Windows Live Mail: Back up and restore mail data

In this practical tip you will read how you can back up and restore data in Windows Live Mail. This can be useful, for example, in the event of a new installation of the operating system, and you can prevent regular emails from being lost in the event of a hard drive failure.

Windows Live Mail: Secure emails

To back up email from any folder, follow these steps:

1. Open Windows Live Mail and click File on the menu bar.
2. First select "Export email" and then "Email".
3. In the new window, select "Microsoft Windows Live Mail" and then click "Next".
4. Now select the directory in which you would like to save your emails. The folder must be empty.
5. Now mark the folders you want to export or select "All Folders". Confirm with "Next".
6. Wait for the process to finish. Close the window by clicking on "Finish".

Windows Live Mail: Recover emails

Restoring previously backed up emails works similarly:

1. Open Windows Live Mail and click on "File" in the menu bar.
2. Select "Import messages".
3. Select the "Windows Live Mail" format and click "Next".
4. Select the directory in which the saved emails are located. Then click on "Next".
5. Mark which message folders you want to restore or select "All Folders". Confirm with "Next".
6. Wait for the process to finish. Close the window by clicking on "Finish".

Windows Live Mail: Securing email externally

Alternatively, you can back up your mails from Windows Live Mail with external software. The MailStore Home software is extremely popular and also free of charge.

1. Start MailStore Home and click on the "Archive emails" item on the left.
2. Select the entry "Windows Live Mail" from the list of programs.
3. You can now choose which content you want to save and where the backup is created.
4. Simply follow the next steps and your backup will be created successfully.

In the next practical tip, we will show you how to convert Windows Live Mail to SSL.