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How to Save Outlook Emails to Hard Drive Free? Explained

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Published By Jamie Kaler 
Rollins Duke
Approved By Rollins Duke
Published On August 12th, 2024
Reading Time 7 Min Read

Summary: In this write-up, we are going to discuss the complete solution to save Outlook emails to hard drive. Various users have the same query and seeking free and professional solutions according to their requirements.

This query is high-on-peak nowadays, and there are not only single but multiple users asking for the same solution. Even, though we had also received queries from most of the technical forums and after having a lot of solutions on the Internet, there is no such use for users.

You know why hard drives have become a hot-selling computer hardware component. Why are we inventing fast storage hardware like SSD or NVMe? Because users know the importance of data backup, including exporting outlook emails to external hard drive with attachments. Data is important and the same is true for Outlook data! When it comes down to it, your data is only as secure as the backup you keep.

Table of Content Hide
  1. Top Reasons to Export Outlook Emails to Hard Drive
  2. How to Save Outlook Emails to Hard Drive?
  3. #1 Using Outlook Import Export Wizard
  4. #2 Using Drag and Drop Option
  5. #3 Using Print Option
  6. #4 Using RecoveryTools Software
  7. Conclusion
  8. FAQs and Responses

Top Reasons to Export Outlook Emails to Hard Drive

Data Protection: Saving Outlook emails to external hard drive provides data protection against virus attacks, corruption in Outlook, software, and hardware issues.

Data Security: Users consider emails as their crucial data, so they always want to keep them secure. An extra backup seems suitable for data security as users can restore lost emails if required from backup.

Accessibility: Sometimes users prefer to backup Outlook emails to hard drive for better and improved accessibility. After completing this task, they can access saved emails using different programs.

Email Archiving: Users archive Outlook emails to hard drive for long-term storage. This is helpful to fulfill historical compliance requirements as according to government rules companies follow retention policies.

Easy Restoring: Save Outlook emails to external hard drive process helps restore Outlook data back in emergencies. Sometimes Outlook crashes and stops working then extra backup seems helpful for restoring lost data.

How to Save Outlook Emails to Hard Drive?

MS Outlook has some built-in options to backup and export Outlook emails to hard drives in multiple commonly used file extensions. Also, several professional tools are available in the market to automatically save Outlook emails to hard drive. Upcoming sections of this article explain the complete step-by-step process to fulfill your requirements.

#1 Export Outlook Emails to Hard Drive Using Import Export Wizard

  1. Run MS Outlook on your computer and choose File.
  2. Next, select Open & Export >> Import/Export option.
    Import Export
  3. Choose Export to a file from Import and Export Wizard and click Next.
    Export to a file
  4. Then, select Outlook Data File (.pst), and press Next.
    Outlook data file PST
  5. Pick required Outlook folders and tap Next button.
    Select folder
  6. Next, click Browse and select hard drive as destination path.
  7. Enable Do not export duplicate items and click Finish.
    Choose browse
  8. Exporting Outlook emails to hard drive will begin.

Import and Export Wizard Advantages

  • Inbuilt Import and Export Wizard allows to backup Outlook emails to hard drive in PST (Personal Storage Table) and CSV (Comma Separated Values) formats. The above steps show steps for PST format, if want emails in CSV then choose Comma Separated Values instead of the Outlook Data File (.pst) option.
  • Import and Export Wizard allows saving all Outlook emails to hard drive including all folders, subfolders, and all items. You can select all as well as specific email, contact, and calendar folders to export them on hard disk.

#2 Backup Outlook Emails to Hard Drive Using Drag and Drop Option

Export Bulk Emails

  1. Launch MS Outlook and select an email folder.
  2. Press Ctrl + A to select all emails from a folder.
    Select emails
  3. Drag and drop selected emails on a hard drive.
    Export Outlook emails to external hard drive
  4. All Outlook emails are saved on hard drive in MSG format.

Export Single Email

  1. Start MS Outlook and open an email to export.
  2. Next, select File > Save As option to continue.
    Save As
  3. Choose hard drive to store resultant message.
  4. Select Save as type as Outlook Message Format – Unicode.
    Outlook message format Unicode
  5. Tap Save button to save Outlook email to hard disk.
    Backup Outlook Emails to Hard Drive

Drag and Drop Method Benefits

  • The drag and drop technique allows to backup Outlook emails to external hard drive in MSG format. You can export single as well as multiple emails from a specific folder. However, you cannot export all the folders at once.
  • Use Save as type and from the drop-down choose a different file extension i.e. Text Only (*.txt), Outlook Template (*.oft), Outlook Message Format (*.msg), Outlook Message Format – Unicode (*.msg), HTML (*.htm, *.html), and MHT Files (*.msg).

#3 Save Outlook Emails to External Hard Drive Using Print Option

  1. Run MS Outlook and open any specific email.
  2. Choose File > Print > Microsoft Print to PDF option.
    Print option
  3. Click the Print button and browse destination path as a hard disk.
    Save Outlook emails to external hard drive
  4. Tap the Save button to save Outlook email to external drive.

Print Option Upsides

  • Using the Print Option, you can save Outlook email as PDF on hard disk one by one. This technique does not permit saving all Outlook emails to hard disk at once.
  • Sometimes users want to print specific emails from Outlook, for them, this is a well-suitable method. You can share, and access resultant PDFs using various devices and programs.

#4 Auto Save Outlook Emails to Hard Drive Using RecoveryTools

RecoveryTools Outlook PST Migration Tool is the best way to save Outlook emails to hard drive in multiple commonly used file extensions. This software is capable to export complete emails, contacts, calendars, and other data at once with all associated items. This software allows to export Outlook email to MBOX, PST, OLM, EML, EMLX, MSG, PDF, DOC, HTML, RTF, CTV, and other multiple formats on a hard drive.

Save Outlook Emails to Hard Drive

Just download and install this software on your Windows and Mac machines. After that, launch the software which will automatically add Outlook profile data in the software window. Next, choose a saving option, set the hard drive as the preferred destination path, and click Convert to start.

RecoveryTools Software Features

  • An excellent software to export Outlook emails to external hard drive in various commonly used formats such as email formats, document formats, email clients, and cloud-based email services.
  • Save Outlook emails to hard drive automatically by selecting specific folders and required items. Even it automatically adds Outlook profile data in the software window from the default destination location.
  • This software offers various advanced additional features to archive Outlook emails to hard drive i.e. Enable Separate PST per user or split PST file size to get better performance.
  • The tool comes with several advanced filtration options. You can use different filters to archive Outlook emails to hard drive by date range, subject, signature, sender and receiver information.
Conclusion

In the above discussion, we have explained the complete solution to save Outlook emails to external hard drive. Using the top 4 solutions mentioned above, all technical and non-technical users can easily export Outlook emails to external hard drives in multiple generic extensions. However, by using the manual solution, there may be sometimes a loss of data, and you can back up the emails in limited formats. So, we recommend you use the professional tool that allows users to save emails in multiple formats on an external hard drive.

FAQs and Responses

Que 1: My Outlook crashed and is unable to start, can I still backup Outlook emails to hard drive?

Yes, above recommended software allows to export emails from corrupted Outlook to hard drive but manually this is not possible. Outlook should be in proper running condition to use Import Export Wizard, Drag and Drop, and Print techniques.

Que 2: Which is a highly recommended method to save Outlook emails to external hard drive?

Above mentioned all methods are fully tried and tested, so you can use any according to your needs and preferences. If you wish to save a few emails, then use the manual method and for bulk export go with the RecoveryTools solution.

Que 3: Can I follow above mentioned manual steps with Outlook 2021 edition?

Yes, if you are using Outlook 2021, 2019, 2016, and 2013 then you can follow mentioned steps. However, the professional solution is compatible with all Outlook editions.