How PST Split Works: Techniques, Limits, and Performance Tips

[Ved Parkash jaiswal]

How PST split works depends on how you divide the data, the limits of Outlook and PST format, and how efficiently you run the process. Splitting creates multiple smaller PST files from one large file, usually by size, date range, folder, or sender, so Outlook loads less data at once and remains responsive.​

Core splitting techniques

• Manual methods use built-in Outlook options like Import/Export, Archive, and cleaning up unwanted items, but they are time‑consuming and require more effort.
• Automated PST splitter tools can split by size, year, date, folder, or email ID, and often process multiple PSTs in one go to reduce errors and save time.​

Limits and safe sizes

• Modern Unicode PST files can grow very large, but performance typically degrades once you reach tens of GB, increasing the risk of corruption and slow search, send/receive, and startup.​
• Best practice is to maintain several moderate-sized PSTs instead of a single huge file, keeping each within a size you can back up and scan comfortably.

Performance tips

• Always back up the original PST before splitting and running the process from a fast local drive, not a network share.​
• Close Outlook, disable unnecessary add‑ins, and avoid heavy multitasking during splitting to reduce corruption risks and speed up processing.​

Buy Now- https://www.vsoftware.org/store/pst-split/