Area: Electronic Mail
Topic: Archiving Electronic Mail in Microsoft Outlook

Background
A number of users have asked us how they can archive their electronic mail in Microsoft Outlook.

Answer
Your Outlook mailbox grows as items are created, in the same way that papers pile up on your desk. In the paper-based world, you can occasionally shuffle through your documents and store those that are important but not frequently used. Documents that are less important, such as newspapers and magazines, you can discard based on their age.

You can quickly complete the same process in Outlook. You can manually transfer old items to a storage file by clicking Archive on the File menu, or you can have old items automatically transferred by using AutoArchive. Items are considered old when they reach the age you specify. With AutoArchive, you can either delete or move old items. Outlook can archive all types of items, but it can only locate files that are stored in a e-mail folder, such as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet or a Microsoft Word document that is attached to an e-mail message. A file that is not stored in a e-mail folder cannot be archived.

AutoArchive is a two-step process. First, you turn on AutoArchive. Second, you set the AutoArchive properties for each folder that you want archived. At the folder level, you can determine which items are archived, and how frequently they are archived. You can automatically archive individual folders or you can configure a default AutoArchive setting for all folders and then configure AutoArchive settings for individual folders that you do not want to use the default AutoArchive settings. The AutoArchive process runs automatically each time you start Outlook. Outlook checks the AutoArchive properties of each folder by date, and moves old items to your archive file. Items in the Deleted Items folder are deleted. Several Outlook folders are set up with AutoArchive turned on. These folders and their default aging periods are Calendar (6 months), Tasks (6 months), Journal (6 months), Sent Items (2 months), and Deleted Items (2 months). The Inbox, Notes, Contacts, and Drafts folders do not have AutoArchive activated automatically. The Contacts folder cannot be set to AutoArchive and does not have an archive property.

1.	To turn on Autoarchive. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Other tab.
2.	Click AutoArchive.
3.	Click to select the AutoArchive Every check box, and then specify how often the AutoArchive process will run by typing a number in the days box.
4.	Click to select the Prompt Before AutoArchive check box, if you want to be notified before the items are archived.
5.	In the Default archive file box, type a file name for the archived items to be transferred to, or click Browse to select from a list.
6.	Click OK twice to close Options.

1.	To Set AutoArchive Properties for a Folder.
2.	In the Folder List, right-click the folder that you want to AutoArchive, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu
3.	Click the AutoArchive tab.
4.	To set AutoArchive for this folder, click to select Clean out items older than.
5.	To specify when items should be automatically transferred to your archive file, type a number in the Months box.
6.	To specify a file for the archived items to be transferred to, click Move old items to.
7.	In the Move old items to box, type a file name for the archived items, or click Browse to select from a list, and then click OK.

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TECH 2U P/L