How to Split A PST File by Year Wise Or By Date

One of our users asked a query on How to Split PST File By Year Wise or By Date?

“I have been using MS Outlook since 2012, and my email account configured with Outlook contains thousands of emails, resulting in a very large Outlook data file. I would like to know if there is an efficient method to break the Outlook PST file by date. Please provide me with the most reliable solution for this issue.” __Morris

Based one of our user query, we prepared a detailed Guide that covers how to split large PST file year wise. We will discuss the best ways to break Outlook data files. while explaining all this we will recommend you professional software to split PST files. But first, let us check whether you should split the PST file or not.

Why Should Split a PST File?

Although breaking a large PST file is mandatory to run MS Outlook smoothly, it has various advantages for everyone. A large Outlook data file leads to numerous issues. Therefore, it is recommended to every Outlook user to keep the Outlook data file within a suitable limit. Some of the most common benefits of splitting large PST files into multiple smaller files are mentioned below.

• Avoid Outlook Errors: Splitting Outlook PST files prevents various Outlook issues caused by an oversized PST file such as Outlook file too large to open.
• Make Outlook Efficient: When the Outlook data file has a small size, MS Outlook works more efficiently because it has more free space.
• Fast Sharing: Another advantage of breaking a large PST file into multiple smaller files by year is that you can easily share the file and you do not need to send complete data.
• Easy Handling: Managing a small Outlook data file will be easier as compared to a large PST file.
• Smooth Data Restoration: In case of data loss or corruption, you will be able to restore your emails quickly and efficiently with these smaller PST files.

These are some reasons why you should split PST file by year. Now, let us check different methods to break a large PST file into multiple smaller files.

Manual Methods to Split Outlook PST Files Year Wise Or By Date

MS Outlook does not provide inbuilt functionality to split Outlook archive by year. However, you can break your Outlook PST file into multiple smaller files by year or date. You can move emails of a particular year into a new PST file. By repeating this process multiple times, you will have multiple PST files with emails from different years. Also, you can use the Archive feature of MS Outlook to save your emails into various PST files. Below we discussed both techniques.

#1. PST Splitting Using Outlook’s Move to Folder Method

• Open MS Outlook in your system and press the File
• Click on the Account Settings icon and choose the Account Settings
• In the Account Settings wizard, switch to the Data File
• After that, click on the Add button to add a new PST file.
• Provide a suitable name and location for this new file.
• Now, type “received:YYYY” in the search field of MS Outlook and press Enter. It will display all emails belonging to the specified year.
• Select all emails and right-click. Click on the Move option and choose Copy to the Folder
• After that, select the newly created PST file and press the OK It will move all emails of a particular year into a new PST file.
• Repeat this procedure to create multiple PST files of different years.

By performing the above steps, you can split Outlook PST file by year into multiple smaller files based on different years.

#2. Splitting PST Files Using the Archive Feature

Another solution to split PST file by year or date is by using the Archive feature of MS Outlook. It allows you to archive emails from a particular year. Follow the below instructions to archive old emails.

• Open the Outlook Click the File option.
• After that, click on the Tools option in the Info tab.
• Select the Clean Up Old Items It will open the Archive wizard.
• Tick the Archive this folder and all subfolder options and choose the desired mailbox account.

• After that, provide the date in the ‘Archive items older than’
• Tick the Include items with ‘Do not AutoArchive’ checked option and press OK.
• It will create a PST file of the specified date range. Repeat these steps to create more PST files based on different date ranges.

Both the above techniques are easy to perform and effective in creating new PST files containing emails of a particular date range. However, these manual methods do not enable you to directly split PST files. Moreover, they are quite complicated and time-consuming. Therefore, we recommend the professional PST Splitter.

Splitting PST Files Using DRS Softech PST Splitter Tool

DRS Softech PST Splitter Tool is the most reliable and effective solution to split PST file by year wise. Moreover, you can break your Outlook PST file on the basis of size, senders, and mailbox folders. This application is capable of dividing multiple PST files simultaneously without changing the data integrity. It enables you to secure the resultant PST files with password protection. Above all, the PST file splitter supports Outlook PST files created by any version of MS Outlook. Furthermore, it works swiftly on all Windows PCs.

Steps to Split PST File With PST Splitter Tool

• Download and launch the DRS Softech PST Splitter Tool.
• Click on the Add File button to add the desired PST file.
• After that, click on the Next button to proceed.
• Check the mailbox preview and choose Split by Date.

• Add the Date Filter and provide suitable date ranges.

• Select the remaining options as per your preference and press Spilt.

Also Read: How to Merge Outlook Archive Files in Windows and Mac

Conclusion

We described two manual methods to split PST file by year wise. There is no direct solution available, but you can still use the Outlook functionalities to split PST into multiple smaller files. These two manual techniques are effective but also complicated and time-consuming. Therefore, we recommend the best professional PST Splitter software which is the most advanced solution to break large PST files.

Related Post: Reduce PST File Size in Outlook.