Introduction

It might be a tough task for personal and business users to handle big Outlook PST files. With large PST files, Outlook might become slow and you could encounter frequent errors, chances of file corruption, and difficulty in managing mailbox data. With the increasing size of email data, users often look for a practical approach to break PST files into smaller portions for easy management.

A good way to tackle this problem is to partition PST files by size, date or folder. In this detailed article, we are going to discuss the importance of splitting PST files, manual methods to execute the operation, their limits and how an expert tool provides an efficient solution.

Why Do We Need to Split PST Files?

Outlook data including emails, contacts, calendars and notes are stored in PST (Personal Storage Table) files. Users could see many problems when these files become too large:

• Outlook can lag, freeze, or reply slowly with large PST files.
• Oversized PST files are more susceptible to corruption and data loss.
• PST files, especially if you have years of emails in one file, can be tough to organize.
• Smaller PST files are easier to backup, transfer and archive.

How to Split PST Files

There are many ways to split PST files depending on your needs:

Split PST by Size

You can partition a large PST file into little pieces such as 2GB, 5GB, 10GB portions to prevent oversized file difficulties.

Benefits:

• Improves performance in Outlook
• Stops PST corruption
• Easy to handle tiny files

Split PST by Date

This method segregates the emails based on the date range, such year-wise or month-wise archives.

Benefits:

• Manage old and new emails
• Yearly backup archives
• Improved email management

Split PST by Folder

The user can partition Outlook data by mailbox folders, for example, Inbox, Sent Items, Drafts, Contacts and so on.

Benefits:

• folder-based data storage organized
• Easy access to mailbox-specific data
• Better archive handling
• Manual Methods for Splitting PST Files

Method 1: Use Outlook’s Archive feature

Outlook has an Archive option built in that can relocate older emails to a separate PST file.

Steps:

• Launch Microsoft Outlook
• Tools > Clean Up Old Item > File
• Pick folders to archive
• Select date criteria
• Save new PST file

Limitation: 

• Only supports separating based on date
• Time-consuming for big data
• No size or folder split options

Method 2: Create New PST and Transfer Data Manually

You can create new PST files manually and move email messages to them.

Steps:

• Open Outlook 
• Go to File > Account Settings > Data Files 
• Click Add to create a new PST 
• Drag & drag folders or emails to the new file

  Limitations: 

• Requires manual work
• Data loss risk during transfer
• Not good for big PST files

Why Should You Not Prefer Manual Methods?

There are multiple disadvantages to the free methods, even though they are free:

• Complex for the non-technical users
• Extended procedure
• No support for bulk splitting
• Risk of corrupted data
• Limited filter choices
• No straight split size and folder combo

To ensure safety and speed, we offer a professional solution.

PST Split by Size, Date and Folder – Pro Solution

GainTools Split PST Tool is a smart utility that split large Outlook PST files into smaller sections without impacting the integrity of data. It allows you to split PST files by size, folder and year with full precision.

This application provides a simple and effective way to get organized mailbox management whether you have large archive files or not.

Features

• Split large PST files into smaller size based pieces if needed.
• Break emails into date ranges.
• Make separate PST files for Inbox, Sent, Contacts and other folders.
• Keeps the original email, attachments, metadata and folder structure intact.
• Supports both old and new Outlook PST formats.
• It’s easy for both the beginner and the professional using simple steps.
• It can break big PST files in no time without any loss of data.
• Supports Outlook 2024, 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013 and previous versions.

How to Divide PST Files Using Professional Software

Simply follow these steps:

• Download and launch GainTools Split PST Tool on your machine.
• Browse and choose the huge PST file which you want to split.
• Choose split mode: By Size By Folder By Year
• Set size limits, dates or folders you like.
• Click Split and let the software do the rest of the work.
• Select the destination path and save split PST files.
• Completed! Now your huge Outlook PST file has been divided into smaller, manageable bits.

Why to Choose Split PST Tool?

Here’s why most users like this tool:

• Solution that is safe and reliable
• No Outlook technical knowledge necessary
• Multiple splitting choices in one tool
• Preserves original mailbox hierarchy structure
• Fast processing of huge PST files
• Lowers probability of Outlook crashes
• Makes PST handling easier and speeds up Outlook performance.
• Trial Version Available

Furthermore, it features a free demo version, so that consumers can evaluate program capabilities before purchasing the complete version.

Conclusion

Large PST files can lead to major Outlook performance and data management concerns. One of the greatest ways to organize and secure mailbox data is splitting PST files by size, date or folder.

Manual procedures do offer some choices but are time consuming and dangerous. GainTools Split PST Tool is a solid option for a secure, rapid and professional approach. It enables users in breaking large PST files easily with complete data integrity.

If you are facing issues with huge Outlook data files, this program can be the complete solution for efficient PST management.