How to archive a folder, and whether you can delete a folder from your inbox after it has been archived, and other related questions.

Dear Debbie S_281,

Good day! Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community.

In order to understand your query and provide accurate information, May I please double confirm if you are referring to online (In-place) archive mailbox, Auto archive (.pst) file or the default archive folder in your Outlook?

May I please know if you are using a Microsoft 365 business email account or a Microsoft personal account such as outlook.com, hotmail.com or live.com?

If you are using a Microsoft 365 business email account and referring to the Online Archive mailbox, you may refer to the answers to your questions:

1. If you archive a folder and all of its contents, can you then delete that folder from your inbox? Yes, you can delete a folder from your inbox after archiving it. Archiving moves the contents to a separate archive folder, so deleting the original folder from your inbox will not affect the archived contents.
2. If you delete a subfolder that you just archived, does that delete the contents of the folder that you put into the archive? No, deleting a subfolder from your inbox does not delete the contents that have been archived. The archived items remain in the archive folder even if you delete the original subfolder from your inbox.
3. How do you access the archive? To access your archived emails in Microsoft Outlook, first you need to enable the archive mailbox in the Exchange admin center for your mailbox. You can refer to this article to enable the archive mailbox, see Enable archive mailboxes for Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Learn. then you can follow these steps to access in outlook:
   • Open Outlook: Launch the Outlook application on your computer.
   • Locate the Navigation Pane: On the left side of the Outlook window, you will see the navigation pane where your email folders are listed.
   • Find the Online Archive Folder: Scroll down the list of folders until you find the "Online Archive" folder. This folder is usually listed alongside your other mailbox folders.
   • Expand the Online Archive Folder: Click on the arrow next to the "Online Archive" folder to expand it and view its contents. You can now browse through the archived emails and folders.
4. Does archiving old emails and folders from your inbox necessarily reduce the amount of storage your mailbox is using? Yes, archiving old emails and folders from your inbox to an online archive mailbox can reduce the amount of storage your primary mailbox is using. When you move emails to an online archive mailbox, they are stored separately from your primary mailbox, freeing up space in your primary mailbox. The online archive mailbox appears alongside your other mailbox folders in Outlook, and you can manually move or set rules to auto-move messages to the online archive. This helps manage the size and performance of your primary mailbox more effectively.

However, if you are referring to the Auto Archive feature in outlook: you can refer to the below for your questions:

1. If you archive a folder and all of its contents, can you then delete that folder from your inbox? Yes, you can delete a folder from your inbox after archiving it through the AutoArchive feature. When you use AutoArchive, it moves the contents of the folder to an archive location, typically an Outlook Data File (.pst). Once the items are archived, they are stored separately from your primary mailbox, and you can safely delete the original folder from your inbox without affecting the archived contents
2. If you delete a subfolder that you just archived, does that delete the contents of the folder that you put into the archive? No, deleting a subfolder from your inbox after archiving it through the AutoArchive feature does not delete the contents that you put into the archive. Once items are archived, they are stored separately in an archive location, typically an Outlook Data File (.pst), and deleting the original subfolder from your inbox will not affect the archived contents
3. How do you access the archive? To access the archived files using the AutoArchive feature in Outlook, follow these steps:
   • Open Outlook: Launch the Outlook application on your computer.
   • Go to File: Click on the "File" tab in the top left corner of the Outlook window.
   • Open Outlook Data File: Select "Open & Export" and then click on "Open Outlook Data File."
   • Locate the Archive File: Browse to the location where your archive file (.pst) is stored. This is usually in the default Outlook Files folder.
   • Open the Archive File: Select the archive file and click "Open." The archived emails and folders will now appear in the navigation pane on the left side of the Outlook window under "Archives" or a similar name. You can refer to AutoArchive settings explained - Microsoft Support and Archive older items automatically - Microsoft Support
4. Does archiving old emails and folders from your inbox necessarily reduce the amount of storage your mailbox is using? Archiving old emails and folders using the AutoArchive feature in Outlook can help reduce the amount of storage your primary mailbox is using. When you use AutoArchive, it moves the contents of the folder to an archive location, typically an Outlook Data File (.pst), which is stored separately from your primary mailbox. This process can free up space in your primary mailbox, thereby reducing its size.

If you are referring to the default Archive folder which is listed in the Outlook folder list, you can refer to the answers below

Yes, you can delete the folder and the subfolders you moved to the archive folders also will not be deleted when you delete the original subfolders or contents of subfolders. However, archiving emails and folders does not necessarily reduce the amount of storage your mailbox is using. The Archive button in Outlook moves messages to an Archive folder within the same mailbox, which does not reduce the mailbox size. To reduce mailbox size, you may need to use the Online Archive feature or manually archive items to a local Outlook Data File (.pst). You can refer to Archive in Outlook for Windows - Microsoft Support

If you have any other question or I have got your wrong, please feel free to let me know:

Thanks for your precious time. Have a nice day! 

Sincerely,

Libeamlak | Microsoft Community Moderator