Here is the fast way to archive a message. The sections below explain the options.
- Select the message or messages you want to archive.
- Click Archive in the toolbar. You can also press the Backspace key while the message sits in the reading pane.
- The mail moves to the Archive folder in your folder list on the left.
- To find it later, open the Archive folder or use the search bar, which covers archived mail too.
- To bring a message back, open the Archive folder and drag it to your Inbox. You can also right-click and choose Move.
Archiving in Outlook should be simple. You click a button, the mail leaves your inbox, you find it later. The confusion starts because Outlook has several features that all use the word archive, yet they do not do the same thing. One tidies your inbox. Another shrinks your mailbox. A third only exists in certain versions.
This guide untangles the three. It covers the Archive button, AutoArchive and the built in Archive folder. It explains where each one puts your mail and how to get a message back when you need it.
The Archive button: tidy your inbox
This is the archive most people mean. Select a message, then click Archive on the ribbon or toolbar. The message moves out of your inbox into a folder called Archive. There is also a keyboard shortcut: with the message showing in the reading pane, press Backspace to archive it. Press Delete instead and the message goes to Deleted Items, so the two keys are worth keeping straight. Microsoft's own guide to archiving in Outlook confirms the Backspace shortcut and that the folder cannot be deleted.
The Archive folder is one of Outlook's built in folders, sitting alongside Inbox and Sent Items. It cannot be deleted. Your archived mail stays fully searchable and shows up on every device signed into the account. The one thing the Archive button does not do is free up space, because the mail is still inside your mailbox. It has simply moved to a different folder.
AutoArchive: actually shrink your mailbox
If your real goal is a smaller mailbox, the Archive button will not help. The feature you want is AutoArchive. It moves messages older than a set age out of your mailbox and into a separate Outlook Data File, a .pst file kept on your computer. Because the mail now lives in a local file rather than your account, your mailbox size actually drops.
You set it up in classic Outlook under File, Options, Advanced, AutoArchive Settings, where you choose how often it runs and how old a message must be. Microsoft documents the manual and automatic options in its archive items guide. Here is the catch that trips people up: AutoArchive exists only in classic Outlook for Windows. The new Outlook app and Outlook on the web have no AutoArchive at all. On those, you either move old mail to a folder by hand or use Sweep rules to do it automatically.
Not sure which Outlook you have? The new app shows a toggle labelled New Outlook in the top right corner. If that toggle is on, AutoArchive is gone and Sweep is your closest substitute. Switch it off to drop back to classic Outlook, where the full AutoArchive settings return.
Where do archived emails go in Outlook?
Because archive means more than one thing in Outlook, archived mail can sit in one of three places. Knowing which is the difference between finding a message in seconds and assuming it is lost.
Archived mail lives in one of three places, the Archive folder, a local .pst file or a separate Online Archive mailbox, depending on how it was archived. The Archive button uses the Archive folder in your folder list. AutoArchive and manual archiving create a .pst file, usually called archive.pst in your Documents. An Online Archive, also called In-Place Archive, is a second mailbox that a workplace administrator can switch on for large accounts. If you cannot see a .pst archive, open it through File, then Open and Export, then Open Outlook Data File.
Outlook has an Archive folder. Gmail does not.
If you have used Gmail, Outlook's approach will feel more familiar. Outlook gives you a real Archive folder you can click on and browse. Gmail has no such folder. It archives by removing a label and dropping the mail into a view called All Mail, which is why people switching from Gmail often hunt for an Archive folder that was never there. We cover that difference in our guide on finding archived emails in Gmail.
The reason is that Outlook organises mail into folders, while Gmail uses labels. That single design choice explains most of the confusion when you move between the two, a topic our guide on labels versus folders breaks down.
Archiving versus deleting in Outlook
Archiving and deleting solve different problems. Archiving keeps a message and moves it out of sight. Deleting sends it to Deleted Items, where it waits before being removed for good. Archive what you might need later, delete what you are sure you never will.
The keyboard keys sit right next to each other, so it is easy to mix them up. Backspace archives, Delete removes. If you have ever wrestled with the same choice in Gmail, our guide on archive versus delete walks through the same decision there.
Finding and restoring archived mail on mobile
On the Outlook mobile app, archiving is usually a swipe. If a swipe does not archive, open Settings, find Swipe Options, then set one direction to Archive. To archive several at once, long press a message to start selecting, tap the others, then choose Archive.
Your archived mail still lands in the Archive folder, which you reach from the folders list behind your profile icon. To restore a message on a phone, open it, tap the three dot menu, then choose Move and pick your Inbox.
