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1. The following procedure is valid only for Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. You can determine

which version you are using by opening Outlook and clicking on Help > About Microsoft

Outlook.

2. The Personal Folder file (.pst / PST) is the place where Outlook stores its data (when you’re

using Outlook without Microsoft® Exchange Server). Each Personal Folder file contains all of

your Outlook folders, including the Inbox, Calendar, and Contacts. You may have a single .pst

file (usually called "Internet Folders" or "Personal Folders" in your Folder List), and you may

also have an additional .pst file that you use to archive messages (named "Archive Folders").

By backing up these PST files you will be backing up all your Outlook information.

3. In previous versions of Outlook, it was difficult to locate the folder containing the personal

folder files. Developers have made this task much easier in Outlook 2007.

4. There are two ways to access the location of your data files. In the main menu, you can either

click File > Data File Management… or Tools > Account Settings…

5. If not already selected, click on the "Data Files" tab. You may have a single data file or

multiple data files. These "Data Files" are where you store your email messages, calendar,

tasks and other items.

6. Highlight the data file that you are interested in backing up and click on the "Open Folder…"

icon. Clicking on this icon will automatically launch Windows Explorer and take you to the

location where this data file is stored.

7. Within the folder you should find an outlook.pst file . Burn this file to a CDROM

disk or other backup source. If you archive your email, be sure to backup the archive.pst file as

well. Prior to backing up these files, Outlook will need to be closed.

_ The table below lists key Outlook files that you may want to back up in addition to your

Personal Folder(s). You will need to completely exit Outlook prior to copying these files.

Depending upon your configuration some or all of these files may be present in your Outlook

directory.

Compatibility Note

Microsoft introduced a new .pst format with the release of Office 2003 which has a

greater storage capacity and supports multilingual Unicode. Personal folder files

(.pst) created using Office 2003 or 2007 will not be able to be opened by earlier

versions of Office. To create a data file that is compatible with Outlook 2002 and

earlier, you must first create a new data file in the Outlook 97-2002 format using the

"Add" icon in the Data Files dialog box. Then you must select File > Import and

Export from the main menu and import your email from the 2003/2007 .pst data file

to the new 97-2002 data file that you just created. Visit this link for more

information.