Ever wonder how Office stores your calendar, notes, tasks, and emails? When you receive an email or create an event, Outlook stores that information in either an .ost (Off-line Storage Table) or a .pst (Personal Storage Table) file. This allows you to migrate or transfer your Outlook data from one computer or another fairly easily.
Love it or hate it, Outlook is one of the most widely used desktop email and calendar software solutions. Microsoft Outlook was first released for MS-DOS as a component of the software company’s Exchange Server platform. The latest versions available are Outlook 2013 for Windows and Outlook 2011 for Mac OS X. Generally, end-users get Outlook by purchasing the Business or Professional editions of the productivity suite Microsoft Office.
Since 2003, the .pst file (Personal Storage Table)
For the majority of email users, 20GB is plenty of storage. I’ve had my Gmail account for 6 years and am only using about 5GB. If your work requires sending large documents or attachments, however, the 20GB limit fills up fast. What happens when the .pst file is close to maximum capacity? Side effects are
There are a number of ways to resolve the potential file size limitation. Typically, we recommend creating a second .pst file for archival purposes (Archive.pst). Outlook comes with built-in functions to auto-archive old emails. If this isn’t feasible, there is a second alternative.
The 20GB limit (50GB in 2010 and 2013) is set in the Windows Registry. The Registry is kind of database that stores configuration files for Windows. In short, it is kind of a mystical part of the Windows Operating System. Luckily, there are ways to modify the registry directly using the built-in Windows tool regedit. Please note, registry edits can be and should be considered dangerous! It is always smart to back up a registry “key” before modifying it. If you’re unfamiliar with editing the registry, it is best to leave this to a professional.
You can follow the steps below to increase the file size limit to 100GB.
To help you out, you can download a set of registry scripts here. Just find the one corresponding with your Microsoft Office, double click on it, and enjoy! You’ll be asked to accept the changes to the registry.
Congratulations! Your Outlook will now support a .pst file up to 100GB! Furthermore, it won’t warn you until the file is 95GB.
If you are a Google Apps user, there are a couple more steps to ensure everything works.
Modifying the registry is not an easy task, but with patience and care you can do a lot of cool things. If you find this tutorial to be overwhelming, you’re probably not alone! Don’t put up with arbitrary limits to your emails. Call the Neighborhood Nerds at 865-622-2422 or send us an email at help@nnerd.com today. One of our experts will take care of those pesky Outlook issues!
Happy Hacking!
Gizmo Nerd