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Manage your mailbox III: Move or copy messages to Personal Folders

Import and Export command on File menu, Export to a File dialog box

Typically, when you use Archive Folders or Personal Folders, you move messages. So what do you do if you want to copy messages? The answer is this: Export.

When you export messages, they stay in their original locations, and they're also duplicated in a new file. This means that exporting messages doubles their number and the space they require. So export is not a good method if you're trying to trim the size of your mailbox. But export can be useful if you want a backup copy of one or more messages that you're still actively working with — for example, in the event that you want to create a backup of messages about a particular project or issue.

In the picture, we've shown the Import and Export command on the File menu, which you would use to start the Import and Export Wizard. We've also shown one of the screens that you would see as you followed the steps to export messages to a file. You'll get a chance to try the complete steps for yourself in the practice at the end of this lesson.

Note     If your goal is to back up your entire mailbox, there are better methods than Export. To learn about those, see the last course in this series.

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