View source for Persönlicher Ordner - Personal Folder/English

The Outlook mailbox is a file located on the mailserver in SCC, which may not exceed 5 GB. If the file size exceeds 4.8GB you'll receive warning messages automatically. At 5 GB no more messages can be send. At 5.2 GB no more messages can be received! 
 
Since the mailbox is loacted on the server, the folders in the mailbox can be accessed from every device and also over internet (https://owa.kit.edu).
 
To avoid the mailbox getting to big, messages not needed any mor should be deleted, and messages which don't need online access any more should be moved to a personal folder.

Im IMT a personal folder is created by default for every user at installation time (Name:family name of the of the user + Year of creation date). 

In Outlook, a personal folder file is a ''Outlook data file'' with a .pst extension that is located on your computer's hard disk instead of the server (usually in "My Documents\Outlook files". Therefore it's only accessible on this PC. In this personal folder you can create arbitrary subfolders to clearly arrange messages for archiving purposes.
 
The size of an Outlook data file will not be reduced automatically if messages are deleted moved to another file. To reduce file size the data file has to be compacted manually:
 
Right click the personal folder in Outlook --> Outlook Data File Properties --> Advanced... --> Compact now
 
You should take care that the Outlook data file does not get to big because this will slow down performance.

If the personal folder gets too big it's better to create a newone (e.g. one per year).


How to create a new personal folder:

On the Home tab, in the New group, click New Items, point to More Items, and then click Outlook Data File.

In the Create or Open Outlook Data File dialog box, in the File name box, type the name as you want it to appear in the Outlook Navigation Pane, and then click OK.

Older data files not used often any more can be closed in Outlook. The file sill exists and can be opened again if needed (File --> Open). Personal folders remain open in Outlook as long as they are not closed manually.