Email services have replaced all traditional communications with it’s great functionality and security. Previously, the services only offered two options: delete the emails or keep them in your inbox.
However, now you have a third option for better managing your email storage. You can effortlessly archive any emails to clean up your inbox.
This article will guide you to archive or unarchive your emails in Outlook. Without further discussion, let’s begin!
How to Archive Emails in Outlook
Archiving process of the emails in Outlook is straightforward. Select the emails you need to archive in the Outlook Home tab and click on the Archive from the top ribbon. This process will instantly move the selected emails to the Archive folder under your folder list.
Go through the following instructions to archive single or multiple emails in the Archive folder and learn where to find the archived emails.
Also read, how to automatically forward emails in Outlook?
Here are the methods to archive your Outlook emails:
On Desktop App
- Launch Outlook on your desktop.
- Click on the email you want to archive. To select multiple emails, press and hold down the Ctrl key and click on the emails.
- Click on the Archive button from the top ribbon.
- Select Archive from the Folders list to access the archived emails.
- Right-click on any email and navigate to Move > Inbox to restore emails from the Archive folder.
On Outlook Web
- Open any browser and go to Outlook.
- Sign in using your login credentials.
- Find and select the email you want to archive. Press and hold the Ctrl key to select multiple emails.
- Click on the Archive button in the Delete group under the Home tab.
- Select Undo if you mistakenly archive any emails.
- Locate the Archive tab in the Folders list and click on it to access the archived emails.
- Right-click on the emails and go to Move > Inbox to restore the archived emails.
On Android
- Open the Outlook application.
- Press and hold any email to select it. Once an email is selected, tap on the other emails to select them.
- Click on the Archive button from the top right corner.
- Select Undo if you accidentally archived any important email.
- Click on your Profile Icon and select Archive from the left pan to access the archived emails.
- Press and hold any archived email. When selected, click on three dots and select Inbox from the folder list to restore archived emails.
On iOS
- Launch Outlook.
- Press and hold down any email to select it. You can select multiple emails as well. To do so, click on other emails when one email is selected.
- Click on the Archive button from the bottom left corner.
- Tap Undo if you accidentally archive any important email.
- Click on your Profile Icon and select Archive from the folder list to access the archived emails.
- Select the archived emails and locate the Move button at the bottom of your screen.
- Click Move and select the destination folder from the folder list.
Remember, archiving the emails will not free up your Outlook storage as the files are just moved to another folder to make your inbox cleaner. You have to delete the emails if you want to free up some storage.
Check out our separate post about to fix Outlook rules not working on phone.
How to Archive Items in Outlook
Using the Cleanup Tools, you can effortlessly archive any email folder in Outlook. With the help of the Archive window in Cleanup Tools, users can archive any Outlook items. In the Archive window, set your preferred settings and archive them without hassle.
The subsequent procedures apply to Outlook 2021/19/16/13/10. For Outlook 2007, you will find the Archive option in the File menu. Consider the following instructions to archive any Outlook items.
Here are the steps to archive items in Outlook:
- Open the Outlook application on your Desktop.
- Navigate to File > Info > Cleanup Tools > Archive.
- Check the Archive this folder and all subfolders checkbox.
- Select your preferred folder.
- Set the date in the Archive items older than list.
- Check the Include items with “Do not AutoArchive” checked checkbox.
- Click on Browse and Set the Archive file location.
- Click OK.
Quick Note: The archived file will be saved as Outlook Data File (.pst). You should write down the archive file location for future use.
Follow our guide to fix Outlook rules not running when closed.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to unarchive Outlook email?
To unarchive your Outlook emails:
- Open Outlook and go to the Archive folder from the left pane.
- Select the emails you want to unarchive.
- Click on the Move to button and select your desired folder where you want to move the unarchived emails.
Do archiving emails remove them from Outlook?
No, archiving emails doesn’t remove them from Outlook. The archived emails are moved to the Archive folder under your folder list.
What happens when you archive emails on Outlook?
The archived emails in Outlook go to the Archive folder in your folder list. You can access the archived emails anytime by navigating to the Archive folder.
Concluding Words
Archiving is essential if you are receiving zillions of emails every day. And all the emails are not important to you for sure. That’s where the archiving ability comes to rescue you.
At the end of this article, I hope you archived your Outlook emails effortlessly on your Windows, Android, and iOS devices.
Don’t forget to leave a comment for further assistance regarding this topic.
