Steps To Retrieve The Compacted Emails In Outlook Express

Microsoft Outlook Express can be termed as an email application that is included with Internet Explorer. It was earlier known as Windows Mail, and later came to be known as Windows Live Mail. Outlook Express is a different program from the Microsoft Office Outlook e-mail client, which ships with Microsoft Office for Windows. The similar names lead many people to conclude that Outlook Express is a stripped down version of Outlook. The two programs do not share common code, but do share a common architectural perspective.

The messages compacted by Outlook Express are moved into an Inbox.bak file. This file is stored in the same folder as the Inbox.dbx file, in which the users’ regular inbox emails are located. Hence, according to Outlook Express help, the user should replace the Inbox.dbx file with the Inbox.bak file to retrieve these messages.

You can follow these simple instructions to recover the compacted emails in Microsoft Outlook Express, before seeking assistance from tech support.

• In the first step, click the Tools option at the top of the window. Now, select Options. Click the Maintenance tab at the top of the window, followed by Store Folder.
• In the next step, highlight the store folder address by pressing the Tab key on your keyboard, and then press Ctrl and C to copy it.
• Now, close Outlook Express and select the Start button in the bottom left corner of the window. Now, click the Run option. You can also contact Outlook Express help to seek assistance with recovering the compacted emails.
• Once you click the option, press the Ctrl and V buttons to paste the store folder address into the empty field, and select the OK option to open the store folder.
• Now, right-click the Inbox.dbx file, then click Rename. Replace the .dbx portion of the file name with .old so that the file name reads Inbox.old. Now, click Enter to save the change.
• In the next step, rename the Inbox.bak file replacing the .bak portion of the file name with .dbx, so that the file name is Inbox.dbx. Press Enter to apply the change to the file name.
• Open the Outlook Express application, and then click Inbox at the left side of the window, to find the compacted message that you need to recover.

Hence, you can follow these steps to recover the compacted emails in Microsoft Outlook Express. For more information, check Microsoft’s official website.