Archiving and PST File Size

[Guest]

I'm using Outlook 2002 with XP Personal edition. When I archive Outlook
documents, my archive.pst file gets bigger, but my outlook.pst file remains
the same size. It seems to me that my outlook.pst file should get smaller
when I archive documents. I need to get my outlook.pst file down to a more
mamageable size. Am I doing something wrong? Is there a step that I'm
missing?

Thanks,
John

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

You are not doing anything wrong. Outlook will never reduce the size of the
*.PST file because it is like a database. Increasing/decreasing the file
causes a performance hit. So MS keeps the file the same size and only
increases the PST file size when required. To reclaim the empty whitespace,
right click on "Personal Folders" and select properties. Select Advanced
button and then Compact. Be prepared to wait a while if you
archived/deleted a good portion of data from the *.pst file.