Solving the duplicate Personal Folders problem in Outlook
Duplication of Outlook Today and Personal folders can be quite a headache. However, there are several ways of fixing this problem. This article lists out a few ways by which you can remove/manage your duplicate folders without leaving any traces. All you have to do is follow the instructions given below.
- Open your Personal Folder in Outlook.
- Select the folder, right-click on it, and then select the Close option.
- Exit Outlook.
- Go to the Desktop, right-click on the Outlook shortcut there, and select Properties.
- Select the Data Files option.
- Remove all links that connect to the .pst file of consideration.
- Navigate to:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles\Microsoft Outlook Internet Settings
On doing this, you will find a list of folders with extended hexadecimal strings attached to them – out of which two folders (because of duplication) will be for your personal folder (with .pst extensions). - Select one of the two and export it by Registry -> Export Registry.
- Delete the exported folder.
- Run Outlook, and import the exported registry.
- Repeat Steps 4-6, export the other folder, and then delete it.
Alternatively, you can also do the following:
- Navigate to:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles\Microsoft Outlook Internet Settings
First export it, and thereafter delete it. - Navigate to:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles\
- Locate the value “Microsoft Outlook Internet Settings” in the right panel and delete it.
- Run Outlook – which will start up as if it was just installed.
- Import your old personal folder by doing the following:
- Go to File -> Open -> Personal Folders.
- Navigate to the option for View -> Folder List.
- At Personal Folders, right-click and then select Properties.
- Select the option that allows mail to be delivered to these folders.
- Quit Outlook application and then start it again.