Outlook PST file and Rules

[Gunny NFOhiway]

I would like to split the main PST file in Outlook 2016, as it is 7 GB in size. If I split it into 2 PST files (let's call them outlook.pst and vb.pst) and have both loaded in Outlook, will the existing rules still function and place emails in their corresponding folders? Or, must I set up new rules for vb.pst, the newly created PST file?

Will splitting outlook.pst into 2 files (outlook.pst = 5 GB and vb.pst = 2 GB) result in less Outlook sluggishness as compared to using one 7GB pst file?

 

[Diane Poremsky]

Rules: you'll need just one set of rules but will need to check and possibly repoint ones that point to folders you moved.

Splitting won't necessarily help - number of messages per folder is another factor as it can take outlook longer to redraw the screen. (if you rarely use the folders with high numbers, folder size is less important). If you have folders you use frequently that have more than like 10000 messages in them, archiving those folders to reduce the count below 5000 might help.

Have you compacted the pst recently? It's not something you need to do "often" but Outlook only compacts when there is over about 20% white space - in a 7 GB pst, it would be over a GB of unused space before it kicks in. I would compact before splitting the pst but it's not something you need to do often or routinely - you should do it after deleting a lot of old mail or run archive or if you decide to split the pst.