how to compact PST file? Step-by-Step Guide!
The storage space allotted to an Outlook user’s mailbox on the mail server or local storage is referred to as the mailbox size. in the case of PST (Personal Storage Table) files. The size restriction may differ according to the email provider’s settings, the IT policies of the company, or the type of account you are using.
Compact PST file, archiving old emails, removing extraneous stuff, and following company standards about mailbox quotas are all part of managing mailbox size. It contributes to the performance and storage efficiency optimization of Outlook and ensures a more streamlined and effective email management system.
Why We Need to Compact PST File Size in Outlook?
It is advisable to control and minimise the size of your Outlook data file (PST or OST) and mailbox for the following reasons:
Faster Performance: Smaller data files load more quickly in Outlook which helps to perform better overall.
Decreased Lag: Outlook searches and email opens might be slowed down by large data files.
Disk Space: large data files take up more disk space On your computer or mail server.
Mail server efficiency: can be improved by smaller mailboxes, particularly in settings with constrained storage.
File Integrity: Accessing your emails or losing data can result from large PST/OST files being corrupted or faulty.
Stability: You can ensure the stability of your Outlook data and lessen the chance of file corruption by decreasing the size.
Organizational Limits: Mailbox sizes are restricted in many organizations. Maintaining the size of your mailbox guarantees adherence to these restrictions, averting interruptions to email services.
Best Method to Compact PST File Without Outlook
If you don’t have Outlook there is no way to reduce PST file size, don’t worry. We caught you. You can use the solutions suggested by experts to compress PST files.
SysTools PST Compress Tool is an excellent software that can compact the size of Outlook PST files efficiently and accurately. It is the best tool to compress PST files of MS Outlook 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007 and earlier versions.
Steps to Compact PST file without Outlook:
- Download PST compression software and “add PST file or add folder”.
- Select Compression Options from the software panel.
- Select a compression group from Select Filter.
- Now click on “Next” and when you are done, click on the “OK” button.
Method 1: Compress PST files With Outlook
if you have Outlook installed on your computer. You can also attempt this manual method. So let us get started right now.
- Firstly, Navigate to File >> Info >> Configure Account.
- Select Account Settings, then Data Files, and finally select the Outlook data files that require compression.
- To shrink the size of the chosen PST file, click Settings and then click Compact Now.
- The PST file is currently being compressed, please wait for the process to finish as it will take some time.
You can compress the Outlook data file by doing the actions listed above. However, PST files that exceed their maximum file size cannot be compressed using this method. Therefore, we advise using the automatic method for a safe and easy way to reduce the Outlook PST files.
Method 2: Compact PST File Using Outlook’s Built-in Cleanup Utility
You utilize a PST file to store your calendar appointments, emails, and other data when using Microsoft Outlook. The size of your PST file may quickly grow out of storage, which could impact Outlook’s functionality and raise the risk of file corruption.
In Outlook 2010 to Outlook 2019, Microsoft restricts the size of your PST file by default to 50 GB. Although there is a registry hack that can raise that limit, it would be wiser to try to reduce the size instead; Outlook’s built-in cleanup tool can help with that.
Method 3: Backup/Archive and Delete Older or Large Size Messages
If your inbox is overflowing, you can clear it out and make it smaller by removing huge or outdated emails from your PST Outlook data file or mailbox that you no longer need.
In addition, you have the option to remove old emails or messages with big attachments from your default PST or mailbox and create a local backup or archive them to a different local PST file.
By doing this, you will be able to access the archived emails from the local PST file and decrease the mailbox size (.pst). The actions are as follows:
- Go to File> Info> Cleanup Tools> Archive in Outlook.
- Choose the mail items folders to archive and the date in Archive items older than.
- To select a location for the mail items to be saved, click “Browse.”
- Press “OK” Emails will begin to be archived as a result. By doing this, the size of the Outlook mailbox (.pst) will be greatly reduced.
Read more: Outlook Mailbox Full After Deleting Everything.
Method 4: Save the Attachments to outside the Mailbox
To minimize the size of your mailbox (.pst file), you can also identify large messages and delete them if you no longer need them. Alternatively, you can save the attachments on a local drive or cloud and then remove them from the messages. To do that follow The steps given below.
- Open Outlook, click Filter and select “Size” to format the email according to size.
- Select Largest to sort the following emails.
- Open large emails and save all attachments to a local drive
- After saving the attachment, you can delete the message or keep the message and delete the attachment.
- To delete an attachment, right-click the attachment and select “Remove Attachment”
This will delete the attachments and reduce the mailbox(.pst) Size.
Conclusion:
In this blog we have discussed about the PST file and what is the need to compact PST file and also discussed about the manual and expert methods to compress the file manual methods are quite difficult and the chances of loss of personal data are high in this method. But in a professional method, you can compact data very easily and without any risk of data loss.
