Two Big Reasons To Compact Outlook Data Files

2 Reasons You Want To Compact Outlook Data Files

Since you're reading this, you're most likely an Outlook user who is wondering either what the phrase, "compact Outlook data files" means, or you know what it means and are looking for the procedures you need to follow to do it. You've found the information you need. But let's start at the beginning.

Every Outlook message, contact, note, and appointment, in short every item you see in Outlook, is either stored on an Exchange Mail server someplace or on the hard drive in your computer. If your Outlook data is on your hard drive, it is stored in one or more personal folder files. These files are usually called .pst files, because .pst is the file extension for these kinds of files on your hard drive. As you might expect, every item in a .pst file uses up some space on your hard drive.

Let's talk about what happens when you delete an Outlook item. First, the item appears in the Deleted Items folder, where it continues to take up space in the .pst file. If you've ever looked in Deleted Items, it is like a holding area for unwanted items. They're still available there and you can recover them if you wish.

When you empty the Deleted Items folder, the item is gone. It can't be recovered. Emptying the Deleted Items folder removes the items in the folder, and also removes them from the .pst file. But things are not quite as they seem. While the item is no longer available in Deleted Items or the .pst file, the space it occupied in the .pst file remains tied up. Because of the way .pst files work, the space occupied by deleted items remains occupied until the file is compacted. So your .pst files just keep growing in size, no matter what you do.

This is why you need to occasionally compact Outlook data files. The bigger the .pst files, the longer it takes for Outlook to get things done. And the larger the .pst file gets, the more space it occupies on your computer. Compacting Outlook data files reclaims the space that is unavailable because it was previously occupied by an item. Doing this will reduce the amount of space taken up by .pst files, and let Outlook function efficiently.

How Often Do I Need To Compact My .pst Files?

How often you should compact files is an inexact science. If you have a lot of stuff in Outlook, and the program seems to be running slowly, you should try compacting the files helps speed things up. Unless you are having problems, such as Outlook running very slow, or you really need to free up disk space, you should try to compact Outlook .pst files once or twice a year. It's not hard to do, although the exact details do differ slightly depending on whether you are using Outlook 2003 or Outlook 2007. Just follow 4 or 5 steps and you're done.

Are you ready to compact your data files now? Just follow theprocedures on this "Why Compact Outlook Data Files?" page. It provides the exact steps needed to compact the files for both Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007. And once you finish doing that, I urge you to explore the rest of the site. It's full of information on making living with Outlook easier and more fun.