Social Marketing @ Century 21 Award: Q/A Friday: 5 Ways to Backup Outlook

Q: How to I backup my emails, contacts, calendar (basically my entire life) on Outlook? And what if I only want to backup a portion of it?

A: Excellent question! I can’t stress enough how important it is to backup your files, just in case something goes wrong. Backing up your Outlook files will also make for a seamless move to a new computer, without having to reconfigure your calendar or contacts.

Here's what you need to know first:
Outlook data is stored in what's called a Personal Folders (PST) file, which can grow to be rather large depending on how many emails/attachments/calendar events/contacts/other data you have. If your email account is set up as POP (see below), your emails are stored in this PST file also. If your account is set up as IMAP, your emails are not stored in Outlook (see below).

The PST file is meant to be difficult to find so that it will also be difficult to delete/move/corrupt. As stated above, it can also be quite large, meaning that some storage services (for example, Carbonite) will not automatically backup this file. Also, a PST file can also only be opened in Outlook. If you need to create an electronic communication log that can be opened without Outlook, see Option 5 below.

It is also recommended that you clean up your emails before backing up. Empty your Deleted Mail folder (after verifying that you’re totally done with whatever’s in there), sort your mail into folders (for example, keep all your buyers/sellers/etc emails together on your transactions) and just make sure that everything is in order. However you back it up is how you’ll get it back if you need it at a later time. Once you’re happy with your organization, time to do the actual backup.

And now, without further ado, here are 5 ways to backup Outlook.

1. Use IMAP instead of POP

*Note: This isn't a true backup, but it's a good start!

There are two mail ways to have mail delivered into Outlook: IMAP and POP.

POP: Outlook downloads your email from the server and removes them, making those emails accessible only from the computer in which Outlook is installed.

IMAP: Outlook accesses your emails directly from the server. This is especially handy if you use multiple devices (Outlook, online log-in, cell phone, tablet, etc.) as it will mark those same messages as read, deleted or moved to a folder.

Should something disastrous happen to your computer and your email is set to POP without being backed up, those emails are lost forever. However, when your email is set to IMAP, you will still be able to access them from the server. Recreating your account in Outlook will bring back all those old emails as well as their organization.

2. Manually backup your entire PST File (calendar, contacts, emails, etc.)

Use this method for: Moving to a new computer, Manual data backup any time, Manual backup of POP emails

In Outlook, select “File” and “Import and Export.” This will open the Import and Export Wizard.
Select “Export to a File” and click “Next.”
Under File Type, select “Personal Folder File (.pst)” and click “Next.”
Under Select Folder to Export From, select “Personal Folders” and check the “Include Subfolders” box below. Click “Next.”
On the Save Exported File As page, click the “Browse” button. In the browse window, navigate to your Desktop, and name the file OutlookBackup[Date] (IE: OutlookBackup05312012). Click the “OK” button. Click the “Finish” button.

Depending on the size of your file, it may take a little bit to complete the backup. Let your computer work and don’t interrupt this process!

Once the backup is complete, you will see the file on your desktop. Simply burn this file to a CD (if less than 700MB), DVD (if less than 4.7GB) or to your external hard drive or thumb drive.

3. Automatically backup your entire PST File

Use this method for: Knowing your data is safe anytime
If you are using an automatic backup system such as Carbonite, you can include your PST file in your regularly scheduled backups. Since it is very likely that your PST file will be larger than 4GB, you will most likely need to manually include that file for backup. Each cloud-based back up system is different, but adding any file larger than 4GB to Carbonite is as easy as Right Click > Carbonite > Back This Up:

Since there are so many different configurations, the easiest way to find your Outlook file is to Google "Access PST Outlook [year] [Operating System]".

4. Manually backup a portion of your emails or data

Use this method for: Manually backing up specific pieces of data, Manually backing up specific files (IE, a seller file after a transaction is closed)
Repeat the steps from Manually back up your entire PST File, with this exception:

4. If you only want to backup one folder, select that folder. IE: If your client John Smith has closed escrow and you don’t need his emails any longer, select the “Smith, John” folder that you have been keeping his emails in.

A few examples:

Backing up only the Calendar in Outlook

Backing up only the Contacts in Outlook

Backing up only a specific folder in Outlook

5. Manually backup a portion of your emails to PDF

Use this method for: Creating an easily accessible communication log of emails
Sometimes, you need a backup that can be opened outside of Outlook. For example, your real estate broker might require you to submit a communication log for your transaction. *Note: if you have a large amount of emails that you are including in the PDF, this process might take a little time!

Install a PDF Printer on your computer. I like PrimoPDF, NitroPDF or CutePDF.
Select the emails that you would like to include in your PDF. The fastest way to do this is huge amounts of email is by using Ctrl+A to select all:
Ctrl+P or File>Print. Instead of selecting your normal printer, select your PDF printer. I'm using PrimoPDF:
Each PDF Printer is a little different. PrimoPDF will bring up the following screen. Make sure to select Print quality:
Your PDF will be created. Save it, store it, share it, upload it, or back it up.