Any IT pro within the last decade will tell you to learn how to deal with PST files. Even though they’re portable, they seem to be easily compromised. Before we get into that, let’s go over basic Outlook 2003 PST management.

To Find Folder Sizes in Outlook

1. Right mouse click on Mailbox – Your name

2. Click on Properties for “Mailbox – Your name”…

Mailbox Properties

3. Click on the Folder Size… button

Folder Size

4. Outlook will read your mailbox to determine the size of the subfolders

5. From here you’ll be able to determine which folders need to be cleaned by either moving the data to a Personal Folder (.PST) or by deleting old data that’s no longer needed

6. The sizes are listed in kilobytes (KB). There are approximately 1,000 KB in 1 MB (megabyte). As we can see from the example shown below, the mailbox is approximately 17 MB

7. The Deleted Items folder should be emptied every time Outlook shuts down (this should be done automatically)

8. The Inbox and Sent Items folder should be cleaned periodically, either by deleting the mail or by moving the files to your .PST

Folder Size

To Create a Personal Folder

1. On the Outlook Menu bar, click on Tools

2. Then click on E-mail Accounts…

Email Accounts

3. Be sure the View or change existing e-mail accounts radio button is filled

4. Then click on the Next > button

View or Change Email Accounts

5. Click on New Outlook Data File… button

New Outlook Data File

6. Be sure Office Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) is highlighted

7. Then click on the OK button

Select PST

8. On this window click the ▼ to see ALL of your drives. (Your drive letters may differ from picture)

9. Chose your new personal folder file location by selecting the desired drive or folder

10. Give the file a name, and click the OK button

Save the PST

11. This window shows where to save the file

12. In the Name text box put any name you would like. This is the display name

13. Click the OK button

Finalize PST

14. Click on the Finish button

Finish PST Wizard

15. You will now be able to see the personal folder under your mailbox

16. You can now move email messages to it

Move messages to new PST

Cleaning out the Different Folders

1. In the left pane of Outlook, select the folder you want to clean out

2. You can sort the email messages by Date, Size, or by Sent To

3. Click on the first email you want to move or delete

4. While holding the ‘Shift’ key on your keyboard scroll to the last message you want to move or delete

5. Then click again

6. All of the selected messages will then highlight

7. You can now move them to a personal folder by holding the ‘left mouse’ button down and dragging them to the personal folder

8. If you do not want to save the emails, simply hold the Shift key down and press the ‘Delete’ key on your keyboard. This will permanently delete the selected messages

9. Repeat this process to all of your folders until you get your email box under the limit

That’s all for how to handle Outlook 2003 PST file management. If you’ve been at this for a little while, how many times have you had these files corrupt on you?

For more information on how to export an Outlook 2003 mailbox, head over to that blog post.

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