Systems Office

• WSU Libraries
• Systems Office Home

Configuring AutoArchive for Outlook 2003

One feature of Outlook is the auto-archiving of mail items. This process is very important because it is possible that all of the mail items you need won't fit into the limited space on the Exchange server (200 MB limit). The Auto-archive process takes the oldest mail items and transfers them to a personal file folder (archive.pst) on your computer hard drive. Thus, auto-archiving is very useful in the maintenance of your Exchange account.

The following steps show how to set up the auto-archiving process (Illustrated Instructions below).

Step 1: Select Options from the Tools menu in Outlook.

Step 2: When Options is selected, the Options window appears with many tabs, select the Other tab.

Step 3: Click the Auto Archive... button (about halfway down) to configure the settings for auto-archiving.

Step 4: The settings for auto archiving appear. There are many options available for the auto-archiving process. These include setting the interval for the Auto Archive process to occur. You can set it as high as 60 to 90 days (you can highlight the number currently displayed and type in a new number instead of scrolling up or down) or as low as 1 day (although I wouldn't recommend anything lower than 7 days). You can also let Auto Archive run silently in the background without bothering you during the process. You can choose the location of the archive folder, i.e., where you want your old contents stored in the "Move old items to:" section of this dialog box (consider using your H: drive for this purpose so it can be backed up automatically).  Other options can be seen by examining the window. I DO NOT recommend that you EVER tell Outlook to "permanently delete old items".

Step 5: Once your settings are set, just click the OK button twice.

Step 6 You can set individual archiving behaviors for each folder in your Exchange server account. Just go to the folder view of your Exchange server mailbox. (Hint: If you don't see it, just select Folder List from the View menu in Outlook, and the folder list view of the Exchange server will appear.)

Step 7Click any folder with the right mouse button and select Properties from the pop-up menu to open the Personal Properties window, where individual behaviors/properties for that folder are set.

Step 8: Select the Auto Archive tab from the Properties window to set the Archiving for each folder individually. You can choose to not archive a folder, or use default or custom settings (set in this window.) After changing the settings, just click the OK button to save the settings.

Accessing the Archives

If you need to see what is in your Archive Folders (and it doesn't appear in the Mail Folder view), go to File – Open – Outlook Data Folder. Navigate to wherever you told Outlook to store your Outlook Archive files and select the archive.pst file from there. It is now available for you to access from the All Mail Folders area on the left side of your Outlook. You can either leave it visible or close it (right-click on the Archive Folder and select Close Archive Folder from the menu).

Illustrated Instructions

NOTE: The illustrations may not look identical to your copy of Outlook as most are from Outlook XP. But the process is the same and screen shots are nearly identical.

Step 1: Select Options from the Tools menu in Outlook.

Step 2: The Options window appears with many tabs across the top, select the Other tab.

Step 3: Click the Auto Archive... button (about halfway down) to configure the settings for auto-archiving.

Step 4: The settings for auto archiving appear. There are many options available for the auto-archiving process. These include setting the interval for the Auto Archive process to occur. You can set it as high as 60 to 90 days (you can highlight the number currently displayed and type in a new number instead of scrolling up or down) or as low as 1 day (although I wouldn't recommend anything lower than 7 days). You can also let Auto Archive run silently in the background without bothering you during the process. You can choose the location of the archive folder, i.e., where you want your old contents stored in the "Move old items to:" section of this dialog box (consider using your H: drive for this purpose so it can be backed up automatically).  Other options can be seen by examining the window. I DO NOT recommend that you EVER tell Outlook to "permanently delete old items".

Step 5: Once your settings are set, just click the OK twice.

Step 6: You can set individual archiving behaviors for each folder in your Exchange server account. Just go to the folder view of your Exchange server mailbox. (Hint: If you don't see it, just select Folder List from the View menu in Outlook, and the folder list view of the Exchange server will appear.)

Step 7: Right-click any folder with the mouse and select Properties from the pop-up menu to open the Personal Properties window. This is where you can configure individual behaviors/properties for that folder.

Step 8: Select the Auto Archive tab from the Properties window to set the Archiving for each folder individually. You can choose to not archive a folder, or use default or custom settings (set in this window.) After changing the settings, just click the OK button to save the settings.