Recovery Steps

Please perform the following steps in order to safely back up your emails and connect to the new mailbox.

♦♦♦ REMINDER ♦♦♦
The steps on this page need to be done for every email account on the computer.

1) Rename the existing account on the computer

For Microsoft Outlook 2010 or newer:

• Click on File, Account Settings, Account Settings.
• A list of your accounts will appear on the “E-Mail” tab.
• Choose an email account.
• Click the “Change…” button.  The following dialog will appear:
  
• Modify the “User Name” to say exactly this:  old-account@nowhere.com
  >>> THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!
• Uncheck the “Remember password” option.
  >>> THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!
• Your settings should look like this:
  
• Change the option “Test Account Settings by clicking the Next button” to be unchecked if it is checked!
• Click on the “More Settings…” button and make sure you’re on the “General” tab.
• Modify the name in the first field to have the word “BACKUP” at the end:
  
• Click OK.
• Click “Next >”.
• Click “Finish”.
• Click “Close”.

The email folders in the left pane of Microsoft Outlook will now reflect that it is a “BACKUP” folder.

DO NOT modify or delete anything in this “Backup” folder until well after the recovery process is complete!

2) Export the contents of your Mail File

This is not a mandatory step, but is highly recommended to make a second backup of your mail file in case something goes wrong later.

In Microsoft Outlook 2010 or newer:

• Click on File, Options, and then finally on Advanced.
  
• Look for the “Export’ button on the right side of the window and click it.  The Import and Export Wizard will start.
• Choose Export to a file, then click “Next >”:
  
• Choose Outlook Data File (.pst), then click “Next>”:
  
• When prompted to select the folder to export from, locate the one with the word “BACKUP” on the end (from step 1) and click on the name at the highest level:
  
  Also ensure the “Include Subfolders” option is checked!
• Click “Next >”.
• On the final window, click “Browse” and go to your Desktop.  Type in a name for the file and click OK.  You should see something like this when you are done:
  
• Click “Finish”.

You will be prompted to enter a password for the file – just click OK without entering anything!

Depending on how much email you have in your Inbox, it may take some time to make a copy of your Mail File.  However, once done, you will have made a backup of your Mail File that can be used for import later.

If you see errors from Microsoft Outlook during the process, not all email items may have been saved.  Repeat the process and overwrite the backup file.  If the problem persists, contact your local desktop technician for assistance as they may be able to determine the reason.

3) Obtain your new Mailbox Password

Call our office at 204-809-9606 or call/text us at 204-797-4335.
We will confirm who you are and will provide you with a new password for the mailbox.

Once you have received your new password for your mailbox and are ready to set up the account again in Microsoft Outlook, go to this post:  Mail Server Account Creation