How to Back Up Outlook Emails (Complete Guide)

Backing up Outlook emails protects years of correspondence, contacts and calendar entries from being lost if your computer fails or you switch to a new computer.

Export to .pst file — the complete backup

Outlook → File → Open & Export → Import/Export → Export to a file → Next → Outlook Data File (.pst) → select your email address folder with Include subfolders → choose a location on an external drive → Finish.

Back up the .pst file automatically

File → Account Settings → Data Files tab → note the file location. Copy this file regularly to an external drive or cloud storage.

Use OneDrive for automatic backup

Move your .pst file into your OneDrive folder. Windows automatically syncs it to the cloud. Close Outlook when OneDrive syncs to avoid corruption.

Back up contacts separately

File → Open & Export → Import/Export → Export to a file → Comma Separated Values → select Contacts → save as .csv. Importable into Gmail, Apple Contacts or any contact manager.

Back up calendar

File → Open & Export → Import/Export → Export to a file → Comma Separated Values → select Calendar → choose a date range → save.

Microsoft 365 cloud emails — already accessible

If you use Microsoft 365, your emails are in Microsoft's cloud and accessible at outlook.office.com. The .pst export still provides a useful local backup.