• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Outlook Tips

Learning Microsoft Outlook One Tip At A Time

Outlook 2013 Absolute Beginner's Guide Diane Poremsky [Outlook MVP]

  • Home
  • Tips Archive
  • How to...
  • Beginner
  • Outlook.com

Tip 78: More Questions about Folder size and Item count

In a previous tip, I said:

"As your folders (and the mailbox) grows, it tends to slow Outlook down, so while you can have 65,000 contacts, you may not want quite that many."

David asks, "Okay then, what slows Outlook more, a few messages in lots of folders, or lots of messages in a few folders?"

The answer is… "It depends."

If you are searching for an item and know which folder it's in, fewer items in the folder equals a faster search. While searching more folders won't take any longer than searching many items in one folder, it's often easier to find the items without searching if you use fewer folders.

Overall, Outlook is affected more by message store file size than item counts. A 300 meg pst, whether it has one folder or 300 is going to use more resources and slow Outlook down more than a 30 meg store.

Note that newer computers can easily handle Outlook and large message stores, so there is no need to reduce your message store to 30 megs. :) If you use Outlook 2002 or older you do want to keep your personal folders under 1.75 GB though.

Published December 30, 2003. Last updated on September 13, 2014.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • Print
  • Tumblr
  • Reddit
  • Pocket
  • Pinterest

Related posts:

Tip 17: Avoid using Import and Export paperclip iconTip 27: Attachments and the SecureTemp Folder Tip 77: Easy Access to Templates within Outlook Outlook: Frequently Asked Questions
Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Outlook Tips by Email

Search OutlookTips

Training and one-on-one assistance

Do you need help setting up Outlook or want some one-on-one training? I'm available for hire. See Training and one-on-one assistance for fees and to check availability.

Popular Posts this Week

  • Where is File tab in Outlook?
    Where is File tab in Outlook?
  • How to Find Folder Paths in Outlook Mailboxes
    How to Find Folder Paths in Outlook Mailboxes
  • How to Reset the View on Outlook folders
    How to Reset the View on Outlook folders
  • Understanding Tasks and To-Do List
    Understanding Tasks and To-Do List
  • Change or cancel meetings without sending update messages
    Change or cancel meetings without sending update messages
  • Icons found in the Inbox, Message Headers, and Toolbars
    Icons found in the Inbox, Message Headers, and Toolbars
  • How to bulk move Outlook folders
    How to bulk move Outlook folders
  • How to use Outlook's Command line switches
    How to use Outlook's Command line switches
  • Tip 307: Shortcuts for Reading the Next Message
    Tip 307: Shortcuts for Reading the Next Message
  • Tip 160: This Machine Only Rule
    Tip 160: This Machine Only Rule

All-Time Most Popular Posts

  • Windows 7 and Vista Start Search field
    How to start Outlook in safe mode
  • outlook.com icon
    Delete a message stuck in Outlook's Outbox
  • How to use Outlook's Command line switches
  • Use Cleanviews switch to reset all views
    How to Reset the View on Outlook folders
  • Where are my Outlook Files?
  • Folder paths
    How to Find Folder Paths in Outlook Mailboxes
  • How to use Scanpst.exe to repair Outlook data files
  • Outlook's Missing Holidays
  • open an outlook data file
    Open an existing personal data file (*.pst) in Outlook
  • Creating rules that apply to an entire domain
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Footer

Recent Posts

  • Outlook on the web Quick Actions moved to the right
  • Automatically sign out of Outlook.com
  • Quick Actions in Outlook
  • Outlook Autocomplete Bug
  • Outlook on the web Address Book sort order

Recent Bug List

Microsoft keeps a running list of issues affecting recently released updates at Fixes or workarounds for recent issues in Outlook for Windows.

Office Update History

Update history for supported Office versions is at Update history for Office

Resources

Ask questions and share your knowledge in Outlook Forums.

Translate

You Might Like

Where is File tab in Outlook?
Using Two-factor authentication
Where are my Outlook Files?
How to use Outlook's Command line switches

© 2003–2022 ยท Outlook Tips

wpDiscuz
You are going to send email to

Move Comment