# Computer GURU's can you help with my archive?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-gurus-can-you-help-with-my-archive/211883>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 7, 2003, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-gurus-can-you-help-with-my-archive/211883 "2003-11-07T14:02:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-gurus-can-you-help-with-my-archive/211883/1 "2003-11-07T14:02:47Z")

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I’m looking for an answer. Can I find an email that may be archived, or deleted? I’ve been using MS Outlook and sometimes when the popup comes up and says do you want to auto-archive I say yes, other times I say no, some times I say later.

It’s not uber important that I find the email…it’s an email that has a picture I want to send to a friend. And the last place I had it was in an email…

I’m running MS Outlook.  
And Windows 2000  
Is there a file or location that these are usually stored? Can I actually recover a deleted email? Are they stored anywhere. I am not connected to a server… I recently got a new computer that is on some serious steroids… My wife and I are both sing it, and as of late we have _lost_ some files that we can not find, and they usually center around emails. Where do auto archives usually go? Where can I find out, in my outlook?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Phlosphr

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-gurus-can-you-help-with-my-archive/211883/2 "2003-11-07T14:21:41Z")

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AFAIK, archived messages go into a file called Archive.pst, which is a ‘personal folder’ file not unlike the ordinary one in which current messages are kept.

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**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-gurus-can-you-help-with-my-archive/211883/3 "2003-11-07T14:27:15Z")

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In Outlook 2002 you can go to **Tools|Options|Other|AutoArchive** to see the full path of the archive file. As **Mangetout** said, it’s usually called **archive.pst**. Go to **File|Open|Outlook Data File** and select that file. It should appear above or below your normal set of **Personal Folders** in the Folder List.

These instructions will need to be altered slightly for other versions of Outlook.

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**Author:** ![Joe\_Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-gurus-can-you-help-with-my-archive/211883/4 "2003-11-07T14:28:10Z")

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While in your Inbox in Outlook, go to **File–\>Open–\>Outlook Data File…** and you _should_ see a file called “archive.pst”, which you want to go ahead and open.

If you’re just using the Outlook Bar to navigate Outlook, you’re not going to see the archive, so check **View–\>Folder List**. You should see two roots in the folder list. One will be “Personal Folders”, and the other will be the newly-opened “Archive Folders”.