.pst file size in Outlook 2003

[Schnitro]

I just archived 1 GB of data from my outlook.pst file (into an archive.pst
file).

Why is the file size for the outlook.pst file listed in Windows Explorer
(e.g. C:\documents and settings\) still appear the same? The file size seems
to be much smaller when I click on the properties of my outook.pst in Outlook.

I need to make sure my Outlook file size has been reduced. Which one shows
the real file size? How can I verify?

 

[DL]

You have, within OL, Compacted?

 

[Brian Tillman]

I just archived 1 GB of data from my outlook.pst file (into an
archive.pst file).

Why is the file size for the outlook.pst file listed in Windows
Explorer (e.g. C:\documents and settings\) still appear the same?

Because archiving data from a PST does not release the free-up space back to
the file system.

The file size seems to be much smaller when I click on the properties
of my outook.pst in Outlook.

Outlook is showing you the size of the data that remains in the file but
doesn't tell you about the "white space" you created by archiving some of
the data.

I need to make sure my Outlook file size has been reduced. Which one
shows the real file size? How can I verify?

Why is this important to you? Releasing the space back to the file system
is not an efficient use of your disk space.

 

[Schnitro]

The reason I want the file size of the .pst to be smaller is because I am
backing up this .pst via a VPN connection and need to reduce the size. After
reducing the outlook.pst file by archiving, how do I remove this white space
so my outlook.pst is actually smaller (as seen in Windows Explorer)?

 

[Brian Tillman]

The reason I want the file size of the .pst to be smaller is because
I am backing up this .pst via a VPN connection and need to reduce the
size. After reducing the outlook.pst file by archiving, how do I
remove this white space so my outlook.pst is actually smaller (as
seen in Windows Explorer)?

Right-click the root of the PST (usually "Personal Folders" or "Outlook
Today") and choose Properties. Click Advanced, then Compact Now.