If you want to keep Outlook 2010 clean and run faster, one method is to set up the AutoArchive feature. Today we show you how to configure and manage the feature in Outlook 2010.

Using AutoArchive allows you to manage space in your mailbox or on the email server by moving older items to another location on your hard drive. Enable and Configure Auto Archive In Outlook 2010 Auto Archive is not enabled by default. To turn it on, click on the File tab to access Backstage View, then click on Options. The Outlook Options window opens then click on Advanced then the AutoArchive Settings button. The AutoArchive window opens and you’ll notice everything is grayed out. Check the box next to Run AutoArchive every… Note: If you select the Permanently delete old items option, mails will not be archived. Now you can choose the settings for how you want to manage the AutoArchive feature. Select how often you want it to run, prompt before the feature runs, where to move items, and other actions you want to happen during the process. After you’ve made your selections click OK. Manually Configure Individual Folders For more control over individual folders that are archived, right-click on the folder and click on Properties. Click on the AutoArchive tab and choose the settings you want to change for that folder. For instance you might not want to archive a certain folder or move archived data to a specific folder. If you want to manually archive and backup an item, click on the File tab, Cleanup Tools, then Archive. Click the radio button next to Archive this folder and all subfolders. Select the folder you want to archive. In this example we want to archive this folder to a specific location of its own. The .pst files are saved in your documents folder and if you need to access them at a later time you can. After you’ve setup AutoArchive you can find items in the archived files. In the Navigation Pane expand the Archives folder in the list. You can then view and access your messages. You can also access them by clicking the File tab \ Open then Open Outlook Data File. Then you can browse to the archived file you want to open. Archiving old emails is a good way to help keep a nice clean mailbox, help speed up your Outlook experience, and save space on the email server. The other nice thing is you can configure your email archives and specific folders to meet your email needs. READ NEXT

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How-To Geek is where you turn when you want experts to explain technology. Since we launched in 2006, our articles have been read more than 1 billion times. Want to know more? Archive older items automatically Outlook for Microsoft 365 Outlook 2021 Outlook 2019 Outlook 2016 Outlook 2013 Outlook 2010 Outlook 2007 More…Less Email can fill your Outlook Inbox quickly – new messages, replies, and forwards. Before you know it, you could have thousands of messages. Keep your Outlook inbox and its folders under control by moving older items you want to keep to an archive. Use AutoArchive to do this automatically. You can change how often AutoArchive runs, where it stores archived items, and how long Outlook keeps items before archiving them.

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.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.

For more information about AutoArchive settings, see AutoArchive settings explained.

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.

The first time that you run Outlook, AutoArchive is on by default and runs every 14 days. You can change how often AutoArchive runs, specify the Outlook data file (.pst) used to store archived items, and choose when items in your Outlook folders are subject to being archived.

1. Select Tools > Options and then select the Other tab.
2. Select AutoArchive .
3. Select the Run AutoArchive every n days check box, and then specify how often to run AutoArchive.
4. Select the options that you want.
   • Run AutoArchive every Choose how often you want AutoArchive to run. Archiving many items at the same time might slow down your computer’s performance. Therefore, it is good to choose a period of time that shortens the AutoArchive process. Consider how many items that you typically receive during a given time and adjust the timeframe accordingly. Prompt before AutoArchive runs Choose this option if you want Outlook to display a reminder message before AutoArchive processes your Outlook items. When you see the message, you can click No to cancel that AutoArchive session.
   • Delete expired items (e-mail folders only) This option is not selected by default. You can choose to have e-mail messages deleted when their aging period has expired. The default period for your Draft and Inbox items is six months, and three months for your Sent Items, but you can change these periods using the Clean out items older than option.
   • Archive or delete old items You must choose this option if you want AutoArchive to delete some or all items when they expire. This option activates other options that enable you to decide which items are archived and which are deleted when they reach the end of the aging period. Then choose additional settings to apply to both archiving and deletion.Note: In the AutoArchive dialog box, «folders» refers to your main Outlook feature areas, such as the Calendar folder and Task folder, and individual e-mail folders. This is because your Calendar and Task items are stored in their respective Calendar and Task folders.
   • Show archive folder in folder list Choose to have the Archive folder listed with your other working folders in the Navigation Pane. In the main Archive folder, you can open the subfolders and view your archived items. When viewing your archived items, you can verify that the correct items were archived, and you can also drag any items that you need back to a working folder.
   • Clean out items older than Choose the default setting for when you want your items archived, in days, weeks, or months. You can set a period of one day up to a period of 60 months. «Clean» means to archive — store — items. It does not mean «delete» unless you have specified that setting for the folders elsewhere.
   • Move old items to The default setting for this location is different for computers that are running the Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows XP operating systems.Windows Vista: C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\Archive.pst.Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\user \Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\Archive.pst. If you want to set another destination for the archived items, you can browse to and set a different location. Items will be moved to this location after their aging period. Note: Items archived in a custom location will not be deleted unless you open the folders and delete them manually.
   • Permanently delete items This option immediately deletes the expired items instead of moving them to the default location, another folder that you have designated, or the Deleted Items folder.
   • Apply these settings to all folders now This option applies the AutoArchive settings, including your changes, to all of your folders. To specify different settings for one or more folders, do not choose this option. Instead, use the instructions shown below the button that explain how to specify settings for individual folders. These instructions are also included in the following section, «Change the AutoArchive settings for an individual folder.» Changes made to specific folders apply only to those folders.
   • Retention Policy Information In your organization, a system administrator might set retention policies that determine when and how your mailbox items are AutoArchived. You can view the policies here, but you can’t change them without the appropriate permissions.
5. Click OK.

Change the AutoArchive settings for an individual folder

1. In the folder list in the Navigation Pane, right-click the folder you want to change, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu.
2. Click the AutoArchive tab.
3. Select the options that you want.Note: For more information on the settings, please see Step 4 in the section above, «Review or change the default AutoArchive settings.»
4. Click OK.

Need more help?

If you haven’t used Archiving in Outlook before, give it a try. It’s sure to help keep things clean and move old, unused email items out of your Primary Mailbox/.PST file. Since the beginning of Outlook, Microsoft has always included the Archive and AutoArchive features, and Outlook 2010 is no exception. The AutoArchive feature automatically moves or deletes the older emails from your Primary Mailbox into an Archive Data File stored on your local hard drive. These files are called .PST files. In the past, when Outlook .PST files had a 2 GIG limit, the Archive feature was much more important as it archived older emails out of your Primary .PST file and into an Archive.pst file. That being said, even though .PST files in Outlook 2010 have a 20 Gig limit, it’s still a good idea to let it manage your older email to keep your .PST files small and system performance up.

What Does the AutoArchive Feature Do?

AutoArchive reduces mailbox size by deleting or moving old items to an archive data file or .PST. The process works pretty much the same whether you’re using Microsoft Exchange at work or IMAP or POP from a home or small business setup. It’s essentially just like taking a few stacks of paper off your desk and placing them in an organized quick-access file cabinet or .PST file, as mentioned above. This process is different from exporting in two ways. Exporting will allow you to move the emails into multiple different external formats, whereas Archiving only lets you move the older emails to a .pst file or delete the email entirely. Archiving also allows easier access to old emails since there is a tab in the Outlook navigation pane. Of course, you can also set up AutoArchive to delete your old mail as well.

How To Enable Default AutoArchive For All Outlook 2010 Folders

1. In Microsoft Outlook and click the File menu and select Options. 2. In the Options menu, click the Advanced tab and then click the AutoArchive Settings button. 3. Click the checkbox for Run AutoArchive every [14] Days. From here, you can further customize the AutoArchive settings for Outlook 2010; however, by default, once enabled, AutoArchive will move (not delete) all mail older than six months into an Archive.pst file. I suggest you keep the Prompt before AutoArchive runs checked so that you’ll be alerted whenever an archive happens. You would be surprised how often people ask me about missing messages. Normally it’s an AutoArchive function. Once you have the settings where you like them, click Apply these settings to all folders now. If you followed the above steps, AutoArchive enables all of your Outlook messages. If there is a folder you wanted to exclude from AutoArchive, or if you only want it to apply to a few folders, we can do that too. Outlook 2010 allows you to customize the AutoArchive settings for each folder; here’s how.

Change AutoArchive Settings For Single Outlook 2010 Folders

4. In Outlook, look in the left-side navigation pane. From there, right-click any folder and select Properties to set its AutoArchive policy. 5. In the Inbox Properties window that appears, click the AutoArchive tab. Here you can customize the AutoArchive settings for this folder or even disable AutoArchive for it entirely. Alright, now we know how to AutoArchive individual folders. But what if you don’t want to use AutoArchive at all? If you aren’t a fan of the automatic feature, you can still use Archiving by using the manual process.

How to Manually Archive Items

6. In Outlook, click the File > Info menu tab and select Cleanup Tools > Archive. 7. In the Archive dialog that appears, select which Folders you want to Archive. This process is nearly the same as AutoArchive, except it’s a one-time deal. Something different is that you can even override the “Do not AutoArchive” property if you’ve applied that to some folders, but that is optional.

Where Are Outlook Archived Items Located?

8. In Outlook, you can access archived items from the Archive folder in the left-side email navigation pane. 9. You can also access archives from the Outlook .pst file where they store. You can get there by clicking the File > Open menu tab and select Open Outlook Data File. 10. By default, the Outlook archive .pst file location is:

%UserProfile%DocumentsOutlook Files

If you haven’t used Archiving in Outlook before, give it a try. It’s sure to help keep things clean and move old, unused email items out of your Primary Mailbox/.PST file. It’s also a nice way to keep the .PST file size under control. And that will help with system performance!

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