# Outlook archive, how to remove?



## NaphtaliPress (Sep 28, 2009)

At one point I had an Outlook PST file archive open and subsequently the file became corrupted or I deleted it. So now when I click on the archive I get an error; which is fine. But how do I get Outlook to remove/close the file? Running an XP system; 2003 version of Outlook.


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## ChristopherPaul (Sep 28, 2009)

Right click on the "Archive Folders" and select "Close Archive Folders."

It will stay closed until you go to File, Open, Outlook Data File and browse back to the .pst file.


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## NaphtaliPress (Sep 28, 2009)

It won't allow that; I get the same error message.


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## Ask Mr. Religion (Sep 29, 2009)

Go to:
C:\Documents and Settings\YOURACCOUNTID\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

(Folks should remember this path and use it to manually back up their *.pst files!)

This directory is normally hidden so you may have to enable Windows Explorer to show hidden files.

Look for the *.pst file. If one is present you might try running the scanpst utility to see if you can clean it up. The utility is located here:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033\SCANPST.EXE

It goes without saying that Outlook needs to be closed to do the above. 

If no *.pst file is located in the directory above, you will need to configure Outlook to create a new one. While Outlook is running, Go to Tools-->Options-->Mail Setup-->Data Files

AMR


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## VictorBravo (Sep 29, 2009)

Ask Mr. Religion said:


> It goes without saying that Outlook needs to be closed to do the above.
> 
> AMR



Thanks for saying it anyway! Some of us need all the warnings we can get.


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