Two Simple Methods to Restore & Backup Outlook.com Mailbox Data
Data corruption and data deletion are two of the major causes of data loss in today’s era. It does not matter which email client you use, nobody is completely safe from these risk factors. Keeping this in mind, everyone should be careful about their email data and take the necessary measures to secure it. It is proven that data backup is the finest approach to secure data from any kind of mishaps. That is why more and more users are getting interested to back up their data. In this post, we will discuss methods to restore and backup Outlook.com mailbox data.
Before that, let’s learn the importance of data backup for web-based email clients.
Importance of Restoring Outlook.com Account
In the minds of the common users, there is often doubt regarding Outlook.com mailbox backup. Outlook.com users suffer from hesitation regarding whether to have a data backup of their mailbox or not.
According to Microsoft policy, they do not provide a complete backup of your data in case of deletion or overwriting. Users must understand that the responsibility to back up the account lies on themselves.
OST file backup is beneficial in case of data deletion from the server. Backup mailbox data of Outlook.com also comes in handy during any other types of data loss as well as transferring the data to another system.
For these reasons, users should know the methods of Outlook.com data backup and restore.
How to Restore and Backup Outlook.com Mailbox
Two different ways can be utilized to backup and restore Outlook.com mailbox data. We will know both the methods here.
Method 1: Backup and Restore Outlook.com Email Account
In this method, we simply backup Outlook.com by backing up its OST file.
Backup Process
To back up the Outlook.com mailbox, users have to go to the file location and copy it somewhere else. Here is the default file location of the Outlook OST file.
Users can also go to the location manually by clicking on File-> Account Settings-> Account Settings…>> Click on Data Files tab-> select the ost-file-> click Open File Location.
A Quick Tip: Perform IMAP email migration from and to all the supported email clients in a trouble-free manner.
For Windows
For Mac
Restoration Process
Data restoration is equally important as the process of data backup. After all, the purpose of data backup is to restore it when the original contents are unavailable. The procedure to restore the Outlook.com email account is both tricky and lengthy, but not impossible.
It can be done using the steps mentioned below:
- To perform this technique, users have to configure an Outlook.com account in Outlook.
- Now, put Outlook in offline mode. In Outlook 2017, 2013, and 2013, one can achieve it by clicking on Send/Receive tab and then Work Offline.
- Replace the OST File keeping the Outlook close. You may need to reuse it, so it is better to rename this OST file.
- After completing all these steps, proceed to open MS Outlook.
- Here, you need to copy the missing data to a separate PST file. If there is a small number of items, simply drag and drop the items from Outlook to the Explorer folder.
- At this point, put back Outlook in Online mode and wait for it to sync.
- If it syncs without any trouble, check if the recovered data exists in the mailbox or not. If the data is not there, recover it from the PST file or Explorer folder.
- Now, if the synchronization does not happen, close MS Outlook. Then, either delete the restored OST file or open Outlook without the OST file to allow it to build a new cache.
After the recreation of the OST file, users can easily recover the extracted data either from the PST file or from the Explorer folder. Users can also rename the OST file and check if it works.
Method 2: Restore and Backup Outlook.com Mailbox Emails Using Export & Import Options
Apart from the technique mentioned above, there is another way to backup Outlook.com data. Though this method is not so popular and not usually considered a process of data backup, it can be used to backup user data of Outlook.com. If the readers think carefully, they will realize that .ost files are not supposed to be recovered as we just mentioned. Using the Export/ Import option of Outlook.com, the data backup can take place in a really short time.
Here is how to backup and restore Outlook.com emails using Export Import Wizard.
Backup Process (For Outlook.com 2016 & 2013 versions)
- Click on File>> Open & Export>> Import/ Export.
- Import and Export wizard will appear. Choose Export to a file>> Next>> Outlook Data File (.pst).
- All Outlook.com data will save as a PST file on your system. If users want, they can move that file and keep it in a secured place.
Restoration Process (For Outlook.com 2016 & 2013 versions)
Using the same wizard, users can import the backup PST file to recover all the Outlook.com mailbox data. Otherwise, they can click on File>> Open & Export>> Open Outlook Data File and then select the backup PST file.
Final Words
Day by day, users are getting aware of the chances of data loss and started to take preventive measures and steps to take backup of emails from IMAP Server. To address their need, we have chosen to discuss how to Restore the Outlook.com email account. In this write-up, we have shared the reasons for Outlook.com backup besides different ways to backup Outlook.com mailbox.
Thus, we expect that users will follow the guidelines given here to backup and restore Outlook.com data successfully.