I'm getting a message in New Outlook that says ""Delete copy of migrated data from Legacy Outlook to free up space."

Dear LK Hill,

Good day! Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community. We are happy to assist you. 

Yes, this is a legitimate message from Outlook. When you migrate data from Legacy Outlook to New Outlook, a copy of the data is stored on your computer. The message you are seeing is a reminder to delete the copy of the migrated data to free up space on your computer. The migrated data is still available in New Outlook and can be accessed in the "On My Computer" folder.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please let me know.

Thanks for your precious time. Have a nice day.  Sincerely,Sherry | Microsoft Community Moderator

Thanks Sherry! These days you can't be too careful around messages like this, especially when Microsoft creates it in a format that you've never seen before...

LK Hill: I have the same question; adding on to your query.

Sherry:

I use Microsoft Outlook for Mac v16.84.2 (24042814) with a 365 subscription.

It is not clear how the data in New Outlook is being handled. I don't see anything at all in the folders named "On My Computer". Plus all my New Outlook folders show inconsistent email counts while hovering on individual folders and sub-folders. I see an option for "sync" while right clicking on each folder; awaiting results if I get access to all my 15 years of emails. I am sure there are people like me who rely on Outlook for a certain type of "file management" in addition to local filing folders by virtue of file attachments. Clubbed with sender info and time stamp, it becomes a more powerful resource than just filing of files in local folders.

In New Outlook, I don't see any option to Export, this is scary. What's the best way to export for backup purposes. MacOS Time Machine is not an ideal solution but that is a separate discussion.

Is the migration file an exact duplicate that can be ignored and deleted? (Not even sure where the migration files are in the first place). But like I said, I don't see anything in "On My Computer" folder.

Thanks,

PK

Based on Sherry's input yesterday, I pulled the trigger on the "Delete old Outlook data" message, and now I don't see a thing in any of the folders in the "On My Computer" section of Outlook, contrary to what the Microsoft message promised...

Based on Sherry's input yesterday, I pulled the trigger on the "Delete old Outlook data" message, and now I don't see a thing in any of the folders in the "On My Computer" section of Outlook, contrary to what the Microsoft message promised...

LK,

I sympathize. In my case, I did not even click delete - instead I cancelled the message and ignored it. Yet, I don't see anything in my "On My Computer" folder.

One thing that is partially working so far: in each of the "regular" New Outlook folders, I am right clicking and selecting sync, which seems to be loading more messages. For especially big folders (one of mine has 30K plus messages) it is displaying about a 1000 at first, but then I have to keep going to the last one and click "load more conversations". It is not automatic. A bit frustrating for sure.

PK