Using Multiple Outlook Files

[swanner]

I currently have 7 Outlook pst files on my computer, but there are
only two valid ones. Somehow I have managed to duplicate files along
the way over the years. Several of them are BAK backup files. I
would like to open all of them one by one to see which ones are which.
Then I want to remove all the duplicates and only have two files, one
work and one personal. How do I do it without losing data? I tried
using file database manager, but haven't been able to figure out
what's going on, because no matter which of the file list I open it
has the same data as the previous one. Help!

Thanks in advance.
Jim

 

[Brian Tillman]

I currently have 7 Outlook pst files on my computer, but there are
only two valid ones. Somehow I have managed to duplicate files along
the way over the years. Several of them are BAK backup files. I
would like to open all of them one by one to see which ones are which.
Then I want to remove all the duplicates and only have two files, one
work and one personal. How do I do it without losing data? I tried
using file database manager, but haven't been able to figure out
what's going on, because no matter which of the file list I open it
has the same data as the previous one. Help!

In Outlook, click File>Open>Outlook Data File, browse to one of the PSTs,
select it, and click OK. This will add another "Personal Folders" set to
your Folder List. Open each of the folders it contains and examine the
data. If it's something you want to keep, copy it to the corresponding
default folder. When you've reviewed the data, right-click the root of the
folder set you added and choose Close. Repeat the operation for all PSTs
other than the ones you're using. File>Data File Management will tell you
what those are. When you're all done, close Outlook and you can then delete
the PSTs you no longer need if you wish, or burn them to CD for safe
keeping.