Transfer Outlook PST Files to a New Computer – Step-by-Step Tutorial

A Brief About Outlook Files

Outlook stores all your data—emails, contacts, calendar events, tasks, and more—in data files called Personal Storage Table (PST) files. Depending on your Outlook version, you might also encounter Offline Storage Table (OST) files.

• PST Files: These files contain all your Outlook data and are primarily used when you set up an email account that uses POP3, IMAP, or HTTP. They are portable and can be transferred from one computer to another, which makes them ideal for migrating data.
• OST Files: These are offline copies of your mailbox data stored on a Microsoft Exchange server. While OST files allow you to work offline and sync changes when you reconnect to the server, they are not meant for transferring data between computers. However, if needed, you can convert an OST file to a PST file.

Complete Guide to Transfer PST File to New Computer

The method to copy Outlook Data to new computer can be a challenging task. Moreover, migrating Outlook from one PC to another involves transferring your emails, contacts, calendars, and other Outlook data to the new computer. The process can be lengthy and time-consuming, so we’ve divided it into three steps for your convenience. Here are the manual steps to complete this process:

Step 1: Export Outlook Data on the Old PC

Before you can migrate your Outlook data, you need to export it to a PST file, which can then be imported to the new PC.

1. Launch Outlook on the computer from which you want to export the data.
2. Click on File in the top-left corner of the Outlook window.
3. Select Open & Export and then click on Import/Export to open the Import and Export Wizard.
4. In the wizard, select Export to a file and click Next.
5. Choose Outlook Data File (.pst) as the file type to create a PST file containing your Outlook data, and click Next.
6. Choose the folders you want to export. To export everything, select the top-level folder (usually your email address) and ensure the Include subfolders box is checked. Then click Next.
7. Select a location on your old PC to save the PST file. Make sure it’s a location you can easily find later, like the Desktop or Documents folder.
8. Click Finish to start the export process.

Once the export process is complete, you will have a PST file containing all your Outlook data.

Step 2: Transfer the PST File to the New PC

The next step is to move PST file to new computer. Transfer the PST file using a USB flash drive, external hard drive, or a cloud storage service like OneDrive, Google Drive, or Dropbox. Copy the file to the external drive or upload it to your cloud storage account. Moreover, if you are unable to create a PST file using the Import/Export wizard then you can use the Aryson OST to PST Converter to automate the process and directly save the PST file on a flash drive. The steps are as follows:

1. Install and launch the OST to PST Converter on your system.
2. Click on the Select Files button to add the OST file to the wizard.
3. Select the OST Mailbox Items and click on the Next button.
4. Now, choose the Saving Format as PST  and click on the Destination Path to choose the external device’s path.
5. Finally, click on the Convert button to initiate the conversion process.

Step 3: Import Outlook Data on the New PC (Computer)

Now that the PST file is on your new PC, you need to import it into Outlook.

1. Launch Outlook on the new computer.
2. Click on File in the top-left corner of the Outlook window.
3. Select Open & Export and then click on Import/Export to open the Import and Export Wizard.
4. In the wizard, select Import from another program or file and click Next.
5. Choose Outlook Data File (.pst) as the file type to import, and click Next.
6. Click Browse and navigate to the location where you saved the PST file on the new PC. Select the file and click Open.
7. Choose how you want Outlook to handle duplicate items. Typically, you can select Replace duplicates with items imported to avoid duplicate data. Click Next.
8. Click Finish to start the import process. Outlook will begin importing all the data from the PST file into your Outlook profile on the new computer.

By following these manual steps, you can successfully transfer PST Files to a New computer. Moreover, it ensures that all your important emails, contacts, and calendar entries are preserved during the transition.

Conclusion

There isn’t a direct way to copy Outlook Data to new computer. You’ll first need to convert the OST file to PST using either the Outlook Import and Export wizard or a third-party tool like Aryson Converter for OST. This tool also converts orphaned or inaccessible OST files to PST, including encrypted ones, without errors. After conversion, you can easily transfer the PST file to the new computer and import it into any Outlook account or profile.

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