How to Backup and Restore Emails in Microsoft Outlook Dec 14, 2020, 10:24 am EDT | 2 min read Modern email systems keep your mail in the cloud so you can access it from anywhere, but even they have storage limits. Here’s how to take a backup of your Microsoft Outlook emails and restore it if you ever need those messages again. How to Take a Backup In Microsoft Outlook Taking a backup in Microsoft Outlook is very easy. Backups are stored in PST (Personal Storage Table) files, which can be opened directly in Outlook. Here’s how to create one. RELATED: Click “Export To A File” and then select the “Next” button.