Another “I don’t know how it happened, but please help me fix it” problem. For some reason, Outlook has duplicated all the basic folders - and I can’t get rid of them. This is causing some confusion, as the contacts file isn’t in the same place that the email is arriving. I can move the contacts etc. but I can’t get the extra folders to go away. I did reinstall Outlook, using the repair option, but that did not solve the problem.
Any help?
What version of Outlook?
Generally you can right-click on Outlook Today (the heading above all the email folders you don’t want) and hit Close “Personal Folders”.
Is the heading titled Archive Folders? If so then you shouldn’t close them since they contain all of your older email, contacts, calendar items, etc. You can adjust auto-archive settings in Tools|Options; the exact location varies by version.
It’s the Office 2000 version of Outlook. Both sets of folders are under personal folders. I don’t use auto-archive - I move them myself when I want to clear out files. I can close the extra files, but it doesn’t help as I am still getting info in both places - the email coming into one set, the contacts residing in the other. Very confusing.
Sassy,
This may/may not help, but In Outlook Express, which may be nothing like Outlook from office 2k- I can click the "File"option from the menu bar, and select “Folder” and then “Move, Copy, Delete, Etc.” to move, copy, or delete messages. On the same menu bar under the same File option, there is an “Import” option that allows moving messages around as a group Do you have these same options? If so, this is probaly where your fix is.
The Tools/ Options/ Maintenance/Store Folders (button) tool allows for changing message folder locations, ect. Do you have that option? (it might appear on the properties menu for outlook under a “maintenance” tab or a “file maintenance” (I’m guessing there)
Good luck.
Sadly, the move/copy/delete choices are not available for the basic folders. I can use them on any folder I’ve created, but not on Contacts, Deleted Items etc. As far as I can tell, the Import/Export function works only on moving things in or out of the entire Outlook folders. I can’t find where the individual folders inside Outlook reside - if I could, I could just delete them from outside the Outlook system. Thanks for your ideas.
Ok, if I’m understanding correctly your mail is getting delivered to the wrong Inbox. Right-click on the Personal Folders heading which contains your Contacts, hit Properties, and check the box for Deliver POP mail to this personal folders file. Close Outlook and re-open it. Then move any mail from the second Inbox to the correct one and close the unwanted set of Personal Folders. This should get all of your data into one file.