![Diane Poremsky [Outlook MVP]](http://www.outlook-tips.net/images/2014/MVP_BlueOnly.png)
I've had several people ask about moving their pst file to OneDrive and similar cloud-based services.
Sorry, no can do. It won't work and could result in a corrupt data file.
Outlook puts a lock on the pst file when the pst file is open. OneDrive continually syncs the local folder. It won't be able to sync correctly when Outlook is open because Outlook has a lock on the data file.
While you could use cloud storage to store backup copies of your data files, its not recommended due to the large size of many pst files: uploading a large data file can take "forever". If you want your Outlook data in the cloud, use Office 365 or other hosted Exchange service, Hotmail/Outlook.com or an IMAP account. Office 365/Exchange will store all Outlook data online, while Outlook.com/Hotmail is email, calendar, and contacts only.
Note that Hotmail Tasks will sync only with Outlook 2013 when you use EAS. The Outlook Connector does not sync tasks. IMAP is email-only.
There are online backup services that can backup pst files when Outlook is open and incrementally backup the pst, so only changes are saved. These are safe to use because they are designed to work with Outlook data files. However, unlike backing up a file to OneDrive or DropBox, you can't download the pst file to another computer or when needed. You need to restore it using the backup application.
Update 1/2012: I tested SugarSync to sync the folder where the pst were stored. It won't sync the pst files, but is syncing the temp files Outlook creates. When I received notification that I was almost out of space, I used the SugarSync File Manager to clean out files I didn't need and empty the Deleted Files cache. It turns out that I had several GB of deleted files going back months. I permanently deleted the pst.tmp files to reclaim 2 GB.
Published August 9, 2012. Last reviewed on September 15, 2014.
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16 Comments on "Tip 1013: Can you use OneDrive, DropBox or other cloud storage for pst files?"
Just get a Blackberry then and bb desktop it syncs everything to the smartphone.
When its fairly easy and is something useful that will benefit others, I don't mind... but in looking into it, VBA can't access the export commands, so you need to walk the folders and copy each message. It's really not a good solution for more than a few folders.
Manual export looks to be a better deal. Or, just copy the ost and hope you never need it. :)
Thank you...
I was just hoping there was some automated way of storing the information in Dropbox so I didn't have to manually do an export each week (all my other backup processes are automated and I only need to check up on them once in awhile to confirm they are functioning properly).
Thanks again... I'll keep looking for an automated solution to backup my Hosted Exchange accounts.
You'll need to do the export each week, but you could use VBA to automate the process for you. I'll see if I can put something together. If you don't think you'll ever need to recover the data, you could copy the ost file to dropbox. Then if the time ever comes where you need to access it, you could buy the software to convert an ost to pst- it's around 100 - 150US currently. It's possible you'll never need it... and if you value your time, could 'save' the cost within a few months.
You can use the services for backup copies, but shouldn't use them for an 'in use' pst.
An ost file can only be opened by the account/profile that created it, so storing the ost (or a copy) in dropbox won't work (well, it will work, but you'd need a recovery tool to get the contents out and they are expensive).
For your situation, exporting to a pst file is generally the best solution. Because the pst is not opened in your profile after the export, Dropbox works fine for it.