3-Minute Guide | How to Restore Outlook Backup with Ease
Microsoft Outlook is a personal information management program that manages email, contacts, and calendars. It is part of the Microsoft Office Suite. The PST file is the file format used by Outlook to store email messages, contacts, calendar items, and other data.
If your computer crashes or loses your Outlook data, you can restore it from a backup. Backups are typically stored as PST files if you use the Import and Export wizard in Outlook to back up Outlook. Besides, others will use backup software to back up Outlook files. This post covers how to restore Outlook backup with the Import and Export wizard and using third-party software.
What Should You Do Before Restoring Outlook Backup
Before restoring backups, you should first make sure that the file you want to restore is not currently in use by another program. If it is, you should close the program before proceeding.
You should also check the file size of the backup file. If it is larger than 50GB, it is recommended that you use a professional Outlook backup and restore tool, Qiling Backup, to help you backup and restore files.
Here are some other items you should pay attention to:
- Make sure your Outlook data is backed up
The first premise of restoring Outlook data is to ensure that your data files have been backed up. Otherwise, there is no way to restore them.
- Identify what tools you use to back up Outlook data
Most people use Outlook's built-in feature: Import and Export Wizard, to back up Outlook data. While other people may use a third-party backup tool like Qiling Backup to back up Outlook data. Knowing what tool you used to back up your data will be helpful before starting the restoration process.
- Identify where your backup is stored
If you use Outlook's Import and Export Wizard, your backups will be stored as a PST file in the local drive. If you use Qiling Backup, your backups will be stored in the location you specified when you created the backup(local drive, NAS, or Qiling Cloud).
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How to Restore Outlook Backup – 2 Solutions
Solution 1. Restore Outlook Backup with Import/Export Wizard
If you use Outlook's Import and Export Wizard to back up your data, your backups will be stored as a PST file. You can use this method to restore your backup if you know the location of the PST file.
- Notice:
- Using this method, you need to know the exact location where the PST file is stored.
You can find them according to the path:
For Outlook 2010/2013/2016/2019: C:\Users\username\Documents\Outlook Files
For Outlook 2007: C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook
Here are the detailed steps:
Step 1. Open Microsoft Outlook and click "File".
Step 2. Click "Open & Export" > "Import/Export".
Step 3. Select the "Import from another program or file" option, and then click "Next".
Step 4. Choose "Outlook Data File (.pst)" and click "Next".
Step 5. Locate the PST file you want to restore and click "Finish".
Step 6. Select how you want to handle duplicates and click "Next".
Step 7. Select the destination for your imported items and click "Finish".
Step 8. Click "Close" when the import is complete.
Solution 2. Restore Outlook Backup with Backup Software
Qiling Backup is a free backup software that can help you easily back up and restore Outlook files. It supports backing up Outlook data to an external hard drive, NAS, or Qiling Cloud.
You can also use it to back up your data incrementally or differentially, which means that you only need to back up the changed part of your data since the last full backup, saving you a lot of time. Moreover, it can compress and encrypt your backup to save storage space and keep your data safe.
Follow the guide to backup and restore your Outlook data:
Step 1. Launch Qiling Backup on your computer, and click File Backup on the home screen.
Step 2. Your Microsoft Outlook database folder will appear. Select the mailbox addresses you want to make a backup of the mails, contacts or calendars.
Step 3. Next, you'll need to choose a location to save the Outlook backup by clicking the illustrated area.
Step 4. The backup location can be another local drive on your computer, an external hard drive, network, cloud or NAS. Generally, we recommend you use an external physical drive or cloud to preserve the backup files.
Step 5. Cusomiztion settings like setting an automatic backup schedule in daily, weekly, monthly, or upon an event, and making a differential and incremental backup are available in the Options button if you're interested. Click "Proceed", and the Outlook backup process will begin. The completed backup task will display on the left side in a card style.
Now you can restore Outlook backup with the following steps:
Step 1. Launch Qiling Backup, click "Browse to Recover".
Step 2. Guide to your backup destination, and choose the backup file you want to recover. (The backup file created by Qiling Backup is a fvd file.)
Step 3. Choose the recovery location. You can recover data to a specific location or to original location.
Step 4. Click "Proceed" and the recovery would start.
Conclusion
We have shown you how to restore Outlook backup in two ways. If you use Outlook's Import and Export Wizard to back up your data, you can use it to restore your backup files from the PST files.
With Qiling Backup, you can also restore your backup with ease. There is no need to worry about fees, as the backup and restore functions are free to use. The 250GB of free cloud storage it offers makes it a must-have backup tool. You can back up Outlook to Cloud to save the space of local drives. It brings great convenience to your work and life. Download and try it now!
FAQ about How to Restore Outlook Backup
1. How do I restore emails from Outlook backup?
You can use Microsoft Outlook's Import and Export Wizard to restore your emails from the backup file. Open Outlook > File > Open & Export > Import/Export > Import from another program or file > Next > Outlook Data File (.pst) > Next > Locate the PST file you want to restore > Finish.
2. How do I access my Outlook backup files?
Your backups will be stored as PST files. You can find them in the following location:
For Outlook 2010/2013/2016/2019: C:\Users\username\Documents\Outlook Files
For Outlook 2007: C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook
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