Restoring Outlook from backup pst file

[Lindsay Graham]

My wife uses Outlook 365 (the subscription version) in Windows 10 and has just lost a swag of emails (don't ask!).

We have a backed up pst file that is 3 days old. How do we restore from that backup file without losing all new emails that have come in or gone out during the last 3 days?

All help gratefully received.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

Do you need to restore them to web mail? You can import into Outlook (imap or exchange account) and wait for them to sync up. The new messages won't be affected but you might have duplicates of older messages if they are still on the server.

 

[Lindsay Graham]

Thanks for your reply, Diane, and my apologies for not getting back to you earlier.

The lost emails are from gmail which are synced with Outlook 365 (the email client, not webmail). Similarly, the gmail emails go to my wife's iPhone. She deleted all emails (!) on her iPhone, but they then also disappeared from Outlook and from gmail webmail.

She has a backup (PST file) of the emails that were in Outlook, but new emails have been coming into Outlook since then. So ... how do we restore to Outlook the emails in that PST file without losing new emails in Outlook that have come in since the accidental deletion?

Hope that makes sense and grateful in anticipation for any help.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

The simple way: just open the pst file in outlook - File > Open & Export > Open Outlook Data file.

Is the account in outlook as pop or imap? If POP, you could import it - choose option to not import duplicates.

If imap, you can try using import to reload them mail on the server, its not all mail will sync up. If you only need recent mail on the server, copy it over - small amounts will usually sync, no problem.

 

[Lindsay Graham]

Thanks, Diane. But if I simply open the old pst file, how do I avoid that overwriting the current pst file being used by Outlook? If that happens, won't we lose all emails sent and received since the backup file was created? Or are you saying that those newer emails will have been retained in gmail webmail and those server copies will then sync with (ie, be added to) the restored pst structure?

Account is currently IMAP, but we plan to change to POP -- would it be better to do that before or after the pst file is restored?

 

[Diane Poremsky]

Put the pst in a folder - doesn't need to be the same folder the original is in (and shouldn't be unless you rename it first) - then file > open & export > open outlook data file. Browse to find it.

Or are you saying that those newer emails will have been retained in gmail webmail and those server copies will then sync with (ie, be added to) the restored pst structure?

They should be on the server - but if its a pst file, you can open it to look in.

I don't think it matters whether you switch to pop before or after.