How to Backup Outlook Emails to External Hard Drive (2 Ways)

Why Backup Outlook Emails to External Hard Drive?

More and more users now choose to backup Outlook emails to an external hard drive because it is a great way to keep a backup of your emails in case your computer crashes or you accidentally delete emails. These are some of the most common reasons for backing up emails to an external hard drive.

• Does not take up space on your computer's internal hard drive.
• Protect your email against data loss from software crashes or virus attacks.
• Emails stored on an external hard drive are convenient for offline viewing.
• External hard drives are relatively cheap and easy to use.

How to Backup Outlook Emails to External Hard Drive

After understanding the reason, you can continue to read the article to know two ways to backup Outlook emails to external hard drive. The first way is through the best Outlook backup software AOMEI Backupper Professional, and another way is through the Import/Export Wizard. Each method includes a detailed graphic tutorial.

Method 1. Use Easiest Outlook Backup Software

To back up Outlook to an external hard drive, you can choose professional Outlook backup software with all-around email backup features. AOMEI Backupper Professional is a good choice for many users.

It can help you back up Outlook, files, folders, partitions, etc. It supports users to backup Outlook emails in various formats, including .pst, .ost and profile. Here are some of its advantages.

You can download and install this professional backup software, and then start backing up Outlook according to the graphic tutorial below. If you are a Windows Server user, you can choose the AOMEI Backupper Server edition.

Step 1. Open Outlook, and be sure you log in with the account containing messages you want to backup.

Step 2. Launch AOMEI Backupper Professional and click Backup > Outlook Backup.

Step 3. Click Add Outlook data and select the account containing email messages you want to backup. Then click OK.

Step 4. Click the second box to select a local path, network or NAS location, or cloud drive to store your Outlook emails.

Step 5. Enable Daily, Weekly, Monthly or Event triggers to schedule backup and click Start Backup to backup Outlook emails automatically.

Note:

Backup Scheme:  You can enable automatic backup cleanup methods in Backup Scheme to solve the backup disk full issue. It can delete older backup images regularly.

Method 2. Use Import/Export Wizard

The Import/Export Wizard is an Outlook built-in feature that can be used to export and save Outlook emails as PST files. You can use this tool to export all Outlook items or only selected items. Learn how to transfer emails to external hard drive using the Import/Export Wizard below:

Step 1. Open Microsoft Outlook and go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export.

Step 2. Choose "Export to a file" in the Import and Export Wizard window, and then click "Next".

Step 3. Select "Outlook Data File (.pst)" and tap "Next".

Step 4. Select the emails that you want to back up and click "Next".

Step 5. Click "Browse" to select the connected external drive as the destination storage, then click "Finish".

Following the guide above, you will successfully back up your Outlook emails to the external hard drive. After the backup finishes, disconnect the external hard drive and keep it in a safe place.

FAQs about Backing up Emails to External Hard Drive

1. How can I save Outlook emails to a hard drive automatically?

Outlook doesn’t have a built-in feature to automatically back up emails to a hard drive. However, you can achieve this with third-party backup tools like AOMEI Backupper or by scheduling tasks using external software like Windows Task Scheduler.

2. Can I export all of my Outlook emails at once?

Yes, both AOMEI Backupper and Outlook Import/Export Wizard can help you export all of your Outlook emails at once.

• In AOMEI Backupper: You just need to choose the entire email account as the backup source.
• In Outlook Import/Export Wizard: You need to select the root folder (your email address) and check the box for Include subfolders to export all emails and folders.

3. Can I save all my Outlook emails to a flash drive?

Yes, saving all your Outlook emails to a flash drive follows the same process as saving them to an external hard drive. Simply choose the flash drive as the backup/export destination.

Summary

This article introduces why more and more users choose to backup Outlook to external hard drive and two effective ways to achieve this goal. You can choose Outlook built-in function or professional Outlook backup software AOMEI Backupper Professional. The easier way is of course the latter, because this software can automatically backup Outlook emails regularly according to your settings.

In addition, you can also back up attachments, calendars, contacts on Outlook and anything you want to back up. In addition to backing up to an external hard drive, you can also back up Outlook to multiple locations and choose different backup methods according to your needs. You can download this software to explore more functions to fully protect your data security.