Change the folder where emails and attachments are saved in Outlook

Original KB number:   823131

When you use the Save As command to save e-mail messages and attachments in Outlook, these items are saved by default in your Documents folder in the following path:

drive:\Users\username\Documents

Where drive is the drive where Microsoft Windows is installed, and username is your user name.

You can change this default location by adding the following registry value to point to the location of your choice:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Options** **\DefaultPath

Follow these steps:

Important

This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For protection, back up the registry before you modify it so that you can restore it if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, see How to back up and restore the registry in Windows.

1. Select Start, and then select Run.

2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then press Enter.

3. Locate the following subkey in the registry by using Registry Editor:
   HKEY_CURRENT USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Options

4. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then select String Value.

5. Type DefaultPath, and then press Enter.

6. Double-click the DefaultPath value.

7. In the Edit String dialog box, type the path, including the drive letter, to the folder that you want to use for your saved Outlook items in the Value data box, and then select OK.

8. Exit Registry Editor.