Increasing the size of a PST file.

[yellowtriumph]

Originally Posted by le Pingouin

Apparently there are two different PST file formats - an older one using ANSI encoding which has a limit of 1.9GB and a newer one using Unicode encoding which has the 50GB limit. Perhaps yellowtriumph's PST is using ANSI having come from an earlier Outlook version?

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...iles-in-outloo

Here's how to tell which format you have: https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/co...nicode-format/

Methods for converting ANSI to Unicode: Convert an ANSI PST to a Unicode PST

Ah ha, thanks for the links. I have checked the PST file format and can confirm my Outlook is using the ANSI format with a limit of 2GB.

I am going to think about this for a day or two since experience tells me not to rush into anything so important. I have one PST file and the material within it is most valuable and it would be a disaster if I lost the material or corrupted it by acting in haste.

Looks to me that I should consider converting the file from ANSI to Unicode, but I ask myself will I lose any on my existing material if I do? Does the conversion process simply create a new 'Unicode' file (50GB) with my original 2GB of 'ANSI data' sitting in the first 2GB of it?

Of course it goes without saying that I should export my existing PST file to a safe back up location before trying any of this!

As I say, I will think about this for a day or two before proceeding - thanks to everyone for your support on this.

PS, I have deleted off some old emails to create enough working space for the time being.