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I'm trying to document the process for setting up a new workstation, and part of that is setting auto-archive up for Outlook. I'd like to know where the Auto-Archive settings are stored in order to tell if a user switching to a new workstation will have previous settings restored just by migrating their PST or OST files.

My understanding is that different Outlook settings are stored in different places. The 2 aforementioned files, the user's AppData folder, and possibly other places.

I'm using Outlook 2010 (v14)

Jason Kelley
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3 Answers3

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I'd like to know where the Auto-Archive settings are stored

They are stored in the registry.

Auto archive is a purely Outlook feature (i.e. the settings are not stored in the mailbox), and the settings are not exposed in the object model. The settings are stored in the registry, however, so it is possible to read the information from there. Note though, that this is completely unsupported (just as we do not support modifying an Outlook profile in the registry). Having said this, most of the settings have remained the same since Outlook 2003 (probably earlier, but I haven’t tested any earlier clients), and so long as you are just looking to read the settings (not set them), then this can be fairly easily done.

Most of the auto archive settings for a profile will be found in the registry key HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles\<PROFILE>\0a0d020000000000c000000000000046, where <PROFILE> is the profile name. The values in this key are undocumented, so you’ll have to do your own investigation as to what they do (an easy way of doing this is to change your auto archive settings, and see what has changed in the registry).

The source link includes a script to report some of the auto archive settings.

Source Outlook: how to programmatically read auto archive settings

Community
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DavidPostill
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The easiest way I find to access it is to right click any folder such as your inbox - go to properties - then the middle tab is 'AutoArchive'.

This is only changing settings for this specific folder, but there is a button to access the default archive settings.

This will take you to the archive settings for all your folders.

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djsmiley2kStaysInside
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In Outlook, each folder can have its own AutoArchive settings. These settings are stored right in mailbox/PST per folder. Default AutoArchive settings are stored in registry (HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Preferences). You can configure them using GPO. Relevant values are:

  • DoAging: Turn AutoArchive on and off
  • EveryDays: How often archiving occurs
  • PromptForAging: Prompt before archiving
  • DeleteExpired: Delete expired items

Local path to archive PST files is also stored in registry in the MAPI profile settings (HKCU\Software\Microsoft\WIndows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles).

thims
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