Export Outlook email to a PST file

Exporting copies your mail (and, if you choose, your contacts and calendar) from Outlook into a PST file, an Outlook Data File you can keep as a backup, move to another computer, or open later without the original account.

Export from classic Outlook for Windows

1. Open Outlook and choose File › Open & Export › Import/Export.
2. Choose Export to a file, then Next.
3. Choose Outlook Data File (.pst), then Next.
4. Select what to export. To export a whole mailbox, select the account’s name at the top and keep Include subfolders checked. You can also pick a single folder, or use Filter to export only some messages.
5. Click Browse, choose where to save the file and give it a name, for example mail-2026.pst.
6. Choose how to handle duplicates (for a new file the choice does not matter), then Finish.
7. Outlook offers to add a password. Leave it empty unless you need one: a password-protected PST is harder to open later, and many tools, ours included, cannot open it.

A large mailbox can take a long time to export. Keep Outlook open until it finishes.

The new Outlook for Windows

The new Outlook does not export to PST at the time of writing. If classic Outlook is installed on the same computer, export from there as above. Our guide to PST files in the new Outlook explains what the new app can and cannot do with PST files.

Outlook for Mac

Outlook for Mac exports to an .olm file, not a PST. That file can only be opened by Outlook for Mac. To move mail from a Mac to Outlook for Windows, the usual routes are to let the mail synchronise from the server (for Microsoft 365, Exchange and IMAP accounts), or to export the mailboxes as MBOX from Apple Mail and convert them with MBOX to PST.

When you only have an OST file

An OST is the offline copy Outlook keeps for Microsoft 365, Exchange and many IMAP accounts. It cannot be exported once the account is gone: Outlook only opens an OST together with its account. If the mailbox still exists, sign in and export as above. If it does not (an old job, a deleted account, a broken profile), OST to PST turns the OST file itself into a PST, in your browser, without the account. Our guide to opening an OST file explains the difference.

Check the export

Before you delete anything, open the new PST and check that the folders and the number of messages look right. The free PST Viewer opens it in your browser without Outlook, and the health check reads every part of it.

Frequently asked

Where does Outlook keep its PST files? See where is my PST file for every Outlook version.

Does the export include contacts and calendar? Yes, if you export the whole account with subfolders. Our tools work with the mail; contacts and calendar items stay in the file for Outlook.

The export is very large. Outlook can export files up to 50 GB. To keep files easy to move and open, export one year at a time with the Filter option, or split the finished PST by year.