Can Unicode PST exceed 2GB?

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Jennifer Murphy

Jennifer Murphy

Senior Member
Outlook version
Outlook 2016 64 bit
Email Account
Office 365 Exchange
A couple of months ago, I got help here in converting my old ANSI PST to the new Unicode format. I was a little panicky because it was getting close to the 2GB limit for ANSI PST files. The Unicode PST is now over 2 GB (2,133,461 KB).

I am planning to develop an archive strategy to offload large chunks of emails to archive PST files, but haven't had a chance to get to it.

Will I be OK with a PST file that is larger than 2 GB for awhile? Outlook does seem to be running a little more slowly, but do I risk data corruption? I hope to get to the archive plan soon.

What is my new limit or how do I find out?

Thanks
 
You'll be fine as long as its the Unicode format. The new pst file size is 20 GB, it can be raised using a registry setting. My personal preference is under 5 GB, so you have a ways to go. As for slowness, try moving mail out of the Inbox and into a nothing folder in the pst - when you get over 3000 messages in the inbox, it can begin to slow it down. It's ok to have a lot of items in other folders, but the Inbox is where most people "live" and they notice when it seems to slow down. i move messages as I'm finished with them, to a folder named "Completed".
 
Diane Poremsky said:
You'll be fine as long as its the Unicode format. The new pst file size is 20 GB, it can be raised using a registry setting. My personal preference is under 5 GB, so you have a ways to go. As for slowness, try moving mail out of the Inbox and into a nothing folder in the pst - when you get over 3000 messages in the inbox, it can begin to slow it down. It's ok to have a lot of items in other folders, but the Inbox is where most people "live" and they notice when it seems to slow down. i move messages as I'm finished with them, to a folder named "Completed".
Click to expand...

OK, good. Thanks.

I only have about a dozen messages in the Inbox itself. I never let it get more than a couple of screen long. But I do have quite a few subfolders off of (under?) the Inbox:

Code: 
Personal Folders (Unicode)
  Deleted Items
  Drafts
  Inbox
     00 ASAP
        Project 1
        Project 2
        . . .
     01 Soon
        Project X
        Project Y
        . . .
    . . .
  Junk E-mail
  . . .

Some of those subfolders have quite a few emails. I can create another top-level folder (eg Inbox2) and move them all there. Would that make a difference?
 
normally, subfolder in the inbox don't affect it - and a couple of dozen messages wouldn't slow it down. It's possible that moving the folder to the same level as the inbox will make it feel snappier.
 
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