Can .pst file be located in Onedrive?

Anonymous
2014-03-22T13:11:31+00:00

I have read some other posts and I am thoroughly confused.  Here is my setup, and what I would like to do:

I have a subscription to Office 365.  My main email account is a Gmail account, and it´s a POP account.  I also use  Calendar, Notes, and Tasks on my Outlook 365 setup on my main desktop computer.  I also have a Laptop that I only use when I am on travel.  Therefore, I never use the Desktop and Laptop simultaneously; I use either one or the other.

Until now, each time I go on travel, I need to manually copy my C:\Username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook[emailaddress].pst file from my Desktop to my Laptop, and then copy it back to my Desktop after the end of my trip.  This is awkward and very inconvenient, to say the least.

Could I move the storage location of the .pst file to Onedrive, so that both Outlook 365 installations in both the Desktop and the Laptop are pointing to the same .pst file and I wouldn´t have to do all the manual copying anymore?

If I can do that, what steps would I have to do to to change the storage location of the .pst file so that I don´t mess up anything?

Alternatively, if storing the .pst file in Onedrive was not supported or recommended, is there a way to automatically keep two installations of Office365 as I described, in synch?

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-09-28T12:46:55+00:00

    MS clarified this some time ago, ie they explicitly stated the use of a pst over a network is not supported

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/297019

    MS provides no means of syncing a pst between devices, third party suppliers do offer pst sync tools, generally a paid for option

    An exchange connection will sync between devices as will IMAP or outlook.com mail accounts

    If you wish to persist with using the pst over a network then ensure you have data backups for when the inevitable occurs

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-09-28T12:01:35+00:00

    While it is indeed true that network-based pst files are not recommended, some users have reported not having problems in using the local copy that some network-based services - like Dropbox, or like OneDrive- locate in the local machine.  It makes sense, if there is no possibility of concurrent access.  That is, that only one machine accesses the pst file at a time, and never concurrently with another machine.  This is the typical scenario of many of us, when we use -for example- the desktop machine normally, and only use the laptop when on travel.  But never both machines concurrently.

    I wished Microsoft clarified this further.  Many, if not most of us use two or more machines, and Microsoft must support Outlook data sharing in more than just one machine.  It is incredible that this late in the game we are still discussing this, because of Microsoft disregard of typical user scenarios like this one.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-09-28T11:07:00+00:00

    MS has stated that the use of a pst file over a network is not supported as it will cause data file corruption, at some stage

    An ost file is a copy of what is on the server

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-09-27T23:37:00+00:00

    That's ok, I got my answer from http://www.msoutlook.info/question/697.

    I now start Outlook with a batch file:

    REM Batch to backup my .OST file to cloud storage.

    XCOPY C:\Users\geo\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook******@school.edu.ost C:\Users\geo\OneDrive\

    REM Start Outlook.

    "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\root\office15\OUTLOOK.EXE"

    fyi,

    george

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  5. Anonymous
    2015-09-27T22:22:19+00:00

    Re: "you can't have Outlook accessing a .PST on onedrive, its a recipe for getting corrupted", can you explain why that is?  

    Would putting the .PST (or .OST, I use IMAP), in a Dropbox folder work instead?  My goal is to have my Outlook 2013 Calendar recoverable the next time Windows crashes irretrievably.

    thanks,

    George

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