Archive, Delete or File? What Outlook’s Archive, Sweep and Clean Up Really Do
Outlook has five ways to get mail out of your inbox without choosing a folder: Archive, AutoArchive, Sweep, Clean Up and Ignore. They sound alike, they are not all in the same Outlook, and only one of them leaves every email exactly where you can find it.
In short: Archive moves email to the Archive folder in your mailbox and deletes nothing. AutoArchive, in classic Outlook for Windows only, moves older items into a .pst file on your computer, or deletes them if set to. Sweep, in the new Outlook, Outlook on the web and Outlook.com, moves or deletes mail from one sender, once or every day. Clean Up, in classic Outlook, deletes messages whose text is already quoted in a later reply in the same conversation. Ignore sends a whole conversation, and every later reply to it, to Deleted Items. If you will want an email again, archive it or file it into a folder; if you won’t, delete it.
The Archive Button and the Archive Folder
Archive is the one to use when you are done with an email but don’t want to delete it. It moves the selected messages to a folder called Archive, in the same mailbox. Nothing is deleted, the mail stays on the server, and it stays searchable. Microsoft’s own Archive article also points out that archiving does not reduce your mailbox size: the mail has only moved. If your mailbox is full, see what actually frees space.
- New Outlook and Outlook on the web: select the email and choose Archive in the toolbar. In the new Outlook a notice appears with Undo.
- Classic Outlook for Windows: Archive sits in the Delete group of the ribbon. The Backspace key archives the selected messages too, except in a message opened in its own window.
- Outlook for Mac: select the messages and choose Archive. If the account has no archive folder yet, Outlook offers to create one. For a Gmail account the archive is Gmail’s All Mail.
For Microsoft 365, Exchange and Outlook.com accounts, Archive is a built-in folder: it exists already, and in classic Outlook it cannot be renamed, moved or deleted. For other accounts, such as Gmail, Yahoo or iCloud added to classic Outlook, you pick the folder yourself under File > Mailbox Settings > Tools > Set Archive Folder.
Don’t confuse the Archive folder with the Online Archive. That is a separate archive mailbox that some Microsoft 365 work accounts have, with its own folders, usually filled by a policy that moves mail older than a set age. If your folder list shows a second tree called “Online Archive” (in classic Outlook and on Mac) or “In-Place Archive” (in the new Outlook and on the web), that is it.
AutoArchive and .pst Files (Classic Outlook Only)
AutoArchive is the older feature, and it works very differently. It runs in the background and moves old items out of your mailbox into an Outlook Data File (.pst) on your computer, by default Documents\Outlook Files\archive.pst. Once there, the mail is no longer on the server: you will not see it in Outlook on the web, on your phone or on another computer, and the file needs backing up like any other.
- Where to set it: File > Options > Advanced > AutoArchive Settings, where you choose how often it runs and how old an item must be. Each folder can have its own setting under Properties > AutoArchive.
- Default ages, per Microsoft: Inbox and Drafts 6 months, Sent Items and Deleted Items 2 months, Outbox 3 months.
- It can delete. One option permanently deletes old items instead of moving them, and then no archive copy is kept. Check this before you turn it on.
- Once, by hand: File > Info > Tools > Clean up old items archives a folder up to a date you choose.
Microsoft states plainly that AutoArchive is not available in the new Outlook for Windows. It may also be missing on work accounts that connect to Exchange, where the organization’s retention policy or Online Archive takes its place. If you are searching for how to set up automatic archiving and find no AutoArchive anywhere, this is usually why. For other ways to move mail once it reaches a certain age, see how to move emails older than X days automatically.
Sweep
Sweep deals with one sender at a time. Select an email from that sender, choose Sweep, and decide what happens to their mail: move or delete everything from them in the folder, do the same with everything they send from now on, keep only their latest message, or remove their messages once they are older than 10 days. You choose the folder the messages go to.
- Where it exists: the new Outlook, Outlook on the web and Outlook.com. Microsoft says Sweep isn’t currently available in classic Outlook.
- Which accounts: Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live.com and Microsoft 365. Not Gmail, Yahoo or other IMAP accounts.
- When it runs: a Sweep rule runs once a day, while an inbox rule runs as soon as mail arrives. A sender’s new message can therefore sit in the inbox for a while before Sweep moves it.
- It is not available in Junk Email, Drafts, Sent Items or Deleted Items.
Sweep is a quick answer to newsletters and notifications. For anything that depends on more than the sender, you need real rules; see alternatives to Outlook rules.
Clean Up: Conversation, Folder, Folder & Subfolders
Clean Up removes redundant messages. Outlook looks at each message in a conversation, and if a message is completely contained in one of the later replies, the earlier one is removed. You keep the last reply, which still shows the whole history quoted underneath.
In classic Outlook for Windows it is on the Home tab, in the Delete group, under Clean Up (on the simplified ribbon, open the arrow next to Delete). There are three choices:
- Clean Up Conversation works on the selected conversation.
- Clean Up Folder works on every conversation in the current folder. This is the answer to “what does Clean Up Folder do”: it does not file, sort or archive anything, it only removes messages that are duplicated by later replies.
- Clean Up Folder & Subfolders does the same for the folder and every folder inside it.
The removed messages go to Deleted Items, so they are recoverable until that folder is emptied. Under File > Options > Mail > Conversation Clean Up you can send them to another folder instead, and choose not to move unread, categorized, flagged or digitally signed messages. Microsoft documents Clean Up for classic Outlook for Windows.
Ignore
Ignore is for a conversation you want out of your life, typically a reply-all thread. It moves the conversation to Deleted Items, and every later message in that conversation goes straight there too. Other email from the same people still arrives as normal.
In classic Outlook, select the conversation, then Home > Delete > Ignore > Ignore Conversation. To undo it, find the conversation in Deleted Items, choose Ignore again and then Stop Ignoring Conversation; this only works while it is still in Deleted Items. Microsoft’s comparison of the two Windows apps lists ignoring conversations as available in the new Outlook as well, and the Outlook mobile apps have Ignore Conversation in the conversation’s … menu.
Which Outlook Has Which
| Feature | New Outlook for Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | Outlook on the web | Outlook for Mac |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archive button | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AutoArchive (.pst) | No | Yes | No | Not documented |
| Sweep | Yes | No | Yes | Not documented |
| Clean Up | Not documented | Yes | Not documented | Not documented |
| Ignore | Yes | Yes | Not documented | Not documented |
“Not documented” means Microsoft’s article for that feature does not cover that version, so check your own menus. The new Outlook and classic Outlook columns follow Microsoft’s feature comparison and the feature articles linked above.
Delete, Archive or File into a Folder?
Each email you are done with needs one of three answers, and the question that decides it is how you would look for it again. They are also the fastest way through a backlog after time away: see how to set up out of office in Outlook and clear the pile when you’re back.
- Delete it if you will not need it: newsletters you have read, notifications, confirmations you have acted on. Sweep and Ignore are ways of deleting automatically.
- Archive it if you might need it but would find it by searching for a name or a word. Archive is one flat place, and Outlook search covers it.
- File it into a folder if you will need to see it together with related mail: everything for one client, one project or one case, or mail you need to browse without knowing what to search for. A folder answers “show me all of it”; search only answers “find me this”.
“Folders or archive?” is therefore rarely either-or. A setup that works for most people: archive by default, and keep a small number of folders for the few things you really browse. How to organize emails in Outlook and how to create and organize Outlook folders cover the folder side. If your goal is mail that is easy to search years from now, keep it in the mailbox, in Archive or in folders, and avoid moving it into .pst files: a .pst is searched only when it is open in Outlook on that one computer.
If filing into folders is the part that takes the time, Folder Suggest is an Outlook add-in that suggests the right folder for each email from the folders you already have, so filing takes one click. It has a free plan.
Where Outlook Keeps Your Email, and How to Find Archived Mail
For Microsoft 365, Exchange and Outlook.com accounts, your email lives in your mailbox on Microsoft’s servers. Classic Outlook keeps a synchronized copy on your computer (an .ost file), which is only a copy. Mail from a POP account, and anything AutoArchive moved, is in a .pst file on the computer instead. Where to look depends on which of these happened:
- Archived with the Archive button: open Archive in the folder list, or search. Classic Outlook searches the whole mailbox by default; select the Archive folder first to search only there.
- Moved by an archive policy: look in the Online Archive (In-Place Archive in the new Outlook and on the web), which appears as its own mailbox in the folder list. In classic Outlook a search from the inbox does not include it, so search inside it. The new Outlook can show Online Archive results in a normal search.
- Moved by AutoArchive: in classic Outlook, File > Open & Export > Open Outlook Data File and pick the .pst (by default in
Documents\Outlook Files). The new Outlook can open .pst files under Settings > Files > Outlook Data Files, but only if classic Outlook is also installed on that computer in the same 32- or 64-bit version, the account has a Microsoft 365 subscription, and the PC is not an ARM device. - Swept, cleaned up or ignored: in the folder you chose for Sweep, or in Deleted Items until it is emptied.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does archiving delete emails in Outlook?
No. The Archive button moves email to the Archive folder in your mailbox. It stays on the server, stays searchable and still counts toward your mailbox size. AutoArchive in classic Outlook is different: it moves old items into a .pst file on your computer, or deletes them if you set it to.
What does Clean Up Folder do in Outlook?
It goes through every conversation in the folder and removes messages whose whole text is already contained in a later reply. The removed messages go to Deleted Items unless you choose another folder under File > Options > Mail > Conversation Clean Up. Clean Up Folder & Subfolders does the same for the subfolders too. It is a classic Outlook for Windows feature.
Where is AutoArchive in the new Outlook?
There is none. Microsoft states that AutoArchive is not available in the new Outlook for Windows. The new Outlook has the Archive button, Sweep and, for Microsoft 365 accounts that have one, the Online Archive. It can also open existing .pst files under Settings > Files > Outlook Data Files, if classic Outlook is installed on the same computer and the account has a Microsoft 365 subscription.
Is the Archive folder the same as the Online Archive?
No. The Archive folder is an ordinary folder in your mailbox. The Online Archive is a separate archive mailbox that some Microsoft 365 work accounts have, with its own folders, usually filled by an archive policy that moves old mail there.
Should I use folders or the Archive folder?
Use Archive for mail you are done with and would find again by searching. Use folders for mail you need to see together, such as everything for one client or project. Most people do both: archive by default and file into a handful of folders. Either way, keep it in the mailbox rather than in a .pst file, so it stays searchable from every device.