How to Auto Backup Outlook 2016 Effectively

Why Need to Backup Outlook 2016?

The most important reason to back up Outlook 2016 data is to prevent data loss. Data loss can occur due to various factors such as accidental deletion, hard drive crashes, computer virus infection, etc. When your Outlook data is lost, you may lose important emails, contacts, tasks, etc.

In these cases, you may not be able to retrieve lost data. Therefore, it is crucial to backup your Outlook data regularly. In this way, even if your Outlook data is lost, you can quickly restore it with the previous backup.

How to Backup Outlook 2016

If you also want to know how to backup Outlook 2016, you can continue reading this article. This article will introduce two methods in turn to achieve the goal. One is the manual backup and the other is the automatic backup. Manual backups are done by using Outlook's built-in Import/Export Wizard. Automatic backup is to automatically back up your Outlook data on a regular basis by using third-party software.

Method 1. Manually Backup Outlook 2016

Outlook has an Import/Export Wizard that allows users to export data in PST format. You can use this feature to back up and restore your Outlook data.

To use the Import/Export Wizard to back up Outlook, follow these steps:

Step 1. Open Microsoft Outlook 2016 and go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export.

Step 2. On the Import and Export Wizard window, select and tap "Export to a file" and click Next.

Step 3. On the next window, select Outlook Data File (.pst) and click Next.

Step 4. On the next page, select the emails that you want to export and click Next.

Step 5. Browse to the location where you want to put the backup file and click Finish.

To use the Import/Export Wizard to restore Outlook, follow these steps:

Step 1. Open Microsoft Outlook 2016 and go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export.

Step 2. On the Import and Export Wizard window, select "Import from another program or file" and click Next.

Step 3. On the next window, select Outlook Data File (.pst) and click Next.

Step 4. Browse to the location of the backup file and click Next.

Step 5. On the next window, choose the data that you want to import and click Finish.

Method 2. Auto Backup Outlook 2016

In addition to manually backing up Outlook 2016, you can also choose a reliable third-party software - AOMEI Backupper Professional to help you automatically back up Outlook 2016. It is suitable for a variety of Windows PC operating systems, including Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP/Vista, etc. It also has the following advantages.

Schedule Backup: It provides you with Daily, Weekly, Monthly and Event Trigger scheduled backups. Meanwhile, you can enable the “Wake up computer to run scheduled tasks” feature to set up off-peak hours or any time you don't use Outlook to back up Outlook files.

Incremental/differential backup: It allows you to back up only changed files in Outlook through "incremental backup" or "differential backup", thus saving a lot of backup time and disk space.

Email Preview: This software also supports previewing emails in your Outlook account while you are recovering.

You can download and install this professional backup software, and then start backing up Outlook 2016 according to the graphic tutorial below. If you are a Windows Server user, you can choose the AOMEI Backupper Server version.

Step 1. Open Outlook, type email and click Connect, then follow the on-screen instructions to add the Outlook account.

Step 2. Open AOMEI Backupper Professional. In the main interface, click Backup > Outlook Backup.

Step 3. Click Add Outlook data and select the Outlook folder you want to backup. Then click OK.

Step 4. Then click the box below to select backup destination. 

Notes: By now, the main steps to backup Outlook have been completed. You can still customize your backup settings.

Schedule Backup: You can set different  backup frequencies, like“Daily”, “Weekly” or “Monthly” . Make sure the option “Wake the computer to run scheduled task” is selected.

Backup Scheme:  You can Enable Automatic Backup Cleanup to delete old backups regularly. This feature can solve the storage full issues.

Step 5. Click Start Backup to backup Outlook to hard drive automatically.

Summary

This article explains why you need to backup Outlook 2016 and two effective methods to help you accomplish your goals. You can manually back up Outlook 2016 through Outlook's built-in import/export wizard, or you can choose the professional backup software AOMEI Backupper to help you back up Outlook 2016 automatically.

The automatic backup method is simpler and faster. And AOMEI Backupper can also provide you with multiple backup methods and backup destination paths, and is compatible with multiple Windows PC operating systems. Data security can be protected from leakage to the greatest extent. You can download this software to explore more.