Increase Sync Period in Outlook
By default, Outlook does not download emails older than a year to your local computer. This is to help keep the size of your .ost file as small as possible to ensure that Outlook loads quickly and efficiently. If you have emails older than 1 year, there are three options available to you.
View Older Email on Exchange Online[edit | edit source]
You can leave your settings as is and view any older emails through the Web Interface. This will give you access to all emails still stored on the server and can be accessed from any computer or cell phone.
Adjust Your Sync Settings[edit | edit source]
Option two is to adjust the period of time in which Outlook will sync your email from the server to your local computer.
- Inside of Outlook, click on File, then click on Account Settings.
- Click on Account Name and Sync Settings
- Adjust the slider all the way to the right to tell Outlook to download all emails from the server regardless of age.
Archive Older Emails[edit | edit source]
This option isn't quite as useful once you already have emails that are older than a year, but is beneficial to help prevent the issue from happening in the first place. It is recommended that you run your email archive at the start of every year and archive all emails from the previous year. You can run the archive more frequently if you desire.
- Inside of Outlook, click on File, then click on Tools
- Click on Clean Up Old Items
- Select the root of your mailbox (your email address)
- In the box labeled Archive items older than:, select January 1 of the current year (or whichever date is relevant to you)
- The default archive file location should be sufficient, but if you wish to save it to another location, go ahead and change the file path in Archive File:
- Click OK
Outlook will create an archive file if one doesn't already exist, add it to your Outlook profile, and begin transferring all emails older than the date specified to the new archive folder. This file is stored locally on your computer, so any archived emails will no longer be accessible from the server.