How To: Back Up Outlook and Yahoo Mail

I received a number of comments on my email syncing blog post from people who wanted information on backing up their mailbox instead of syncing it to another computer. No problem: Here's the scoop!

With Outlook (any recent version), first select the folder you'd like to back up. If you want all folders (recommended), select Personal Folders. Then click File > Import and Export. A dialog box (pictured) will pop up. Select Export to a file and click Next. Then click Personal Folder File (.pst) and click Next again.

If you're trying to back up all folders, put a check mark in the box that says "Include subfolders." Click Next again. We're almost done.

Finally, you'll be given a dialog asking you where you want to save the backup file. Put it somewhere convenient (like the My Documents folder), then click Finish. Depending on the size of your mail file, the backup will take up to an hour to complete (and you can't use Outlook while it's working) and the file will usually surpass a gigabyte in size, so be warned. (Once this file is done, don't forget that you'll need to copy it to an external device if you're worried about a hard drive crash!)

A number of other readers asked how to back up Yahoo! Mail accounts. Fair question. This is Yahoo! Tech, after all. The news is less good on this front. You can't back up mail using the standard Yahoo! Mail system, unfortunately. The only way to do it is to upgrade to the Yahoo! Mail Plus system, which costs $19.99 a year. (And no, I'm not trying to sell you anything, I'm just laying out the facts.)

Having trouble with these directions? Post a comment? Got a different question you need help with? Just send me an email! Off-topic issues can get lost in the shuffle of comments and you're more likely to get a quicker response. Happy computing.