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Moving E-Mail Messages to Local Folders in Outlook Express 5

Moving e-mail messages to local folders helps free up space on the mail server. Also, you won't have to be connected to the Internet to read those messages you downloaded.

NOTE: There are some things you need to be aware of when you move e-mail messages to your computer:

  • Moving messages from the server to your local computer will prevent you to access the moved messages from any other computer. After you move the messages, they will only reside in the computer that you do this from.
  • You have to keep in mind that if your hard drive becomes defective and none of the files on it can be accessed, you will also lose the e-mail messages that you moved out of the mail server. It is a good idea to backup your files frequently to prevent losing data. Talk to your local technical support, if you have not already done so, on how to backup the files in your computer.
  1. In order to move your messages to folders, you must first create a folder under your Local Folders directory. Left Click once on the Local Folder to highlight it.

    Local Folders

  2. Now Right Click once on Local Folder and a window will appear. Scroll down to and click on New Folder...

    Folder Properties

  3. The Create Folder window appears. Under Folder Name: enter any name that you would like to call your folder. Once you have entered in a name, click OK, and the window disappears and your new folder is created.

    New Folder

  4. Now your new folder has been created under your Local Folders directory. If you do not see your new folder, click the little plus sign (+) located directly to the left of the Local Folders directory and your new folder should appear.

    Local Folders

  5. With your new folder created, you can now move messages from your Inbox or other folders that may be filtering your mail. So for your first step click on the Inbox or Folder that contains the messages you would like to move.

    Inbox

  6. Select the message or messages that you want to move. There are two ways to do this: First, if you want to select "ALL" messages, then click the first e-mail message in your Inbox. Once the first message is highlighted, choose EDIT and click on Select All. All messages should be highlighted now.

    Select All

    Second, if you want to select different messages, find the messages that you would like to move. Holding down the Ctrl key on your keyboard, Left click the mouse button once on each message you would like to move.

    Left Click

  7. Once you have the messages highlighted, move your mouse arrow over any of the messages which are highlighted. Right click once and a window appears. Scroll down and click select Move to Folder...

    Move to Folder

  8. The Move window appears and under the Local Folders directory, you should see your new folder name listed. If your new folder is listed, click one on the your new folder to highlight it, then click OK and your messages are now in your new folder. If you do not see your folder listed, then you want to click the plus sign (+) located to the left of the Local Folders directory and your new folder should show up in the list. If you still do not see a folder, check and make sure that you are using Outlook Express 5 and if you are try repeating steps 1-5.
  9. To check if your messages were moved to the correct folder, click on the folder name in the left column under the Local Folder directory, and your messages should appear in your new folder. Repeat steps 1-9 if you would like to move more messages.

    Local Folder

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