If you are a member of staff leaving College, you can back up your email in the following ways:

  • Archive your mailbox to a .pst file using Microsoft Outlook. You will need Microsoft Outlook or another program that can read a .pst file to open your archive. Find out how to create a .pst
  • Configure an alternate email client to download your email to a personal computer, e.g. Gmail.

Find out more about archiving emails by reading our webpage on archiving emails and our archive policy.

Archive a mailbox to a .pst file

Outlook 2010

1. Open Outlook.
2. Click on File, account settings, account settings
3. Click on Change
4. Uncheck the "Use cached Exchange Mode"
5. Click Next.
6. Click OK on the window asking to restart Outlook
7. Click Finish and Close
8. Close Outlook
9. Open Outlook.
10. Select Open from the File tab and select Import.
11. Select Export to a file from the Import and Export Wizard screen.
12. Select Outlook Data File (.pst*) on the Export to a File screen.
13. Select the folder to export from the Export Outlook Data File screen. This will normally be the very root folder within your mailbox.
14. Make sure Include subfolders is ticked.
15. Choose a location for the file and name it on the Export Outlook Data File screen.

IMPORTANT: To export your archive mailbox (if you have one), under point 13 you have to highlight the root of your archive mailbox.

Outlook 2013 & 2016

1. Open Outlook.
2. Click on File, account settings, account settings
3. Click on Change
4. Uncheck the "Use cached Exchange Mode"
5. Click Next.
6. Click OK on the window asking to restart Outlook
7. Click Finish and Close
8. Close Outlook
9. Open Outlook.
10. Select Open and Export from the File tab.
11. Click on Import/Export.
12. Select Export to a file from the Import and Export Wizard screen.
13. Select Outlook Data File (.pst*) on the Export to a File screen.
14. Select the folder to export from the Export Outlook Data File screen. This will normally be the very root folder within your mailbox.
15. Make sure Include subfolders is ticked.
16. Choose a location for the file and name it on the Export Outlook Data File screen.

IMPORTANT: To export your archive mailbox (if you have one), under point 14 you have to highlight the root of your archive mailbox.

Thunderbird

If you know you won't have access to a copy of Outlook in the future, you might want to make a copy of your mailbox with another email client. Thunderbird is a popular free client available on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Recover a deleted email

You will need these instructions if you:

  • have tried to set up a new email client and now your mailbox is empty;
  • have accidentally deleted an email or folder from your Deleted Items folder and now you need it back;
  • used the Shift+Delete key combination in Outlook to delete a message;
  • archived your emails in an email client and they are removed from your mailbox.

Please be aware that these items can only be retrieved for 30 days, so you must act swiftly.

recover deleted items accordion

Microsoft Outlook
  1. Open Outlook.
  2. Click on the Folder tab.
  3. Click Recover Deleted Items.
  4. Click the item you wish to recover. If you want to recover multiple items, you can hold the Shift key down and click to select contiguous items or hold the Ctrl key down and click to select non-contiguous items. Click select all to recover the entire list.
  5. Click the Recover Selected Items button. The items will be returned to your Deleted Items folder, and then you can move them to other folders.
Outlook on the web
  1. Go to Outlook on the web
  2. Enter your College username followed by @ic.ac.uk and your password and click Sign in.
  3. Right click on the Deleted Items folder icon from the folder list.
  4. Select the Recover Deleted Items option.
  5. Select the items to be recovered in the Recover Deleted Items pop up window and click the Recover Deleted Items icon on the left hand side above the seach box.

Items in Recover Deleted Items are only available for 30 days before being permanently deleted.