Outlook 2013 - Archive Function Crashes

[Carol W.]

This has been happening for months, possibly since I upgraded to Office 2013 but I can't tell for sure.

The archive function starts normally (on schedule) and then Outlook crashes and restarts. I've Googled the issue and found numerous solutions from repairing the pst file to creating a new profile.

Now I'm turning to the gurus! What does anyone think the problem might be?

Thanks.

[HansV]

There doesn't appear to be a single cause or solution for this problem.

Are you using Outlook as a stand-alone email program (using your ISP's mail or similar), or are you connected to Microsoft Exchange?

[Carol W.]

Stand-alone mode with four accounts defined, three are from my ISP and one is from Gmail.

[HansV]

Thanks. That rules out some possible causes.

I'd try the Inbox Repair Tool first, both on your 'main' .pst file and on the archive .pst file. If you're not sure where they are, select File > Info, then click Account Settings > Account Settings, and activate the Data Files tab. See How to repair your Outlook personal folder file (.pst).

[Carol W.]

Hans,

I tried running the inbox repair tool on both the main pst and archive pst files, to no avail.

I realized that it was consistently crashing on the Sent Items folder. The Sent Items folder was very large (1896 items) so I manually moved (dragged) more than half the items into the archive Sent Items folder. I then ran a full archive (archiving anything older than 1/1/2014) and it worked (i.e. did not crash).

New problem: There are still a few items prior to 1/1/2014 that are in the main pst file. How can I tell if they're marked "do not archive"?

Thanks.

[HansV]

For individual items:
- Open the item.
- Select File > Info, then click Properties.

S0760.png

The Properties dialog contains a check box 'Do not AutoArchive this item':

S0761.png

[Carol W.]

Hans,

The emails in question weren't marked "do not archive".

I found the following article that outlines Microsoft's rules for archiving:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/295657" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sure enough, the emails in question had modified dates of 4-21-2014 and 4-25-2014. The received dates were all in 2013. That's obviously the reason they weren't archived. However, I know I didn't even open those older emails (let alone modify them) recently so I'm wondering why the modified date is so recent.

Any thoughts?

[HansV]

I don't know - Outlook shouldn't change the Last Modified date spontaneously...

You can make Outlook 2010 and later archive a-mails based on the Received date instead of the Last Modified date - see How to change the criteria that Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2013 use to archive different item types (requires editing the registry).

[Carol W.]

Success!

I made the registry fix and ran an archive on all folders. Everything seems to be archived as expected.

[HansV]

Good to hear that - thanks for the feedback!