IT Service Management Knowledge Base - Restoring mail from Online Archive in Outlook

These instructions assume that Outlook is set up to connect to Rutgers Connect using Exchange. If this is not set up please use the instructions on setting Up Outlook with Rutgers Connect

From the desktop client, you should see your online archive under your folders on the left-hand side. The section will be labeled online archive - netid. Double click the archive the first time to access the archive. Afterward, everything in the archive should populate and you can view your archived folders and email.

Copy folder
Copy emails to a non-archive folder
Moving messages to a non-archive folder
Copying Messages Using PST Import

Copy folder

To return email from the archive to your nonarchived mail there are a couple of ways. First, you can copy a folder using the right-click copy folder option. Then paste the folder in your nonarchived mail. Note that this will create a new copy of the folder and not merge the folder with another folder of the same name.

Copy emails to a non-archive folder

If you want to return the contents of the archived folder to a nonarchived folder of the same name you can do the following. Go into the archived folder and select all messages, you can do this by pressing the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + A. Then copy the emails either by right clicking and selecting copy or by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + C.

An image showing the copy feature to copy to a non-archived folder.

Then select your destination folder in your nonarchived mail and paste the emails using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + V. Depending on how many emails you are moving, Outlook may hang for a bit as it processes all the information. If you wish to undo the copy/paste you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Z.

Moving messages to a non-archive folder

An alternative way to move the email is after selecting all the emails you wish to move, right click and select Move from the drop down. You should see another drop down with destination folders listed. Select your desired folder destination. If your desired destination folder is not listed select other folder. A new window with all your available folders should pop up. Select your desired destination folder from the list. Note that this method does not make a copy of the email but rather moves the existing emails. If you wish to undo your actions you will need to move the emails back the same way.

An image of a dropdown highlighting the move option to move messages to a non-archived folder.

Copying Messages Using PST Import

An additional way to move files is to import/export .pst files. Select either the Online Archive header or the individual folder in your archive that you want to move. Select File from the top of the page, then select Open & Export, then select Import/Export.
The import and export wizard should pop up. Select Export to a file and click Next.
Select Outlook Data File (.pst) and click Next.
Your pre-selected folder or archive that you want to export should already be highlighted on the next screen, but if it is not select it now. Note that if you are selecting a folder with subfolder you want to export be sure that the Include subfolders box is checked. Click Next and you will be asked where on your computer you would like to save your file.
Click browse if you wish to change the location. Select the option you desire in regards to duplicates then click Finish.
You may be asked to create a password for the .pst file. If you do not wish to password protect the file you can just click OK. Depending on how large the folder/archive you are exporting is, will affect how long it takes to export. Once complete you should see your file in the location you selected to save to.
Now that you have the export file you can import the file to your nonarchived mail. To do this first select the folder you wish to import your Archived messages to. Next select File > Open & Export > Import/Export.
From the pop-up wizard select Import from another program or file and click Next.
Select Outlook Data file (.pst) and click Next.
Select the file and options, then click Next.
Select the folders from the file you wish to import, select Import items into the same folder in your account should be listed and click Finish. You should now find the archived emails in your nonarchived mail with the same folder file structure.