Moving your OST in Outlook 2007

For Exchange users who work in a disconnected mode a lot (and those with slow or intermittent connections to the server at home or in the office) the OST or Offline Storage / Cache mode in Outlook is an absolute blessing.

You can work disconnected and then sync back to the server to send/receive your email, update your calendars etc. I spend a lot of time with my laptop in cafes between meetings and being able to sync over WiFi or my cellphone as a modem (and have the connection downgrade and trickle just headers and let me select what's important if the connection is slow) is a life saver

But sometimes when you set up Outlook the default location for the OST isn't always optimal. For me recently it tried to put it on my fairly full C: drive which I try and keep for just the OS and Application files - all personal data should live on the D: Drive     

Luckily, it's not to difficult to move the OST from the default location to anywhere you want it

 Refer to the picture above, and follow the simple steps (don't forget to restart Outlook when prompted)...

1. Go into Tools | Account Settings
2. [A] On the Data Files tab select the data file for the account
3. [B] Turn off "Cached mode" on the "advanced" tab
4. [C] Disable "Offline use" on the "offline folder" settings popup
5. And then.... you can move the .ost (in Explorer) and reference the new location to have Outlook work with it
6. When you've finished don't forget to re-enable "Offline use" and turn "Cached mode" back on - otherwise you'll only be able to work when connected to the remote server

When you have finished this process Outlook may spend a moment re-synchronising your local data with the server, but if you have moved and used a recent OST then the process will be no longer than a normal send/receive.