Where is the default archive folder in outlook 2016 archive#
The Advantages of the Online Archive mailbox are many: Once activated, the default retention policy for this system is to automatically move all your main mail there if it’s older than two years old but that age trigger can be changed. Typically, mail is moved there using automatic retention policies set up by your Exchange administrator, but you can also use Outlook rules, or manually drag mail there. This approach is Microsoft’s newer and preferred archive solution for large enterprises, and it’s available to most people using an Office 365 mailbox or recent versions of Exchange (if activated). Notice the name difference, but it’s the same folders and same mail. The first figure is how it looks in desktop Outlook the second in Outlook Online. You might have a folder group called Online Archive or In-Place Archive in your folder pane in Outlook. and your IT department doesn’t have central access to it should it be needed for legal discovery.įor all these reasons most IT departments discourage its use.īut for individuals with one computer and limited mailbox server space, it’s probably your best archive solution, assuming you monitor its size and back up that archive.pst file periodically.Īppendix B of my book Total Workday Control Using Microsoft Outlook covers this thoroughly, and I have multiple videos on this in section 7 of my Outlook Inbox Ninja Video Course.it can fill up without warning and degrade Outlook performance-so you need to monitor its size regularly.it’s normally not backed up, and typical online backup approaches don’t work with it.if you aren’t using the same computer on which it’s stored you normally can’t get at it.
Also, it preserves your folder structures when it moves the mail. And that’s its main advantage: it makes room on your server, should you need it. This approach represents true archiving in the sense that mail is moved off your server when it is stored here. With this approach, mail is stored locally on your hard drive in a file called archive.pst.
You might have an Archives group in your folder pane that is being populated by Outlook AutoArchive.ĪutoArchive is the oldest variety of archiving that Outlook offers, it’s been around for decades. I cover the Archive folder thoroughly in section 1 of my Outlook Inbox Ninja Video Course. I see the Archive folder as best-used for relatively recent mail you want to get out of the Inbox. But if you believe in single-folder filing, as I do, that’s not an issue. And it does not replicate the folder structure when mail is moved there-it’s simply one big folder. Its universal presence can be quite helpful.Īlso, since the Archive folder is on your server, you can get to it from any device you are using.īut the disadvantage of this Archive folder is that, since it’s on the server, mail stored there counts against your storage total-meaning that using this is not true archiving. The button is present on Outlook desktop, Outlook Online,, and on the Outlook smartphone apps. That button is an advantage because it is so easy to use and since it has such a simple keyboard shortcut: Backspace. The main difference is that all newer versions of Outlook client have a button that automatically moves selected mail into that folder, shown in the figure above. It’s not that much different from, say, your Inbox, or even from folders that you manually create on the server.
It is created for you automatically by Microsoft when you establish the mailbox in or in a newer version of Exchange Server. If you have it, the Archive folder is simply another folder stored on your central mail server with your other server folders. These days this is the most common archive approach in Outlook. That Archive folder is available whether you are using Outlook desktop, Outlook Online, or an Outlook smartphone app. And you will see these whether you use these clients with Exchange or with. You’ll see these in newer editions of desktop Outlook (Outlook 2016, 2019, and Outlook in Office 365 business subscriptions). It will look like this in your folder pane in Outlook:
Let’s start with the Archive folder (and button). In this article I want to show how each of these looks in Outlook’s folder pane on the left, clarify the differences, and revisit why you might want to use each type. Each of these Archives are a different thing, however, and so that can lead to confusion. As a result, you might have an Archive folder, and/or a group of folders labeled Archive, and/or something labeled either Online Archive or In-Place Archive. Each can lead to a folder or folder group on the left side of your Outlook window with the word Archive on it. There are multiple ways to archive mail in Outlook.