am not sure about the passwords transfer.
Hi, thanks for your experience with MigWiz.
Hello everyone, here is my version of the problem...
I upgraded to Win7 yesterday and moved my .pst file to the correct location. I have everything up and running exept my account info. Now I can't access the registry since I have upgraded the OS. However, the installation put all my old windows files into a folder called Windows.old. Is there any way of retrieving the account information from that folder, which seems to have all the old system files intact?
Best wishes,
Bragi
Hello,
Windows registry files should be located in files named system.dat and user.dat. So using a special registry editor working offline with registry files should helps you. However I couldn't remeber which software is able to do it :-(
I tried to do exactly this. Both PCs run XP SP3 and Office 2007. When running migwiz (datestamped 3 Aug 2004) MS Office does not appear in the list of settings that one can choose from. This is not supposed to happen but it does. Searched on the net for a solution but could not find any explanation. Are there different migwiz.exe versions ?
Actually, yes you are right. I ran into this same issue on another migration.
What has happened here is that the steps shown were from a computer that had Outlook 2003 upgraded to outlook 2007. When the XP version of Migwiz is run, it finds the Outlook 2003 references in the registry, which are also used by 2007 outlook. I started to work on a custom ini file for this, but found another solution.
If you can find a copy of a Vista cd. Look in the ..\support\migwiz folder and run migwiz from the Vista CD. Migwiz from this cd was able to find the Outlook 2007 files. The steps are not exactly as stated in this thread, but you should be able to adjust accordingly.
I did not dig on the Microsoft site to see if there are any latest/greatest migwiz updates for Xp.
Regards
JimG
Be aware: "If you have 32-bit Windows XP and while upgrading 64-bit Windows 7 you might run into some problems. I was unable to transfer user settings from a 32-bit to a 64-bit system using [Migwiz.exe] during a previous upgrade."
-T
Thanks for your tutorial Jim!
When using:
Backup/Export Account Settings - Outlook 2007
I found out to reverse adding additional email accounts, one must delete each one, rather than installing an alternate .reg file.
Using a scheme involving the feature above, I did find out a good way to forward my work emails normally recieved on my laptop, by transferring these accounts to my desktop, for when I travel. I then made a rule to forward all work emails from my desktop at home to my cell phone. I set these accounts to not delete the messages from the server, so I could get them all back on my laptop when I returned.
This bit of work allowed me to use an unlimited e-mail feature for an extra $5 a month, rather than getting a smartphone or blackberry, and an additional data plan onto my voice plan.
Thank you very much you saved me a lot of time.
I didn't expect this to work as I was copying from Outlook 2007 on XP to Outlook 2007 on Vista.
Live long and prosper.
This info about copying the registry information is pure gold. Never have heard any mention of reg files associated in the Outlook transfer process. THanks a bunch man
It has worked so well!!!! pity that passwords are not there, but it is so simple, easy and time saving...
Sometimes Internet gives a real help on this sort of needs.
Keep well and thanks for the help
It might or might not be of importance but on various occasions it proved pretty usefull to also backup the .NK2 file located in drive:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook folder.
NK2 file is the autocomplete name list which is used when typing an address in outlook.
Cyberling
First of all, nice info provided..Recently i formatted my pc.Due to which i later reinstalled my outlook.I have .pst file of my old mails.However, when i do send recieve, all my old mails are duplicated.Is it possible to just get mails which are not there in my outlook?Is there any way to avoid duplication of mails.I had not backupd my profile.I had previously just backuped my .pst file.Expecting your reply at earliest.Thanks in advance.
Maybe the Duplicate Email Remover should be useful for you.
This is free duplicate remover will get the job done http://www.vaita.com/ODIR.asp and even works on win7 x64. enjoy
Hi,
This is a good article. My only question is how can I backup and restore all the email rules I have (so i can restore them when I use your article to backup and retore outlook.
Thank you, and keep up the writing!
Hello, I think the problem is that you have all your e-mails stored on the mailserver. So after "Send/Receive all" these e-mails are copied to your computer. The only chance how to avoid the duplicates is not to use the backup and receive the e-mails from mailserver. Or, delete all on your mailserver and use the backup.
Thank you very much - it was very useful for me.
Thanks for taking time to share.
The text under the picture of Registry editor make no sense me. You talk about .pst - files, but you don't get that from the registry editor. You'll get a reg-file.
What do you to get this right?
The backup/restore of accounts in Outlook 2007 is NOT easier - its harder!
Old Outlook had its own export/import of the accounts that you could save as seperate files, as an iaf-file for each account. Then you could import the accounts into another Outlook to be used there. In that way you could made a backup of each account.
A warning about pst-files: Do NOT make a copy (backup) of a pst-file while Outlook is open. Your backup will fail and be of 0-byte!
Thanks.
Hello Ole, thanks for your suggestion. You are right. There should be a text about REG files. I edited the article.
Used the procedure you describe and it worked like a charm. Before I hit your site I looked around searching for an answer to that question. It's incredible that there are commercial solutions around while it is all in the system - if you know where. I would have felt stupid entering 8 accounts with a partly tricky setup again. On the other hand, why pay $25.00 - 30.00 for a program you use only once in a couple of years when you set up yor system anew or buy a new machine?
So, again, thank you very much for your insight and the greatness to make your knowledge public .
I remember once losing everything in my inbox--aaarrrggg.
Well, I use a Mac now.
I bought a new hard drive for my PC, I backed up all the data that I thought was important. My docs, my pictures, desktop files, ect. I reinstalled windows on my new hard drive and couldn't work out how to get my Outlook data back. Thankfully after reading this, and keeping the data on my previous hard drive I have found my PST file and seamlessly transferred the data across. Thank you for ending my headache. This post is now bookmarked for future reference!
I have been going crazy trying to figure out how to backup my email accounts (I have 12 of them) so that I would not have to manually set each account on my other PC.
I just tried what you suggested and it worked like a charm. All I need to do now is set the passwords for each account.
The .pst file was easy all I had to do was go to File> Import and Export> Highlight Export to a file> Next>Highlight Personal Folder File (.pst)> Next> Highlight Personal Folders> Checkmark Include subfolders> Next> Browse to assign where to backup> Finish> Password Protect if you wish> OK.
That's how I backup my Outlook.pst file.
Again thank you very much! Great work!
How do you restore the registry key to get your accounts back in? Import?
Thanks
Double click the REG file and confirm.
I followed your instructions carefully. However, after doing everything I still have no Email accounts in the new PC. Importing the .PST file is easy but I have 63 Email accounts and setting them up manually takes a long time, so I really want this to work. I saved the correct REG file from the old PC and imported it exactly where it's supposed to go but when I expand one of the sub-folders it doesn't contain all the files as they are in the old PC and when I open Outlook they're not there, even after i reboot.
Any suggestions?
BRILLIANT!!! THANK YOU I have been trying to figure this out for a long time.... this has saved me hours of work.
Note: This method work for me transferring from Vista OS- Vista O/S (using Outlook 2007) This worked for me
- after your save "Profile\Outlook"" file as instructed
- copy and paste outlook.pst from old machine to outlook folder in new machine
- Access Regedit in new machine
-locate HOTKEY as previously instruted on new machine
- Highlight Outlook folder
-Locate saved .reg
- On Toolbar> File- Import- Select saved.reg- Import
-Start Outlook 2007 after import
-Select paste outlook.pst
- Viola!!!
It worked for me. What do you mean by sub-folders? Registry keys?
Your article is very interesting to me so I like that so much and Thanks you
Hi,
Nice article! However, I cannot seem to get this to work - and I have two separate mail accounts, my own and my wife's in the same programme (profiles?). I had a hard drive failure and have had to rebuild the PC. Luckily, I have the full OUTLOOK folder with all its PST files in a backup location on a second drive.
I copied all this to the same location on the nwly built C: drive after re-installing Office 2007 Standard Edition (which includes Outlook 2007) only to find that Outlook still wants me to supply full email/settings details when I open it! As I said, i ad two users - me and my wife. The Outlook user folder has four PST files - Outlook.pst0, 1, 2 & 3; 1 archive file and 3 .obi files - Carolyn.obi, lee.obi and ~last~.sharing.xml.obi I have placed all these back into the new Outlook 2007 installation but I cannot access the programme without having to re-create the accounts (I have set two new profiles using the MAIL option in CONTROL PANEL
Can anyone walk me through how to just restore Outlook 2007 as it was with my two accounts and email? It should not be this difficult to do it! I have finsihed setting up the whole PC (2 days work) but Outlook seems to want to really test me! thanks for any help you can be.
Cheers,
Lee
Hi Lee,
do you have export of the registry mentioned in the article above? If not, you have to setup e-mail account manually.
However it is possible to get all your e-mails from backup files. Just create the account in Outlook at first. Then close the Outlook and overwrite its files with your backup.
You could also connect your backup PST files as the secondary storage via Account Setings|Data Files. This will make possible to view all your older e-mails.
Hope this helps.
Jan
After doing that registry thing you need to go to control panel:
- Click on Mail
- Click on 'Show Profiles'
- Select 'Prompt for a Profile to be used'
I am sure it will work for you as it worked for me.
Thanks.
Tariq
Hello Jan,
I have a full backup of the C: drive as it was before the failure. It is stored as an image file by Acronis True Image backup software - and I can mount the drive backup using TI to use the contents.
The reason the rebuild took place was because TI would not restore the C: Drive Image back to the newly install operating drive! the backups were not corrupt or damaged in any way - I can mount them ! - but the restore would not work. so I had to rebuild from scratch! That is now done and all working - except Outlook! I'd rather not re-do my email account settings for both of us if I don't have to. I do have Registry backups in the old C: drive backup archive (I use CCCleaner so I make backups of the Registry every time I use it) so could I export the settings out of one of them? and then import them into the current Registry?
Thanks for your help,
cheers,
Lee
Yes, if you will be able to get the needed part out from the backed up registry file, then it should help.