Outlook two date files

Question

I have Office 2010 & in outlook I have two separate data files & problem is when I try to send mail it is sent from the wrong data file & just stays in outbox. Ideally I would like to get rid of one of the data files but cannot find out how to do this. I have uninstalled outlook 2010 completely using microsoft uninstaller tool & then cleaned/removed unwanted items from registry to no avail as when I reinstall I have same data files. So can anyone either explain how to remove one of the data files OR how to completely & I mean completely remove all traces of Office from the computer so a true clean install can be done.

Answer 1

Am having a little trouble following your question so let me summarize things based on what I understand along with comments just make sure that we are both on the same page. For the sake of this reply am assuming that only one email account is involved. After that will address your issue regarding messages not sending

#1 - You are using Outlook '2010

#2 - Your account is configured as an IMAP account. If this is the case, you will have two PST data files - one for your email folders and the other for the default contact/calendar folders. Each of these PST files will have all the standard Outlook folders (i.e. <Inbox>, <Sent Items> etc). These standard folders will serve no purpose in the <default data file>

#3 - You cannot change the <default data file>.

#4 - The <Sent Items> folder that applies when you send messages is the one in the PST file for your email folders or in other words, the one that is NOT the <default data file>. The default data file will have a check mark beside it

Now to your question/issue

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when I try to send email it tries & fails to send from the data file that is default & actually opens in outbox in the other data file but will not send therefore messages just stay in outbox,

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As mentioned, the <Outbox> and <Sent Items> folders located in the <default data file> have and serve no purpose. All standard Outlook folders get created by default any time a PST file is set as the <Default Data File>

Am not sure which <Outbox> folder you are referring to - there should be nothing populating the <Outbox> in the <default data file>. If there is then there is something going on that has not been described since that is not the way IMAP accounts work.

Without knowing anything else, in the interests of time, to try and clear this up - would suggest doing the following

#5 - Set Outlook to work in <Offline> mode. Click on the Send/Receive tab and click on it ONCE and wait for Outlook to switch to Offline mode (this is an toggle switch so there is no value in clicking on it multiple times and will only cause a problem.

#6 - When it's in <Offline> mode, close and restart Outlook. Go to the Outbox folder with the stuck items and delete the items.

#7 - Set Outlook to work <Online> (clicking on <Work Offline> once again). Wait for it to return to Online mode. To be on the safe side, close and restart Outlook.

Send a message to see if the problem continues to occur. For the initial test, don't add any attachments, especially large ones, just to keep this as clean as possible.

Answer 2

Maybe you can also help on this, when I try to send email it tries & fails to send from the data file that is default & actually opens in outbox in the other data file but will not send therefore messages just stay in outbox, I have went into file \account settings\ data files and it shows both data files but I cannot change over the default to the other file which I presume would resolve the issue.

Thanks

Answer 3

Glad to have helped.

Answer 4

Thanks that explained the issue very well as I had changed from POP to IMAP so I had emails over several devices.

Answer 5

Hello LesF1

Hi, I'm Karl and will be happy to help you today.

Impossible to provide a definitive answer without knowing how (i.e. POP / IMAP / Exchange) your email account(s) is/are configured.

How many email accounts are configured and what type are these accounts.

To confirm the type of account, from within Outlook, go to

<File> --> <Account Settings> --> <Email> tab

A quick overview of Outlook Data Files using Outlook '2010

POP accounts - use a PST data file. Multiple POP accounts can be configured to use the same PST data file.

IMAP accounts - use 2 PST files. Every IMAP account (without exception) has one PST file for the email folders which are sync'd with the server. The second would be for the <default data file. where the default contact/calendar folders are stored.

For example, if you only have 1 IMAP account, you would have 2 PST files and one of those would be designated as the <default data file>. This PST file would also contain all standard Outlook folders (i.e. <Inbox>, <Sent Items> etc) which are redundant. The important folders in the PST file are the contact/calendar folders.

To see which PST file is set as the <default data file>, go to

<File> --> <Account Settings> --> <Data Files> --> the data file with the check mark beside it is the <default data file>.

There is no way to combine these two data files into one for an IMAP account)

Exchange accounts will ALWAYS use an .OST data file which will have a complete folder list of all items (email, contacts, calendar).

So to return to your question

>>

So can anyone either explain how to remove one of the data files OR how to completely & I mean completely remove all traces of Office from the computer so a true clean install can be done.

<<

#1 - Depending on the email account types, it simply may not be possible. However, if this is a PST file that is not associated with any email account, the way to remove it would be to go to <Account Settings> --> <Data FIles> tab --> select the data file and click on <Remove> as long as this data file is also NOT set as the <default data file>

#2 - Uninstalling/reinstalling Office (Outlook) could end up being a complete waste of time based on the email account types.

#3 - As a FYI, there is no need to completely uninstall Office if you want to start Outlook as if it was a new install. All email account and data file info is maintained in the Outlook profile which does not get removed when you uninstall Office. In other words, when you re-install Office, it will just continue using the same Outlook profile.

If you want to start over with Outlook, the process would be to create a new Outlook profile and configure your email accounts again

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a) - With Outlook closed open the Control Panel <Mail> app

Just in case you need info regarding how to access the Control Panel Mail app, that's described in the following article by Outlook MVP Diane Poremsky

Where is the Control Panel Mail icon?

https://www.slipstick.com/how-to-outlook/where-...

b) - Select <Show Profile> --> <Add> --> give the new profile a name

c) - Configure your email account(s) - see Notes below

d) - Set the newly created Outlook profile as the default for the next time Outlook is opened otherwise it'll use the old profile

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