Does the new Outlook store emails locally? This question is important for everyone involved with offline access, backup options, or email storage. This article will help us understand how the New Outlook handles local email storage and what the various limitations of the same are.

Does New Outlook store emails locally? So the quick answer for this is yes, the new Outlook stores emails locally, but only when offline mode is turned on, and it has a few limitations. On the other hand, we see that it allows users to store the selected folders, like the inbox or favorites, for offline access. The users are allowed to choose the number of days to store the emails locally on their devices, up to 180 days. Which means the users can read and search the recent updates without requiring an internet connection.

How Can We Enable Local Storage in Outlook?

If the users want to open the emails in New Outlook without using their internet connection, then they need to enable the option of local storage by turning on the offline mode. Let us learn how to enable local storage in New Outlook.

Open New Outlook on your Windows PC.

Then go to the present setting at the top on the right-hand side.

Then click on View all Outlook settings at the bottom of the panel.

Go to general, and in that select offline.

Then, there will be an option to enable offline email, calendar, and people on that option.

Below that option, you will get an option to save the folder in the selected default and favorite folders.

Then select the number of days for which you need to save your emails locally, but it should be only up to 180 days.

Then close the settings; New Outlook will start caching the emails selected by the user for offline use.

Where Exactly Are the Local Files Stored?

After enabling the offline mode in Outlook, the emails are saved on the device itself so that the users can easily read the emails without requiring an internet connection, whereas in the new version of Outlook, emails are not saved in the form of OST and PST files; rather, they are saved in a hidden folder, which is not directly visible to the users. This folder is handled by Outlook only; the user is not allowed to use it for backup or to move their emails. The question that arises here is, where exactly are the local files saved? So let’s briefly see where local files are exactly stored. It can be stored in the form of

Outlook data files: The user’s email data is stored by Outlook in the form of special files known as PST and OST files.

OST Files:

Step 1: Open File Explorer; after that, click on This PC.

Step 2: Then click on the local disk (usually C).

Step 3: Then, go to users and select admin.

Step 4: Click on app data. Sometimes the app data is hidden, so the user needs to click on the view present on the top bar; under the top bar, click on hidden items, and your app data will be visible there.

Step 5: After selecting app data, click on local, and then select Microsoft.

Step 6: After selecting Microsoft, click Outlook under it.

Step 7: Your Outlook file will be visible there.

If by chance your OST file disconnects due to any server issue or corruption, then in this situation, it becomes difficult to access the emails. In such cases, you can easily convert your mailbox data by using our reliable tool, which is BitRecover OST to PST Converter. This tool helps the user to extract the data from OST files, which are unreachable, and convert it into various formats, which are accessible, like PST, EML, MSG, PDF, etc.

Auto Archive Location

Step 1: Open Microsoft Outlook, then go to files.

Step 2: Under files, click on options.

Step 3: Under that, click on auto archive, then on the right-hand side, click on auto archive settings.

Step 4: Then click on the option of auto archive, and the user can set the days according to them.

Step 5: Select and move old items to C:\Users\Admin\Documents\Outlook Files.

Step 6: At last, click on OK.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Does the new Outlook store emails locally?

A1. Yes, the new Outlook contains a copy of the user’s email in data files so that the user can easily access them offline.

Q2. Where are these local files stored?

A2. These local files are usually stored in the form of OST or PST files.

Q3. Can we access emails without an internet connection in the new Outlook?

A3. The answer to this question is yes, because Outlook usually contains a copy of the user’s email. This allows users to read the emails in offline mode too.

Conclusion

Does the new Outlook store emails locally? The answer to this question is yes, the new Outlook usually does not store emails locally. It does not use local data files like PST or OST; it directly accesses the emails from the cloud. It enables offline mode for accessing emails without an internet connection. The user cannot easily back up or move the files by themselves. The new Outlook mainly works with the cloud, but it keeps a small amount of email saved on the device of users, so users can read the saved emails even when offline.