Windows Live Mail - Backing Up Your Data

Contents

• How to back up email in Windows Live Mail
• How to back up/export contacts in Windows Live Mail

How to back up email in Windows Live Mail

Windows Live Mail 2009 works in Windows XP and later.
Windows Live Mail 2011 works in Windows Vista and later.
Windows Live Mail 2012 works in Windows 7 and later.

1. Within Windows Live Mail 2012, press Alt+F on the keyboard (File menu), then click Options, then Mail...
   Within Windows Live Mail 2009, press Alt+T on the keyboard (Tools menu), then click Options...
2. Within the Options window, click the Maintenance tab then Store Folder...
3. Within the Store Location window, right-click anywhere in the text field (typically starts with C:\) and select Select All. Right-click anywhere on the now-highlighted text and select Copy. This temporarily copies the text to the Clipboard so you can paste the text elsewhere later.
4. Click OK in the Store Location window, then click OK in the Options window.
5. Close Windows Live Mail.
6. Click Start then All Programs (or Programs), then Accessories, then Windows Explorer (NOT Internet Explorer).
   1. Press Alt+T on the keyboard (Tools menu) then click Folder Options...
      1. Click the View tab within the Folder Options Window.
      2. Make sure the following items ARE checked/selected:
         • Display the full path in the address bar
         • Show hidden files and folders
      3. Make sure the following item is NOT checked/selected:
         • Hide extensions for known file types
      4. Click OK.
7. Right-click anywhere in the Address field near the top of the window (this should highlight all of the text in the field) and select Paste, then hit Enter on the keyboard.
8. Copy all files in this directory (or copy the actual Windows Live Mail folder containing them) to removable media such as a USB memory stick, CD/DVD, or external hard drive.

How to back up/export contacts in Windows Live Mail

1. From within Windows Live Mail, click Contacts in the lower-left.
2. Windows Live Mail 2012: Click the Export ribbon at the top and select Comma separated values (.CSV)
   Windows Live Mail 2009: Within the Windows Live Contacts window, press Alt+F (File menu) then click Export and select Comma separated values (.CSV)
3. In the CSV Export window, click Browse...
4. In the Save As window, select a location on removable media such as a USB memory stick, CD/DVD, or external hard drive, type a name for the file in the File name field at the bottom of the window, then click Save.