How to Archive Emails in Office 365 – [A Complete Guide]

Written By
Amelia James

Published on
November 25th, 2023

Updated on
October 3, 2024

6 minutes Read

Summary : What do you do with emails or other data you no longer use regularly? Do you delete it? Deleting an email may permanently destroy your data and there will be no way to recover it. Therefore, archiving it is a better way to declutter your mailbox and store data until you are sure you no longer need it. If you are an Office 365 user, this blog may help you. We will discuss distinct manual methods to archive emails in Office 365 on Mac. Well, another solution to backup Office 365 mailbox data and declutter your mailbox is to use the Office 365 Email Backup tool for Mac.

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Office 365 is the most popular and widely used email client for sending and receiving emails. Many organizations and businesses use Office 365 for communication and collaboration. Therefore, Office 365 offers different subscriptions and features depending on the storage and other features provided. However, when storage fills up, users try to free up space by deleting mail or archiving emails in Office 365.

Email Archiving helps you separate old and unused emails into a separate folder from the main inbox. This declutter mailbox, creates space for new emails and helps you organize your inbox. However, it is very easy and convenient to recover emails from the archive whenever you want. Here are some other benefits of email archiving.

What are Benefits of Archiving Emails in Office 365

Besides, decluttering primary Inbox, archiving has many other advantages. They are:

Separates less important emails from the main inbox.
Provides a clear, decluttered, and organized inbox.
You can quickly find the right message when you need it.
Office 365 Outlook archive emails are just as secure as the main mailbox.
As the email server load is reduced, it functions with greater efficiency.
The Archive folder has independent and unlimited storage space.
Archived emails are easily accessible from any device and location using Outlook.

Consequently, you can enjoy increased productivity of your Office 365 account as there is no time wasted searching for emails. Further, let us explore how to archive emails in Office 365 for Mac.

Free Approach for Archiving Emails in Office 365 on Mac

In the following section, we will discuss free ways to archive emails in Office 365 for Mac. You should note that the process may differ depending on the Outlook version you are using. Additionally, there is a way to auto-archive Outlook emails regularly, before the mailbox gets cluttered. Let us see how.

Auto-Archiving Emails in Outlook 365 for Mac

Do you know, Auto archive emails in Outlook 365? Yes, Outlook enables users to automatically move messages from specific folders to an archive folder regularly. This auto-archive process streamlines the process of organizing inboxes at regular intervals, without requiring any manual effort and saving users valuable time. Additionally, by automating the archive process, Outlook for Mac reduces the number of items that require processing when a folder is accessed. Consequently, this leads to more efficient storage usage.

Manual Archiving for Outlook for Mac2016 or Later

Firstly, select the Outlook email you wish to archive.
Select emails while pressing the Shift/Command key to select multiple emails at a time.
Once you are done selecting the emails, go to the Home tab and select Archive.

Now, all your selected emails are moved to the specific ‘Archive’ folder. You can also retrieve archive emails back to the main mailbox.

Note: If you are archiving Outlook-configured Gmail Account emails, the archive folder will be named All Mail.

Steps for Outlook for Mac 2011

Start the Outlook 2011 on Mac.
Go to the Outlook tab and click on Preferences.
Next, click General.
Untick the Hide On My Computer folders checkbox.
Now, close the General settings and you can see the On My Computer window.
Next, press the Fn key from your keyboard and right-click on My Computer.
Choose New Folder.
Assign the folder name, for example, Archive.

Note: For a more organized archive, you are free to create sub-folders too.

Further, open the folder which holds the email messages you want to archive.
Select all the emails, by pressing the Shift/Command key.
The next step involves the drag-and-drop process. Drag the selected emails and drop them into the archive folder you created.

Consequently, by following these steps, you will copy all the selected emails to the specified local archive folder on your Mac. If you have more emails to archive, repeat the same process mentioned above. Once you have successfully archived all the emails, it’s time to free up space from the Mail folder. Therefore, delete all archived emails from your inbox. Additionally, you can access all the emails in the archive folder whenever you want.

How to Archive Mailbox in Office 365 for Mac to OLM

Another way of Archiving emails in Office 365 is saving Outlook emails in OLM file format. Follow the steps as follows:

Launch Outlook for Mac.
Navigate to Tools and choose Export.
Opt for the emails or a mail folder you want to archive or export in OLM format.
Proceed by clicking Continue.
Define a location to store the archived OLM file and click Save.
Complete the process by clicking Finish.

Now, the resulting OLM file can be easily accessed in any version of Outlook for Mac.

Want to Open OLM Files in Windows?

OLM files are Outlook files for Mac and can only be accessed in Outlook for Mac. However, if you want to open the OLM file on Windows then you have to first convert OLM to PST file format using the MacSonik OLM Converter Tool. This tool allows users to convert OLM files to many other file formats such as PDF, PST, EML, MSG, TXT, HTML, MBOX, DOC, CSV, etc. Apart from this, you can directly import OLM files to other email clients without any complicated manual procedure.

Also, if you’re looking for a more quick and secure way to perform email backup in Outlook, go for the Office 365 Email Backup tool.

A Professional Solution to Archive Emails in Office 365 for Mac

Another way of storing or archiving emails in Office 365 is by creating a backup copy of Outlook emails locally. And this can be conveniently done using the MacSonik Office 365 Backup Tool. This utility is a direct, flexible, and secure solution for your cluttered Office 365 mailbox. Besides backing up emails, this tool helps you back up calendars, contacts, tasks, etc. Additionally, you get various destination options to save the backup file like PST, PDF, MBOX, EML, etc. Furthermore, you can directly export Office 365 data to other email clients including Gmail, G Suite, Office 365, and IMAP accounts.

Conclusion

If you want to manage your Office 365 mailbox storage more efficiently, archive emails in Office 365. The procedure for doing so is discussed in this article. Choose the most appropriate method depending on which version of Outlook for Mac you use.