Discrepancy in size of pst files.

[Darren]

When I check the size of my pst files from within 0utlook, they are all
around 700mb. However, when I check them in the actual folder where they are
stored, then the main Personal pst file is over 2GB.

I intentionally created 3 different pst files, so that I could keep their
size down. But why is there this discrepancy in file sizes, and how can I
split the 2GB one to make it smaller?

 

[Roady [MVP]]

There is always some overhead from meta-information in the pst-file and
white space for performance reasons. This shouldn't be more than a 20%
difference though. Most likely you've deleted quite some things from those
pst-files and Outlook did not have the time yet to compress the pst-files to
remove the excessive white space from it.

Right click on the root of your folder set in Outlook-> Properties-> tab
Advanced-> button Compress Now...

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook]]

I intentionally created 3 different pst files, so that I could keep their
size down. But why is there this discrepancy in file sizes, and how can I
split the 2GB one to make it smaller?

Why do you believe you need to "split" the PST to make it smaller? For
Outlook 2003 and above, there is no 2GB PST limit for PSTs they create by
default. Only if you're using a PST from Outlook 2002 and earlier will you'll
need to worry about the 2GB limit.