How to Backup and Restore Microsoft Outlook 2016

Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft that is included in the Microsoft 365 suite. It can be used as a stand-alone application, or it can be connected to a Microsoft Exchange Server or Microsoft SharePoint Server for use as an email client, calendar, or contact manager. 

Backing up and restoring your Microsoft Outlook 2016 data can be a lifesaver in the event of data loss. This tutorial will show you how to back up and restore your Outlook 2016 data manually and automatically. Moreover, we will also discuss the importance of backing up your Outlook data and some frequently asked questions about backup and restoration.

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The Importance of Backing Up Microsoft Outlook 

Data loss can occur due to various factors such as accidental deletion, hard drive crash, computer virus infection, etc. When your Outlook data is lost, you may lose important emails, contacts, tasks, etc. In these cases, you may not be able to retrieve the lost data even if you have a backup. Therefore, it is always advisable to back up your Outlook data regularly.

Two methods of backing up your Outlook 2016 data are manual backup and automatic backup. Manual backup is done by using the Outlook built-in Import/Export Wizard. Automatic backup is done using third-party software that automatically backs up your Outlook data at regular intervals. We will discuss both methods in this tutorial.

Backup & Restore Outlook with Manual Way

Outlook has an Import/Export Wizard that allows users to export data in PST format. You can use this feature to back up and restore your Outlook data.

To use the Import/Export Wizard to back up Outlook, follow these steps:

Step 1. Open Microsoft Outlook 2016 and go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export.

Step 2. On the Import and Export Wizard window, select and tap "Export to a file" and click Next.

Step 3. On the next window, select Outlook Data File (.pst) and click Next.

Step 4. On the next page, select the emails that you want to export and click Next.

Step 5. Browse to the location where you want to put the backup file and click Finish.

To use the Import/Export Wizard to restore Outlook, follow these steps:

Step 1. Open Microsoft Outlook 2016 and go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export.

Step 2. On the Import and Export Wizard window, select "Import from another program or file" and click Next.

Step 3. On the next window, select Outlook Data File (.pst) and click Next.

Step 4. Browse to the location of the backup file and click Next.

Step 5. On the next window, choose the data that you want to import and click Finish.

Backup & Restore Outlook with Automatic Way

If you want to back up your Outlook data automatically, you can use third-party software such as EaseUS Todo Backup Home. This Outlook backup and restore software allows you to schedule backup at regular intervals. It also comes with a restore feature, which allows you to restore Outlook backups with just a few clicks. Moreover, it can also be used to clone your hard drive or migrate your data to another computer.

To use EaseUS Todo Backup to back up Outlook, follow these steps:

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Todo Backup on your computer, and click Create Backup on the home screen and then hit the big question mark to select backup contents.

Step 2. Among the four backup options, click "Apps data".

Step 3. Then you can see all the apps that can be backed up. Find and chekc the "Microsoft Outlook" option. Select the mailbox addresses you want to make a backup of the mails, contacts or calendars and click "OK".

Step 4. Next, you'll need to choose a location to save the Outlook backup by clicking the illustrated area.

Step 5. The backup location can be another local drive on your computer, an external hard drive, network, cloud or NAS. Generally, we recommend you use an external physical drive or cloud to preserve the backup files. 

Step 6. Cusomiztion settings like setting an automatic backup schedule in daily, weekly, monthly, or upon an event, and making a differential and incremental backup are available in the Options button if you're interested. Click "Backup Now", and the Outlook backup process will begin. The completed backup task will display on the left side in a card style.

This is a detailed tep guide to restore Outlook backups with EaseUS Todo Backup:

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Todo Backup, click "Browse to Recover".

Step 2. Guide to your backup destination, choose the backup file you want to recover. (The backup file created by EaseUS Todo Backup is a pbd file.)

Step 3. Choose the recovery location. You can recover data to a specific location or to original location.

Step 4. Click "Proceed" and the recovery would start.

Conclusion

These are all about how to back up and restore Microsoft Outlook 2016/2019/2013. You can use either manual or automatic methods to back up and restore your Outlook data. Import/Export Wizard does provide a software-free solution to back up and restore Outlook PST files, but it only allows users to store data on internal or external hard drives. And you may suffer data loss, or process freezes issues according to some users' feedback.

Compared with the manual method, the automatic solution takes advantage of multiple target backup locations. It also enables no data loss during the process of backing up and restoring. EaseUS Todo Backup is such an Outlook backup and restore tool that you should always take advantage of.

FAQ on Backup and Restore Microsoft 2016

1. Can I back up all my Outlook emails?

Of course, you can. If you want to back up all emails, you should choose all email folders as the backup source and choose the proper location where you want to save them.

2. How do I restore my Outlook to a new computer?

To restore Outlook to a new computer, you need first to back up all Outlook data on the old computer, then install Outlook on the new computer. Then, follow the steps mentioned above to restore your Outlook backups.

3. How do I recover my Outlook 2016 PST file?

If you have a PST file backup, you can directly restore it to Outlook 2016. If not, you need to repair the corrupted PST file and import it into Outlook 2016.