Recommended max size for a pst file

T

Trent SC

I've recently moved my email across from OE to Outlook and am wondering
whether the old system I sued for archiving emails is as relevant and
whether there might be a better way of managing them.

In OE, I created a series of distinct folders for past years' inboxes and
sent items, and over the course of the last 5 years I have accumulated
around 30,000 emails in various folders, the majority of which I visit
weekly to retrieve old emails. This was easily manageable as OE created a
file for each folder, but I see that Outlook creates a single pst file,
which after I imported the old email structure from OE, now stands at a
shade under a Gb.

Can Outlook handle a file of this size? There's currently a 2-4 second lag
on opening emails, which I can live with. And I notice that there's an
archiving option, but I'm not clear whether that keeps the archived items
easily available or not. Before I click on that particular option, I'd be
grateful for a bit of guidance.

TIA
 
D

Diane Poremsky [MVP]

outlook 2002 and older support up to 2 GB total, and a max of 56,000 items
per folder. outlook 2003 supports more. the number of messages per folder
matter as much (or more) than size of the pst.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/



Subscribe to Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)
 
T

Trent SC

Thanks for the advice. My archive folders have, on average, around 3,000
messages each. Do you think this might pose a problem?
 
A

Alan

It depends. Did you read the bit about the differences for different
versions? You still haven't said just which version you are using.......
 
D

Diane Poremsky [MVP]

Nah... 3000 is nothing.... but based on my experience, that's about the
level where you may begin to experience slowdowns as you change folders, but
it should not cause problems opening messages.



--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/



Subscribe to Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)
 
D

Diane Poremsky [MVP]

The only difference that makes is the ability to exceed 2 GB in total files
size and have unlimited # of items per folder. But you need to use the new
Unicode pst format. If you are using a pst made in an older version of
outlook, it has the 2 GB file size limit - you'll need to make a new pst
using the new Unicode format.

Since you are at 1 GB, it's not an issue yet, but you should verify the pst
format - file, data file management - select the data store you are using
(probably the only one) and click settings - do you see "Personal Folders
File (97-2002)" listed or just "Personal Folders File" ? If it's not
identified as 'Personal Folders File (97-2002)'. you have the new, larger
pst format and don;t need to worry about size.


--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/



Subscribe to Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)
 
T

Trent SC

It's listed as Personal Folders File, so I think I'm OK.

Diane Poremsky said:
The only difference that makes is the ability to exceed 2 GB in total
files size and have unlimited # of items per folder. But you need to use
the new Unicode pst format. If you are using a pst made in an older
version of outlook, it has the 2 GB file size limit - you'll need to make
a new pst using the new Unicode format.

Since you are at 1 GB, it's not an issue yet, but you should verify the
pst format - file, data file management - select the data store you are
using (probably the only one) and click settings - do you see "Personal
Folders File (97-2002)" listed or just "Personal Folders File" ? If it's
not identified as 'Personal Folders File (97-2002)'. you have the new,
larger pst format and don;t need to worry about size.


--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/



Subscribe to Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)


Trent SC said:
Ah yes, missed that bit. Running Outlook 2003 SP2.
 

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