Import a pst file into new outlook

It boggles my mind that Microsoft would develop a new version of Outlook without incorporating the importing of Data files from the previous versions. I've used Outlook for many years for personal and work use. I've accumulated years of emails in both situations and now Microsoft says sorry we didn't incorporate a method to migrate those files going forward?! Since the response doesn't even hint they are working on it suggests they are letting it fall to the wayside. The largest software company in the world and they don't have a path forward for all that accumulated data?! I would really like to hear their explanation as to why they didn't incorporate it from the beginning. Probably some ingenious scheme to get money from its customers. Grrr!!

Tim,

Thanks for the reply!

I have discovered what you mentioned some time ago. I do subscribe to Microsoft 365 Family for personal use and my work uses Microsoft Business versions Office/Teams. I became aware of the PST issue when my company transitioned to the New Outlook some time ago when my configured customer PST simply disappeared. I believe a workaround would be to create a folder under an existing email account, copy the data from the PST files to the new folder(s) then switch to the new Outlook. I haven't tried it but I plan to.

Interesting thing is on my Windows 11 laptop I have both the Classic and New Outlooks running separately so I can jump between the two. I believe it was part of a recent upgrade to Microsoft 365 that create the separate new Outlook app. Funny thing, it only configured one of my email accounts.

The real point of the matter is why Microsoft chose to implement the New Outlook without providing a method to migrate the PST data to it? I can't believe that this is a simply oversight on their part but part of a strategy to force a change on how Outlook is implemented for some monetary reason. Outlook is used by millions around the world who I believe are in the same situation as I am with years of correspondence for personal and business use that they wouldn't provide a viable path forward to retain that information for their users.

has anyone received a response that works? i need to import my long history of old emails in pst files. this is for legal reasons. how can i read my pst files

Hi Eleni

The version does not allow going into Classic mode. Hence no access to Files etc. That just does not show up

best

Adnan

7 March 2025 - Updated info:

Everything I stated below still stands:

You must have an MS 365 Subscription that includes Outlook Classic installed in order to use PST files.

The much anticipated "Support for PST files" in the latest (new) Outlook for Windows v 1.2025.219.400 (Production) now has LIMITED access to PST files - Read/Print/Copy/Paste between the PST and your Mailbox, but Only if the MS 365 Outlook Classic is already installed, Otherwise the new option in Settings/General/Outlook Data Files shows a message that an MS 365 Subscription is required.

New Outlook does not have the independent access to PST files as we all hoped... OK if you have Classic installed but you prefer using the new Outlook client, but I must admit I am underwhelmed and a bit disappointed. I suppose either the new Outlook feature uses the Classic Outlook code to access PST files, or MS is wringing every single penny out of their long-time MS Office Outlook installed base.

original Post:

At this time, you must have Outlook for Windows (Outlook Classic) installed on the Desktop in order to use PST files, which you can get with a Microsoft 365 Personal ($70/yr) or Family ($100/yr) subscription - Basic ($20/yr) is Web Only, but you do get more Cloud storage. Family has a 1-month trial offer which I am using to test if I can migrate from Office 2013. So far so good - Signed-up, Downloaded/installed the Desktop Apps and Outlook Classic automatically found and added the various .PST files and POP Accounts from Outlook 2013. I had to manually use the More Apps icon to add the Notes and Folders icons to the left side Menu, and they seem to be working fine. The Outlook (New) that I have with Windows 11, which replaces the MS Mail and Mail and Calendar apps, does have a "Go to classic Outlook" button in Help, but the "Classic/New" Slider at the top right is gone. I used that slider with 365 Business last year and it would switch between the new and old Outlook Desktop layouts, but it seems to have been removed. Note: I do not find a way to switch back from Outlook (Classic) to Outlook (New), other than re-launching the Outlook (New) app. Outlook (New) is very basic; it is not the same thing as the slider that switched Outlook Desktop between the old and new style layout, where everything was still present, just with a new look - Outlook (New) has no PST files, no Notes and no File menu - which is how you can tell the difference right away. Also, you do not get as many options, like when configuring email accounts, I could not set it to leave a copy of the POP emails on the server for 7 days to allow my other mail apps to get access to the same messages. Outlook (New) removed them right after retrieving. During testing I had to manually forward the missing emails to a Gmail account and then forward again to my POP account so Outlook (Classic) could get them. I could switch to IMAP in Outlook (New), but I did not want to change too much during testing. Also, I suspect the Outlook Notes section is going away, but I have not found a way to migrate my numerous Notes entries into OneNote... but that is another story. To end on a hopeful note, Outlook (New) is probably going to gain access to PST files sometime early in 2025? maybe?

Here is a link that does a good job of comparing the various Outlook flavors: scroll down in Get Started to "support for key Outlook Features" chart

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/getting-started-with-the-new-outlook-for-windows-656bb8d9-5a60-49b2-a98b-ba7822bc7627

also see this link - scroll down to Plans, and arrow left or right to see the 4 options: Family, Personal, Basic and Free - look for Desktop or Web.

Microsoft 365 - Subscription for Productivity Apps | Microsoft 365