Convert PST to PDF and Delete the Duplicates

/ Data Management, Removing Duplicates, Solutions / By

A Personal Storage Table (.pst) is an Outlook data file that contains emails, email attachments, contacts, calendar items and other user-specific information. PST files have an upper size limit of 2 GB.

On the other hand, the Portable Document Format (PDF) is a digital document format invented by Adobe. It is commonly used to create and securely exchange electronic documents with text, graphics, infographics, form-fields, annotations, and rich media content including videos.

You may want to convert your PST file into a single PDF as a part of creating the data backup. This may be helpful in situations where your email gets hacked, when your computer experiences boot failure, the hard drive simply dies, or worse, your laptop gets stolen!

In such situations, what do you do? The following lines will spell it out.

 

Convert Your PST Emails into PDF

Step # 1: Install Adobe Acrobat

  1. Download either of the Adobe Acrobat Standard or the Professional edition from here.
  2. Double-click the setup and follow the installer wizard to complete the installation.
  3. Launch the software.

Important: The free version of Acrobat Reader will not work as it doesn’t provide the functionality to edit and make changes to the contents of PDFs.

 

Step # 2: Determine PST File Location

Here are the default PST locations for different Outlook versions:

Microsoft Office Outlook 2019/ 2016/ 2013:

  • C:\Users\%username%\Documents\Outlook Files

Microsoft Office Outlook 2010/ 2007/ 2003:

  • C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

If you’re still unable to locate the PST file, please follow the steps given below to determine the exact location:

  1. Open the Account Settings dialog.
    • Microsoft Office Outlook 2016/ 2013/ 2010:
      1. Click on the File menu, followed by Account Settings.
    • Microsoft Office 2007:
      1. Click on the Tools menu.
      2. Select Account Settings.
  2. In the Account Settings dialog box, click on the Data Files tab.
  3. Choose your active email account.
  4. Click on Open File Location.
  5. Outlook will open the location in the File Explorer /Windows Explorer where the PST file is actually located.

Step # 3: Load Your PST File

  1. Launch Microsoft Office Outlook application.
  2. Open your Outlook Data File.
    • Microsoft Office Outlook 2019 and 2016:
      1. Click on the File menu, followed by Open & Export option.
      2. Click on Open Outlook Data File.
    • Microsoft Office Outlook 2013/ 2010/ 2007/ 2003:
      1. Click the File menu, select Open.
      2. Choose Outlook Data File.
  3. Locate the PST file and click Open.
  4. The PST file contents will soon appear in your Outlook Mailbox momentarily.

Step # 4: Load Your Email Account

  1. Click on the File menu and select Info.
  2. Click on Add Account.
  3. Provide your email authentication details such as name, email address, and password.
  4. Click on Next.

Step # 5: Configure Email Attachment & Blocked Content Settings

  1. Click the Adobe PDF tab on the Ribbon interface of your Microsoft Office Outlook application.
  2. Click the Change Conversion Settings icon.
  3. This opens up a new dialog titled Acrobat PDF Maker.
  4. Select the following configuration option:
    • Attachments: Include all attachments in the Adobe PDF
  5. Select the checkboxes for the following options:
    • Output Adobe PDF Portfolio when creating a new PDF file
    • Block download of external content
  6. Click the OK button.

Important: If no Adobe PDF tab is displayed in the Ribbon interface, you may want to upgrade or reinstall your version of Adobe Acrobat and make sure that it is properly integrated with Outlook. Visit the Microsoft Office support documentation for detailed troubleshooting instructions.

Step # 6: Create a PDF Portfolio

  1. Right-click your Inbox folder.
  2. Select Convert “Inbox” to Adobe PDF from the context menu.
  3. Specify a name for your PDF Portfolio. For example My_PDF_Portfolio.pdf

 

Delete Duplicate Emails and Save Storage Space

It can be quite frustrating when Outlook shows up the same emails over and again in the Inbox. You’ll likely end up wasting a lot of time as well as productivity while finding the right email among the duplicates.

Most often, if you’re receiving identical emails from a single sender, it’s a problem of Internet spam, a practice of sending unsolicited emails as part of digital marketing, product promotions or to make money through fraudulent means.

Fortunately, there is a way to deal with this crucial problem of email duplication. Simply load the PST files into Clone Files Checker duplicate finding program, and then sweep away the duplicates. Here’s how:

  1. Download Sorcim’s Clone Files Checker Duplicate File Finder Software.
  2. Install the program on your computer and then launch it.
  3. Click the Add button on the left.
  4. In the Browse for Folder dialog box, select the PST file location and click OK.
  5. Add multiple folders if your PST files are stored in different directories.
  6. At this point, select the All Files option in the Search Options to continue searching for all PST files and other file types.
  7. Use the File Size Filters to set the upper and lower range for your files. For example: To search for files ranging from 10 MB to 100 MB, set the Ignore files smaller than to 10 MB, and Ignore files larger than to 100 MB.
  8. Next, click on Start Search and wait for results.
  9. Browse the Scan Results, and use the checkboxes to select a specific set of files that you wish to delete or move.
  10. Alternatively, you may want to use the Select Duplicates button on the bottom right to automatically select newer or older versions of the PST files.
  11. Click on Select Action, and specify whether you want to move all duplicates to the Recycle Bin or to a new folder of your choice.

Job done. All the duplicate stuff has been deleted and you’ve recovered a handsome amount of storage space as well as gotten rid of the clutter in the Outlook inbox.

Raza Ali Kazmi
Website | + posts

Raza Ali Kazmi works as an editor and technology content writer at Sorcim Technologies (Pvt) Ltd. He loves to pen down articles on a wide array of technology related topics and has also been diligently testing software solutions on Windows & Mac platforms. If you have any question about the content, you can message me or the company's support team.