Can .pst file be located in Onedrive?

Office 365 MS Outlook can be configured with any type of mail account that your mail provider supports, be it pop, IMAP, Exchange or whatever. There is no requirement to switch to a different type of mail account, unless your mail provider withdraws support for that type of mail account

Office 365 is still desktop based, its simply that 365 is a subscription license that features automatic version updates, when released and providing any subscription is still current.

OneDrive is the default save location, but the local PC can be set as the default

The only bugbear with 365/2016 is that MS Outlook 2016 doesn't support Exchange 2007, and for any later version of Ex the auto discover option must be switched on by the Ex Admin

Search works the same way

Up front: I am a newbie as far as Office 365 is concerned.

I came accross this thread whilst investiging what might all be changing when I -were!- to upgrade my Office 2013 desktop to Office 365.

Office 365 looks tempting, but the practical information about all the changes over a standalone version, that is 'scattered' around in various support forums, i.e. one might pick some info here, find other info elsewhere.

It would be nice if there was a full recap of all the changes over the stand-alone version,

meaning a list of what you are being used to as a desktop Office user and what isn't possible anymore after your move to 365.

Example: I have my .pst files are stored within an encrypted partition. First thing I do is to open the partition (container) and only then launch Outlook or any other Office program. When launching Outlook some 9 linked archive pst files are also opened. The container holds all my personal files.

This way, should my pc be serviced, I have the comfortable feeling that my personal data is safe.

My Outlook 2013 has 3 email addresses: 1 gmail and 2 having different domains.

All pop3.

Now, from what I gather here, I should forget all the above when moving to 365...

One has to switch to IMAP and start with a fresh .ost file instead of seemingly old fashioned  .pst (pop3) file;

One may also need to apply some registry hack to relocated the .ost file to another partition, if needed;

Then optionally spend a couple of hours copying .pst folders and mails to the newly .ost file.

(am not sure though if it is possible at all to open .pst files with an active 365 account. maybe it can, maybe not, i simply don't know right now)

Assume one needs to try and limit the size of the .ost file as it may take a while to sync?

I guess the only thing that may prevent your mails from being read by 'others' is a Microsoft account password only?

Can I use my gmail account or do I need to use my outlook.com account?

(read: do I have to inform people of a the email address change?)

I don't know what else to bear in mind IF .. I were to change to Office 365.

Right now, for me, I think I see a lot of 'cons' and extra work to make things work...

=

later: oh... btw.. how does the indexer work? right now I select, 'search all mailitems' and Outlook will search through the linked archive pst's as well.

MS has never supported the use of a pst on a network or cloud location as it will cause data corruption.

If you do not properly disconnect any usb device before closing the PC, or have it connected when you start the PC that will likely lead to pst corruption

The speed of any usb depends also on the usb maker, its not solely dependent on the usb version

A pst was never designed for the type of use you wish to employ

If you wish to have the same outlook data on multiple PC's you should be using an Exchange, or outlook.com mail account.

In this case, a portable USB SSD will be safer.

I also opted for that. I redirect the outlook to see the PST files.

Then I use the same portable SSD for other computers.

I have a Flash USB connected to a 3.0, so the speed must be ok, anyway. A Flash is more comfortable because it is smaller, but if there is just one chance of getting data corruption, I prefer to carry on with the SSD.

But just curiosity.... What happens if you try to upload a PST file to Onedrive.

I think you can indicate to Microsoft Outlook where the PST file is

Many thanks

No it wont

Not only is a usb flash much slower than the internal, its very easy for user action to cause data corruption, and in any case not all flash drives are equal, some are as cheap as chips