Top 2 Reasons Why You Should Compact Outlook Data Files
Since you’re reading this article, you’re most likely an Outlook user who is wondering either what the phrase, “compact Outlook data files” means, or you already know that, and are looking for instructions on how to do it. You’ve found the information you need. But let’s start at the beginning.
Unless all your stuff lives on an Exchange Mail server somewhere, your Outlook data is stored on your computer in one or more personal folders files, usually called .pst files The .pst refers to the file extension assigned to these kinds of files.
To recap, every Outlook data item (email message, task, contact, etc.) occupies space in a .pst file. So far so good.
So what happens to the .pst file when you delete an Outlook item? The deleted item goes to Outlook’s Deleted Items folder. The item is still occupying space in the .pst file since the item is still available when it is in the Deleted Items folder.
When you empty the Deleted Items folder, the item is gone. It can’t be recovered. Emptying the Deleted Items folder not only removes the item from the folder, it removes the item from the .pst file, which only makes sense. But something surprising happens here. While the item isn’t available in Deleted Items or the .pst file, the space it occupied in the .pst file isn’t freed up. Because of the way .pst files work, the space occupied by deleted items remains unavailable. So your .pst files will keep getting bigger and bigger, no matter how good you are about deleting old items when you don’t need them anymore.
As .pst files get larger, they cause two problems. First, they tie up an ever-growing chunk of your hard disk space. If you have lots of disk space available, that may not be an issue right now, but it will eventually become one, if for no other reason than that Outlook has limits on the size of .pst files it can handle.
The second reason this is a problem is that the bigger your .pst files grow, the slower Outlook works. And that only makes sense. As Outlook has to process bigger files to find the items it needs, it takes longer to get things done. That’s why you need to compact Outlook data files every so often.
How Often Do I Need To Compact My Outlook Data Files?
There are no hard and fast rules for this. If you feel that Outlook is running slowly, you should try compacting the files before taking more extreme measures. Unless you are having problems, such as Outlook running very slow, or you really need to free up disk space, you should try to compact Outlook .pst files once or twice a year. It’s not hard to do. It’s a simple 4 step (for Outlook 2003) or 5 step (for Outlook 2007) process that anyone can do.
Are you ready to compact your data files now? Just follow the step-by-stepinstructions on this “Why Compact Outlook Data Files?” page. It walks you through the process for both Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007. And once you’re done compacting your data files, I recommend you take a few minutes to look around the rest of the site. You’ll find lots of information on making living with Outlook easier and more fun.