How to Export and Import Emails in Outlook 2013

When transferring to a different hosting provider/server or switching from IMAP to POP and vice versa, you need to manually back up all your email files to make sure you don't lose anything important.

Learn how you can Export and Import your email files in Outlook 2013 with this guide.

Export Emails

Back up all your email files with the Outlook Export feature using these steps:

1. Open Outlook and click File from the top menu.
2. Click Open & Export from the left-side menu, then click on the Import/Export option.
3. In the Import and Export Wizard, select Export to a file and click Next.
4. Click Outlook Data File (.pst), then click Next.
5. Select the name of the email account to Export and ensure that Include subfolders option is ticked, then click Next.
6. Click Browse to select where the Outlook Data File (.pst) will be saved, then click OK to proceed.
7. Under Options, specify what to do when exporting items that already exist in the destination folder, then click Finish.
8. Add an optional Password if preferred, or leave it blank, then click OK and Outlook will begin the exporting process.
   Note: If you're trying to overwrite an existing .pst file that is Password protected, you may need to enter the Password.

Import Emails

Once you've set up your email account using your new server settings, you can easily restore all your emails with the Outlook Import feature using these steps:

1. Open Outlook and click File from the top menu.
2. Click Open & Export from the left-side menu, then click on the Import/Export option.
3. In the Import and Export Wizard, select Import from another program or file and click Next.
4. Click Outlook Data File (.pst), then click Next.
5. Click Browse to select the Outlook Data File (.pst) that you want to Import, then click OK to proceed.
6. Under Options, specify what to do when importing duplicate files, then click Next.
   Note: If the Outlook Data File (.pst) was assigned a Password, enter the Password and click OK.
7. On the next window, select the folders that you want to Import.
   Note: To import everything in the .pst file, select the top of the hierarchy. Make sure to choose Personal Folders, Outlook Data File or your email address; which are usually pre-selected. Include subfolders is also ticked by default.
8. On the same window, select Import items into the current folder, or select Import items into the same folder in to specify a different destination folder/mailbox, e.g. your Office 365 mailbox.
9. Click Finish to begin the importing process.