Whether your mailbox is so large that it's taking up all the space in your hosting package or you just want to get rid of old memories but can't quite bring yourself to deleting them forever, Outlook's Archive function is just what you need.

Archiving emails will remove them from the server and save them locally on your computer in a .PST file. This can save disk space and costs involved with your hosting package without losing the emails forever.

Manual Archiving

1. Do one of the following:

   • In Outlook 2013: Click File > Info > Cleanup Tools > Archive.

     
     

   • In Outlook 2016: Click File > Info > Tools > Clean up old items

     

   Tip: Archive and AutoArchive might not be available if your mail profile connects to an Exchange Server. It's also possible that your organization has a mail retention policy that overrides AutoArchive. Check with your system administrator for more information.

2. Click the Archive this folder and all subfolders option, and choose the folder you want to archive.

3. Under Archive items older than, enter a date.

   

4. You can create multiple .pst files if you want to archive some folders using different settings. For example, you may want to keep items in your Sent folder longer than items in your Inbox folder.

5. Check the Include items with “Do not AutoArchive” checked box to archive individual items that are excluded from automatic archiving. This option doesn't remove that exclusion from these items, but instead ignores the Do not AutoArchive setting for this archive only.

6. Click OK.

Automatic Archiving

If you'd like to have your Outlook archive older emails automatically on an ongoing basis instead of manually, follow these steps.

Office 2013 and newer

1. Click File > Options > Advanced.

2. Under AutoArchive, click AutoArchive Settings.

3. Click the Run AutoArchive every n days box and specify how often to run AutoArchive.

4. Choose any other options you want, such as having Outlook delete old items instead of archiving them.

Change the AutoArchive settings for an individual folder

1. In the Navigation Pane's folder list, right-click the folder you want to change, and click Properties.

2. On the AutoArchive tab, choose the options you want.