Outlook – Make Outlook 2013 reuse existing .pst file

microsoft-outlook-2013pst

I had Outlook 2010 fetch my Gmail over IMAP into my .pst file. I upgraded to Office 2013 and Outlook 2013 decides to import the email settings (like username, server and password) just fine – but decided to redownload the entire inbox (4gb+) all over again. I have multiple gmails (personal + work) and it's doing that to all.

I have deleted the accounts since I don't want to redownload everything.

How can I supply Outlook 2013 my existing email settings (Gmail IMAP) and then tell it "it's already in this pst file, use that instead of redownloading everything".

Best Answer

Outlook IMAP is a pain in the backside. Try this:

  1. Setup your Gmail account and then close Outlook.
  2. Copy the old pst into the location for the new .pst and overwrite it.

When you re-open Outlook it should now see the PST already has the emails and not sync the older emails. I don't think there's any 2013 specific synchronization information in the PST file.

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