My Outlook Database is Too Large! Part 2

Wow... Talk about anticipation and I think I may have hit a nerve.

For all of those who asked the question: "Archiving Outlook emails is NOT the same thing as Compressing the Outlook database." I think I should have been much clearer on the subject line. A better word might have been Compacting rather than compressing.

Basically, every time we delete an email or other Outlook items and then purge the Deleted Items folder, the Outlook becomes cluttered with Blank Spaces where the deleted emails once were located. Over time, these blank spaces will take more and more room on your hard drive. Eventually, the sheer size of your Outlook data file will slow down Outlook.

So how does a person compress (Compact) his Outlook data file?

Before we get into that, just a few precautions.

• Make sure you close other running programs, except this blog
• Make sure you have a regular backup of your Outlook data file
• Give yourself time, Compacting a data file can take time to finish, don't interrupt the process

In Outlook 2003 and 2007, there are several ways of going about this. I will concentrate on a 7 click process which is common to both versions. Screens will be a little different but indicate the same markers. These steps come from my Outlook 2007 version. Close your other applications and open Outlook.

1. Click on "Tools"
2. Click on "Options"
3. Click on the "Mail Setup" tab
4. Click on "Data Files"
5. Click on the data file you wish to compress (Main one is "Default")
6. Click on "Settings"
7. Click on "Compact Now"

There you go ... Or, just follow the instructions in the following video.

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"There is no road to happiness, Happiness is the road!"

My Outlook Database is too large!

If you use Microsoft's venerable Outlook for email, scheduling etc.... you may have wondered why, in spite of your regular deletion of old emails and appointments, your data file continues to grow?

Yes, you have purged your Deleted Items folder. Yes, you have archived older items. Of course you have.

So why does the Outlook data file continue to grow in size, slowing down Outlook and my important work?

When was the last time you compressed your Outlook data file? Let me guess, you have no idea what I just said.

Over time, your Outlook data file grows and grows in spite of the fact you delete emails and purge your deleted items folder. The emails may be gone but the space they occupied in the database is still there. We will call this space "Blank Space". Compressing your Outlook data file gets rid of all this "Blank Space", something you should do on a regular basis.

I have seen clients whose Outlook data files were compressed to a quarter of their original size using this Outlook data file compression technique.


Food for thought eh! The technique will be explained in my next post. Check this out in the meantime.