Reducing size of archive file

[Guest]

I note my archive file is nearing 1 gig. Not really a problem, but... Three
questions:
1- Is there a way I can safely reduce the size of that archive? It probably
has e-mails on it that are ancient.
2 - Is there a way I can what is the oldest material on there?
3 - I'd like to limit the retention of archived e-mail and tasks to 12-18
months. How can I safely do that? As usual, Outlook's on-line help on that
subject gave me the willies

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

Open it in outlook and run archive on it, deleting items archives xx months
ago - note that it goes by the modified date, not sent date, so you don't
want to import or otherwise touch items.

a gig is fine - no need to worry until you get to about 1.7. Also - you can
make a new archive file - maybe have one per year or something like that.
Move or rename the archive and outlook should make a new one for you.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)



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[ProfDD]

Diane's advice looks great, but the convenience of a single file is
something to be preserved as long as possible. It would be better to
have two years of data in each archive rather than one if possible.

Accordingly, you might want to sort by size and take steps to reduce
the space taken up by the biggest e-mails. That usually means
attachments. The e-mail and attachment can go or just the attachment.
"File, Data file management, Settings" gets you to a place which
compresses the archive to free up the space formerly taken by
attachments. (I don't know whether it has to be run to free up the
space taken by deleted e-mails.)