OL97: An Overview of Archive and AutoArchive (239704)

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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 Word document 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 often they are archived. You can automatically archive individual folders, groups of folders, or all Outlook folders. The process runs automatically whenever you start Outlook. The AutoArchive properties of each folder are checked by date, and old items are moved 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.

Archiving vs. Exporting

When you archive, the original items are copied to the archive file, and then removed from the current folder. Your existing folder structure is maintained in your new archive file. If there is a parent folder above the folder you chose to archive, the parent folder is created in the archive file, but items within the parent folder are not archived. In this way, an identical folder structure exists between the archive file and your mailbox. Folders are left in place after being archived, even if they are empty.

When you export, the original items are copied to the export file, but are not removed from the current folder. In addition, you can only archive one file type, a personal folder file, but you can export many file types.

To Turn on AutoArchive

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the AutoArchive tab.
2. Click to select the AutoArchive Every check box. If you want to delete expired items, click to select the Delete expired items when AutoArchiving (e-mail folders only) check box.
3. Type a number in the days box, to specify how often the AutoArchive process will run.
4. click to select the Prompt Before AutoArchive check box 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 to close Options.

Now that you have turned on AutoArchive, you must set AutoArchive properties for each folder to activate AutoArchive.

To Set AutoArchive Properties for a Folder

1. In the Folder List, right-click the folder you want to AutoArchive, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu.
2. Click the AutoArchive tab.
3. Click to select Clean out items older than to enable automatic archiving of this folder and type a number in the Months box.
4. Click Move old items to to specify a file for the archived items to be transferred to.
5. 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.

NOTE: You must activate AutoArchive first. For more information see the section, "To Turn on AutoArchive."