Right step? Exporting pst file?

[shootingstar]

All my Outlook in and out emails ...use export to create a .pst file as backup?

Am I doing this right? This is taking awhile..

[KrAzY]

I just drag and drop the email to a file on my desktop. Within milliseconds it is saved

[shootingstar]

To my understanding, my desktop files aren't backed up automatically. No, I'm talking about the whole .pst file which it did finally finish after 25 min. 

[groupw]

Sounds like you did it right. If you’re exporting from a work Exchange server, it can take longer just due to conversion. 

[Bikeguy]

1 hour ago, shootingstar said:

Am I doing this right?

It depends...   Your IT may have policies about where you should (or shouldn't) save data.   That's what you need to know. 

At work we had specific folder on our laptops to store our files.  That folder location would be synced and backed up to a network server.   It was as simple as using that folder as the root of our personal files.  That said... more than a few people didn't even get that correct. 

We could have separate PST files.  By default, they were hidden away in some Outlook folder (maybe on purpose??).  They were backed up to the network too.   I kept my PST files in my file system, that was part of the network backup.  I had a new PST file, one for each year.  I'm sure the records retention people hated me.  Then again... over the years having an old email helped me a LOT from time to time.  

[shootingstar]

22 minutes ago, Bikeguy said:

It depends...   Your IT may have policies about where you should (or shouldn't) save data.   That's what you need to know. 

At work we had specific folder on our laptops to store our files.  That folder location would be synced and backed up to a network server.   It was as simple as using that folder as the root of our personal files.  That said... more than a few people didn't even get that correct. 

We could have separate PST files.  By default, they were hidden away in some Outlook folder (maybe on purpose??).  They were backed up to the network too.   I kept my PST files in my file system, that was part of the network backup.  I had a new PST file, one for each year.  I'm sure the records retention people hated me.  Then again... over the years having an old email helped me a LOT from time to time.  

 Not work stuff at all.

Decoupling from dearie's MS cloud group account....  Shared digital stuff adds another layer of complexity.   

I have figured out which family member can deal with my blog in future mists of time.  Just have to get in writing...one day. 

At work, our enterprise-wide system, allows employees to store critical separate emails into our system (and its attachments) as an official record.  However not all dept.'s business processes have been ironed out by depts. for this ...  There are all sorts of tools that can auto-push email based on common subject words, etc. into our system.  One of several solutions. Or many employees do what I do, cherry-pick what deserves to be saved for others to see/check. 

I'm not good at work compared to colleagues.  I keep far too much work email. I do try to clean out 10-20 emails daily..no particular order...  but ends up maybe 2-3 times/wk. We've been shocked how some employees use their Outlook email solely to store ALL their documents  --not just emails. That's not good practice in my opinion. Creates more garbage that's harder to sift/clean out. Especially in our organization.

 

[Bikeguy]

You mentioned  

1 hour ago, shootingstar said:

my desktop files aren't backed up automatically.

My first thought (assumption) was this was a work related backup.   My bad..

If you are using Windows 10,  when using 'Back up using File History', if needed you can add folders to be backed up.  

I put my PST files in a subfolder (named 'Outlook Files') under the folder 'Documents' and my PST files are backed up.   

Does that help?

Me... I don't trust one backup location. or one process.   I have 3 backup locations (an encrypted Norton cloud file, a encrypted 3TB USB drive, and an encrypted 32 GB SD card)  and 2 auto backup programs (Window and Norton).    Many years ago... I lost some data and I NEVER want to lose data again.   

[Square Wheels]

I can think of two things on a work PC.  First, the pst is not allowed to be backed up to help prevent you from saving sensitive info, second, the file may be huge and it could take a long time to back up.

[Razors Edge ★]

10 hours ago, shootingstar said:

All my Outlook in and out emails ...use export to create a .pst file as backup?

Am I doing this right? This is taking awhile..

Back-ups are reasonable for LOCAL copies of things, but Outlook - in a modern organization - is something an IT department should be responsible for backing up 24/7/365.  THere should be no need - in a business environment - for users to back up mail files.

Sure, you may want a CYA for some e-mail traffic, but I can't think why I would bother ever backing up non-local files.