The chances of losing your crucial Outlook data are proportional to the Outlook PST file storage limit. When the Outlook PST file size reaches its maximum file size limit, the chances of corruption of the PST file becomes high. Therefore, to avoid such circumstances, you just need to maintain the Outlook .PST file size and prevent your system from running out of space issue. Hence, to avoid such circumstances, splitting the PST file is the only option you can opt for. Here in this article, we have mentioned a few possible workarounds to split PST files in Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, and 2003 versions.
Reasons for Splitting Large PST File?
Before knowing the ways to split PST files, let’s discuss why it is necessary to break or split oversized Outlook PST files,
- Performance of the Outlook application hinders due to the oversized PST file.
- Doesn’t allow storing data in the PST file folder due to the limited storage.
- PST file becomes inaccessible when the maximum size limit exceeds.
Workarounds on How to Split PST file in Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010?
There is no way provided by Microsoft to split large-sized PST files. Hence, we have described 3 manual methods by which you can easily split large PST files of Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, and 2003 into different tiny PST files. These are,
- Import/Export technique to reduce PST file size
- Manage oversized PST file using Move to Folder Option
- Archive wizard to reduce Outlook PST file size
Let’s discuss each one in detail:
Workaround 1: Import/Export technique to reduce PST file size
The import/export method of Outlook isn’t only for migrating Outlook data files to or from Outlook, but also helpful in splitting PST files.
- Open the MS Outlook application and click on the File tab.
- Click on the Account Settings>Account Settings as shown in the below screenshot.
- In the Account Settings dialogue box, tab on Data Files and then click on Add button.
- Here you need to provide the file name and type as Outlook data file (.pst) and Click OK to create a new PST file.
- You can see there is a new PST file added under the Data Files option.
- Now, click on the File tab from the top menu bar. Navigate to Open & Export>Import/Export option.
- In the Import Export wizard, select Export to a file and click on the Next button.
- In the Export to a File screen, choose Outlook Data File (.pst) and hit the Next button to move forward.
- Select the desired folder to export and also check the include subfolders to export subfolders and click on Next.
- Now, browse the saving location to save the exported file. Also under the Options, choose Do not export duplicate items to avoid exporting duplicate items and click on the Finish button.
- Finally, you can set a password for the exported PST file, if you want.
Workaround 2: Manage oversized PST file using Move to Folder Option
The move to the Folder option is another way to split a large PST file of Outlook. Below are the steps that will guide you to break the large Outlook file.
- Launch Outlook, navigate to File>Info>Tools>Clean up Old Items.
- Choose Archive this folder and all subfolders option and provide the date to archive the older items and click on Browse option to provide the location to save the archive file.
Opting for this method, you can easily reduce the PST file size and save the older data to the desired location and use it whenever required.
Workaround 3: Archive wizard to reduce Outlook PST file size
Archive wizard is another option by which you can reduce the file size of PST.
- Open MS Outlook click on File>Info>Cleanup Tools>Archive and follow the second option given above in workaround 2.
Demerits of the Manual Methods
Though, above stated manual methods require technical knowledge to perform the steps. The process is even quite complicated and time-consuming. Data integrity and security are at high risk as well.
Final Words
Unlike the above-stated methods, many other techniques can help you in reducing your Outlook PST file size. You can choose any of the mentioned techniques to split PST files in Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, and 2003 or split large PST files without Outlook.