Find Out Where Outlook Stores Your Mail, Calendar, and Other Data

The location of your Personal Folder file depends on the Outlook version

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by Heinz Tschabitscher
A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997.
Updated June 24, 2019

Microsoft Outlook stores your email messages, contacts, calendars, and other data in Personal Folder files that have a .ost or .pst extension. You'll need to know the location of this file before you can export or back up your Outlook files.

Instructions in this article apply to Outlook 2019, Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010, and Outlook for Office 365.

Where Outlook Stores Your Mail, Calendar, and Other Data

These files are proprietary and complicated, and it's a good idea to back them up occasionally. First, you need to find the location where Outlook keeps your .pst files.

  1. Go to the File tab.

  2. Select Info.

    Info tab in Outlook File menu

  3. Select Account Settings > Account Settings.

    Screenshot of Account Settings

  4. In the Account Settings dialog box, select the Data Files tab.

    Screenshot of Account Settings showing Data Files tab

  5. You'll find the location of the Personal Folders files next to each email account that is set up in Outlook.

  6. Select an account.

  7. Select Open File Location to open the folder where your Outlook data files are stored.

Email messages for Microsoft Exchange, Office 365, or Outlook.com accounts are backed up on your email server. In most cases, these types of accounts do not have a Personal Folders (PST) file.