Move the ost-file

I’m running out of disk space on my main drive and noticed that my ost-file was really big. I know how to move pst-files, but that method does not seem to apply to ost-files.

How can I move my ost-file to another location?

Moving an ost-file to another location is indeed a bit more trickier than moving an pst-file. While it is recommended to leave the ost-file in its default location, there are still valid reasons for moving it to another location like for instance when using a smaller Solid-state Drive (SSD) as your main disk.

1. Close Outlook.
2. Copy the ost-file to the location where you want it to go.
   The defaults location for the ost-file is;
   • Windows Vista and Windows 7
     C:Users%username%AppDataLocalMicrosoftOutlook
   • Windows XP
     C:Documents and Settings%username%Local SettingsApplication DataMicrosoftOutlook
3. Use the Mail applet in Control Panel to open your E-mail Account settings.
4. Double click on the Exchange server account and choose More Settings…
5. Select the Advanced tab.
6. Disable the option; Use Cached Exchange Mode.
7. Press Apply.
8. Press the button; Offline Folders File Settings…
9. Press the button; Disable Offline Use
10. Press OK on the warning dialog that pops-up.
11. Press again on the button; Offline Folders File Settings…
12. Now browse to the new location of the ost-file.
13. Press OK to return to the Advanced tab.
14. Enable the option again for Use Cached Exchange Mode.
15. Close all open dialogs and rename the ost-file in the old location from .ost to .old
16. Start Outlook.

Outlook will now use the ost-file from the new location and you can safely delete the ost-file from your main disk.

It takes some clicking to make the ost-file location field editable.

Note: Don’t place the ost-file on a network share. This is unsupported and it would defeat the purpose of enabling Cached Exchange Mode. The ost-file should reside on an internal drive.

courtesy : www.msoutlook.info/question/463