How to Locate Your Outlook Archive Folder on Windows/Mac/Ubuntu

Archiving is a great way to back up files and can greatly reduce the size of your personal folder. Compacting your personal folder frees the space on the server and increases the efficiency of searching a new email. You might have received a mail stating your Outlook mailbox is full and you find it difficult to send/receive messages when this happens. You can resolve this issue by moving your old files to an archive location. This storage process can also be done automatically with AutoArchive, where you can customize the default settings.

Recommended: Outlook.com Mail Review

What if you cannot locate your Outlook Archive Folder?

Using Outlook Archive/AutoArchive option moves all your archived mails and files to an archive.pst file. If you want to view your mails, simply open the archive.pst file in your profile. Sometimes you may not be able to locate your Outlook Archive folder, so here’s a common command that directs you straight to the folder where your archive.pst file is stored.

File –> Open –> Open Outlook Data File is the command that is used in all the Outlook versions to take you to the folder where archive.pst is stored.

How to Access your PST file in Various Operating Systems?

In Windows 8 or Windows 7 or Windows Vista:

The default file location for the PST if you are using Windows 7/8 or Vista is

C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

Stop browsing your folders and files and type the following command into Start menu’s searchbar or Windows Explorer address bar and press Enter to access the right folder.

%localappdata%\Microsoft\Outlook

This is a shortcut method to access pst files and other files in the local app data folder. To access the folder from Outlook holding Outlprnt, VBA, navigation pane, tool bar and nickname files, use the following shortcut command in Run:

%appdata%\Microsoft\Outlook

In Mac OS X:

If you are trying to archive your mails on Mac, one way is to export to an Outlook for Mac Data File. You can choose what items to be exported in Outlook, or you can even delete them once they are exported. Note that the Outlook for Mac Data File uses the .olm extension. The following procedure lets you export to an Outlook for Mac Data File.

• Click Export on the File Menu
• Click on Outlook for Mac Data File
• Select an option to filter by category/ item type.

(Click Items of the following types, and select all check boxes to export all items in Outlook)

• Click the right arrow to continue and follow the instructions as told.

The other way to find the open and find the archived items is by importing your Outlook for Mac Data File into Outlook for Mac.  You can either import an Outlook for Mac Data File (.olm) or Outlook for Windows Data File (.pst). This is done in the following way:

• Click Import on the Outlook for Mac File menu
• Click on Outlook Data File, and then click the right arrow
• Select a data file type and click the right arrow
• Locate the data file on your computer and click on Import
• Click on Done when the import process is completed.

In the navigation pane under on My Computer you can find the imported items.

In Ubuntu:

Mozilla Thunderbird is a great application to configure your mails if you’re using Ubuntu but if you still want to access your Outlook PST File from Windows there is a way to import this file to Thunderbird.

• On the Thunderbird window click on Tools
• Click on Import, select Address Books option and click on Next.
• Click on Outlook and then on Next

You will receive an error message and you need to launch Outlook. Click on yes if you want to set it as the default mail client. Repeat the step 3 and try again.

If all set click on Finish, when you see an Import window stating “imported address book contacts” and this takes you back to the Thunderbird window.

• Now, click on Address book to view the imported contact information.
• You will find all your Outlook contacts and distribution lists in a new list called Contacts. Close this window to go back to the Thunderbird window.

How to import mails in Thunderbird?

• Click on Tools and then Import to import mails
• Now, select the Mail option and then click on Next
• Click on Outlook and continue to Next
• You will now find a window where it displays the summary of all the mails you’ve received. Click on Finish to go back to the main window.
• You will find all your imported messages in the Outlook Mail folder which is present in the folder list on left hand side.

This is how Microsoft Outlook is migrated to Thunderbird and thus you can access your archive folders.

We hope this article helps you find the Outlook Archive Folders when on different operating systems and also clears any issues when exporting/importing the PST files to your current OS. Any queries or comments are welcome!