How to export Outlook to PST (emails, folders, whole mailbox)

To export Outlook to PST, open classic Outlook for Windows and run File → Open & Export → Import/Export → Export to a file → Outlook Data File (.pst), choose the mailbox or folder and pick where to save. The PST is Outlook's own backup format and holds mail, folders, contacts and calendar, but only Outlook opens it. This page walks through the wizard, where Outlook keeps PST files, the Outlook 2010, 2007, new Outlook and web differences, and when a PDF or MSG copy serves you better.

Export Outlook to PST step by step

1. Open classic Outlook for Windows (Outlook 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021 or Microsoft 365).
2. Click File → Open & Export → Import/Export.
3. Choose Export to a file, then Outlook Data File (.pst).
4. Select what to export. Click the account name at the top for the whole mailbox, or one folder such as Inbox. Tick Include subfolders. The Filter button limits by date or sender.
5. Click Browse to set the file name and location, choose what to do with duplicates, and Finish. Add a password only if you will remember it; there is no recovery.

Outlook writes the PST in the background; the status bar shows progress. A multi-gigabyte mailbox takes a while. The resulting file is a complete copy: the original mail stays in Outlook. A broader view of the options is on exporting Outlook emails.

Have the email as a file (EML, MSG, MBOX)? Convert it to PDF in your browser: nothing is uploaded.

Where Outlook saves PST files

The export wizard proposes Documents\Outlook Files\backup.pst, and that folder is also where Outlook 2013 and later create new data files. Older versions (2007, 2010) kept them in C:\Users\<name>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook. To see the exact path of every file in use, open File → Account Settings → Account Settings → Data Files; select a file and click Open File Location.

To back up a PST to an external hard drive, close Outlook first (an open PST is locked and a copy taken while it is open may be unreadable), then copy the file. Do not open the PST directly from the external drive or from a OneDrive-synced folder; copy it back to the local disk before using File → Open & Export → Open Outlook Data File.

Outlook 2010, 2007, new Outlook and Outlook on the web

• Outlook 2010: File → Open → Import → Export to a file → Outlook Data File. Same wizard, different menu entry.
• Outlook 2007: File → Import and Export → Export to a file → Personal Folder File (.pst).
• Outlook 2016 and later, Microsoft 365: the File → Open & Export path above.
• New Outlook for Windows: no Export to PST in the Import/Export sense. Use the toggle at the top right to switch to classic Outlook, run the export there, and switch back.
• Outlook on the web and Outlook.com: no PST download exists. Add the account to desktop Outlook and export from there. In Microsoft 365, admins can export a mailbox to PST through compliance Content search.
• Outlook for Mac: exports an .olm archive, not a PST. Outlook for Windows cannot open .olm.

Save one Outlook folder as PST, or the whole mailbox

The wizard exports whatever folder you select. Pick Inbox with Include subfolders for mail only; pick the account root for mail, contacts, calendar, tasks and notes together. A project folder exported on its own makes a small PST you can hand to a colleague who opens it with Open Outlook Data File without importing anything.

The Filter button is worth a look: "received before" a date exports a closed period, which is how people make yearly archive files. Outlook's AutoArchive does something similar automatically, moving old items into archive.pst on a schedule; see archiving emails in Outlook.

Which method when

Save Outlook emails to a hard drive without a PST

A PST is useless to anyone without Outlook, and that includes you if you later move to a Mac or to Gmail. For a copy that opens anywhere, select the messages and drag them to a folder: Outlook writes one .msg per message, attachments included. Those files open in the browser on MSG to PDF, where each message can be saved as a searchable PDF with From, To, Cc, Date, Subject and Message-ID at the top and attachments downloadable beside it, without any upload.

The practical difference: a PST restores a mailbox; a folder of MSG and PDF files is a record you can read in ten years. Most people want both: the PST for restore, PDFs for the few threads that matter. The step-by-step for the file route is on saving Outlook emails to your computer.

Frequently asked questions