Compacting Huge .PST Files

On the same .pst file kick, I wanted to explain something that a lot of people don't realize about how Microsoft handles .pst files.

A lot of folks will look at their pst file size, freak out, and delete a bunch of emails. They toil over whether to keep the video of little Timmy getting roflstomped by the new kitten in their inbox, even though it's saved to their hard drive and backup drive. It's so much easier to forward from my inbox, right? After careful soul searching they come to the conclusion that it's time, and let it go along with a few thousand other emails. With an aura of pride that can only come from a job well done, they check back to witness their accomplishment and see how tiny their pst file must now be. Queue the screams of frustration when...wait for it...OMG IT'S EXACTLY THE SAME SIZE!



Ok, take a breath. This is maddening, but I promise you, nothing is lost! Not even your time. There are just two other things to look at before we can make that .pst file smaller. First, you have to make sure you've cleared out your deleted items folder. When you delete an email in Outlook, it goes to the deleted items folder to await permanent deletion. It's like a safety net. Make sure you really want to get rid of everything you have in there because there's no turning back!

Now that everything is truly deleted, why isn't my .pst file any smaller? Well, because Outlook doesn't compact your .pst file automatically, right away. This means, that those email you deleted only created room within the .pst file itself. It's good news, because emails you receive won't actually make your .pst file any larger, until it exceeds the empty space inside, but annoying because your original goal had been to reduce the file size. If you leave Outlook open and running, it will eventually compact everything on it's own. If you're one of those instant gratification people, like me, you can follow Microsoft's directions here for compacting your .pst file manually.

Oi vey! So much work goes into maintaining one little email application. I've personally opted to give up on Outlook all together and use Gmail and their interface exclusively. I'd suggest you try the same if you're in the position to but we'll save all that for another post.

Happy emailing!

Outlook+Gmail=Huge PST Files

Somebody asked me about the huge pst file their Gmail account was creating when using Microsoft Outlook. I take absolutely no credit for this answer, because I found it spelled out perfectly here.

I love the internet!