large pst and ost files

jogold

jogold

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User has Outlook 365 Enterprise lic and GoDaddy set the Mailbox at 100 GB
I did the regedit to allow for a 100GB ost and pst file.
In Info Outlook shows 48.8GB free of 99GB, so I know the edit worked.

But the ost file gets stuck at 50GB and won't get bigger, and info isn't syncing.
And when I try to export the IMAP mailbox to a pst I get the "Has reached maximum ...." at 30GB
I was able to get one pst to 50GB but that too stopped.

There is one thing that makes this mailbox different than others that I've seen in that it has many folders and sub-folders, sometimes going down 5 levels.
Could this, together with the size be the issue?

Thanks for any help.
 
I know, it's showing me that the mailbox is 52GB big, but it's also telling me that it can go up to 100GB.
So why is it maxing out at 30GB and 50GB? It's not allowing the data file to grow.
 
Specifically...which 365 license?
1754495535521.png
And...what email service are they connecting to? I see you keep mentioning IMAP, which would not be a Microsoft 365 mailbox. (well, "could be" if you disabled all of the security and opened the back door to allow insecure IMAP to be exposed...yikes!!!)
 
My bad, I called it IMAP when I should have called it Cloud.
My point was that the ost file that gets created gets stuck at 50GB, messing it up. But Outlook is configured to go to 100GB
 
I'll be "that guy" - the correct answer is to pare back the size of their email and email file. Either "Email Archiving" if on old outlook - or if on new, perhaps export a huge swath of "selected" old emails to a separate PST file and import it later?

Remember, it's not just a 50GB "file" - it's a database. That's huge. And just because you can edit out a guardrail/maximum limit via regedit, doesn't mean it's going to work and is simply showing you in real-time why that limit is in place as it is.
 
User has Outlook 365 Enterprise lic and GoDaddy set the Mailbox at 100 GB --ok
I did the regedit to allow for a 100GB ost and pst file. --I don't recommend that
In Info Outlook shows 48.8GB free of 99GB, so I know the edit worked. --OST max size is 50 gigs, the regedit doesn't work great anymore

But the ost file gets stuck at 50GB and won't get bigger, and info isn't syncing. --read above

And when I try to export the IMAP mailbox --from what account? You should have exchange?
to a pst I get the "Has reached maximum ...." at 30GB --this is probably due to your regedit
I was able to get one pst to 50GB but that too stopped. --50 g is the limit

There is one thing that makes this mailbox different than others that I've seen in that it has many folders and sub-folders, sometimes going down 5 levels. --very common
Could this, together with the size be the issue? --I'm confused about the IMAP

Thanks for any help.
 
callthatgirl said:
User has Outlook 365 Enterprise lic and GoDaddy set the Mailbox at 100 GB --ok
I did the regedit to allow for a 100GB ost and pst file. --I don't recommend that
In Info Outlook shows 48.8GB free of 99GB, so I know the edit worked. --OST max size is 50 gigs, the regedit doesn't work great anymore

But the ost file gets stuck at 50GB and won't get bigger, and info isn't syncing. --read above

And when I try to export the IMAP mailbox --from what account? You should have exchange?
to a pst I get the "Has reached maximum ...." at 30GB --this is probably due to your regedit
I was able to get one pst to 50GB but that too stopped. --50 g is the limit

There is one thing that makes this mailbox different than others that I've seen in that it has many folders and sub-folders, sometimes going down 5 levels. --very common
Could this, together with the size be the issue? --I'm confused about the IMAP

Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...
IMAP, my bad - see aboove

So if I can't get the mailbox on Outlook because I can't go over 50 GB, what are my options?
Online they tell me that they are using more than 50 GB (I don't have access to the admin part of the GoDaddy account)
And GoDaddy tech support says that 100 GB is the limit, hence the charge for 365 Enterprise and the extended mailbox.

Archiving isn't working to get the size down because all were accesses in 2025 when they moved all the mail over from one mailbox to another.
 
I'll be "that guy" - the correct answer is to pare back the size of their email and email file. Either "Email Archiving" if on old outlook - or if on new, perhaps export a huge swath of "selected" old emails to a separate PST file and import it later?
phaZed said:
Remember, it's not just a 50GB "file" - it's a database. That's huge. And just because you can edit out a guardrail/maximum limit via regedit, doesn't mean it's going to work and is simply showing you in real-time why that limit is in place as it is.
Click to expand...
I tried that route when they first came to me. They told me that ChatGPT said you can have up to 100GB. (I'm not joking)
When I try archiving up to 2024, all I get is a 256KB pst file. I have no idea why.
I have no other way of exporting emails while preserving the (crazy) folder structure.

I am giving up and am going to do the following
Export each branch to a pst as a backup, to keep the size down
Move the ost to another area
Reload Outlook, and hopefully the whole mailbox will be recreated, even if it is bigger than 50GB

Anyone have a better idea?

@callthatgirl, any advise?
 
jogold said:
My bad, I called it IMAP when I should have called it Cloud.
My point was that the ost file that gets created gets stuck at 50GB, messing it up. But Outlook is configured to go to 100GB
Click to expand...

"Cloud"? Is this a Microsoft 365 email server? I'm not sure what "cloud" means when referring to a specific email service.

I realize the point is the OST size...however, it helps to be specific. I've had oodles and oodles of clients with > 50 gig mailboxes thus > 50 gig OST files...60, 75, 80.....
BUT...I see you also mentioned "GoDaddy" in the mix.....so that opens up a whole 'nother can of "who knows....even though they said they did something....if I'm not a global admin to go to EMS and see for myself....I will not believe those idiots".

Problem is, DuhDaddy cripples the admin pages from you with their bastardized version of 365 services that they offer. (I'm assuming we are talking about Microsoft 365 as the email host).

If the mailbox sized was dialed up to allow up to 100 gigs (and EOL P2 license)....you can go into OWA to look at "new emails" that are not showing up locally on the computer.

Could always try blowing away the OST file and letting it rebuild. You can do that a hundred times a day and more...no loss of data, it all rebuilds. We've managed thousands and thousands of email clients on hundreds of different Exchange and 365 servers over the decades....often issues with Outlook go away when you close it..delete the OST...launch Outlook..and let it rebuild a fresh OST.
 
If I remember correctly you can add capacity to the Exchange account in 50gb chunks. The filling up warning email messages should have a link that allows them to purchase it directly from MS not from your reseller. If you do this make note of it because the customer will get bills/auto pay and not remember where it came from. Been through that several times over the last few years.

That said I'd be trying to get them to do things the way they are supposed to be done. Yes, email clients are database clients and email servers are database servers. But that's not what they are intended for. If the have a real need to store this much data then you need to move older stuff to a backup system which will run on a real database server.

"ChatGPT told me..........." Tell them there's a reason that ChatGPT/AI does not do IT support. Because they are often wrong and if you do what they tell you to do you'll likely loose a lot, if not all, of you data.
 
@jogold what exactly are you trying to solve? It's on Exchange so it's great for up to 100 gigs, Outlook can see email from 1 week to all but you have too much to view in Outlook. 50 gigs max.
 
Ok, I read your post again, you are trying to export mail from the Exchange (managed by GoDaddy) in Outlook to a PST? A fresh PST only will export 50 gigs max, not anything more than that.

What is the reason for the exporting?
 
callthatgirl said:
Ok, I read your post again, you are trying to export mail from the Exchange (managed by GoDaddy) in Outlook to a PST? A fresh PST only will export 50 gigs max, not anything more than that.

What is the reason for the exporting?
Click to expand...

Correct. So if you wish to have the entirety of the 100GB (lets pretend it's "full") archived in a local .PST file, you'll essentially want to create more than one.

Lets say the email spans 10 years (and assume each year has an equal amount of data... they wont but you get the idea). You could seamlessly export the first 5 years worth of data as one PST, and then the final 5 years as another PST file. You can selectively filter what you want in the PST.


Basically, you have full access to the data in your 100GB online exchange mailbox. You can't export the whole shebang as one local PST file. You can split it up in chunks, across more than 1 PST if the data set is larger than 50GB. Outlook doesn't just fully sync everything in the online exchange backend with your local. There are different ways to configure it, but normally it uses cache mode which pulls down things based upon usage patterns. Emails from 5 years ago that you never open aren't pulled down and stored locally by default.
 
Ahh I didn't think his sole purpose was "exporting to PST"....as I was focused on his prior line "But the ost file gets stuck at 50GB and won't get bigger, and info isn't syncing." Making me think Outlook just was not recognizing that it could go beyond the default 50 gigs.
 
Thank you all for all of the help and advice. Based on that, I did the following.

I exported the various folders to separate PST files to keep their size down. Took a while.
I deleted the OST file, and it's taking a couple of hours to reload to the new OST.
I created local pst files with the same folder structure to serve as archives for each year.
Someone in that office will have to manually do the archiving as Outlook sees dates as last accessed and no sent/received. So the automatic won't work. Because of all of the importing and restoring, there are double of emails and mailboxes. This, I will also leave for the secretary.
Let's hope I have a satisfied customer.
 
TazUk said:
Maybe you could use something like MailStore to archive the emails on a regular basis?
Click to expand...
I've used mailstore before to archive email, though it was in a really bad situation set up wise.

A business (multi million dollar business.....) didn't want to spend the money to get proper business class email. So they used the free email (hotmail, gmail...) and they tended to fill up. At a point they were simply just spinning up new emails, but that became unmanageable really quickly. This is a business that absolutely relied on the emails, as they found themselves in court quite a few times over the years over business deals. The email was essential in defending their position.

So I used mailstore to synch the mail. It can only sync the inbox.... so I had to do this insane shuffle where I'd push things around, sync the inbox, push more things around. IT was a massive waste of time and dangerous. And harder to find things when you actually did end up needing them.


Microsoft exchange eliminates all that. You can enable and use the archive mailbox after you hit the 100GB, up to 1.5TB


Disaster recovery beyond that can be flavored however you want it. Local with a synology NAS or even cloud based solutions that can back up your entire 365 tenancy. Depending on what your needs are and what you want to spend.

I'd lean on the archive mailbox feature of the Business 365 ecosystem. All this is not to crap on mailstore though. It wasn't mailstores fault that it was being used in ways it shouldn't have been (in my case) and that it was only a bandaide over the real problem.

If you are on the Biz 365 space and using Exchange 365, I'd just leverage the built in mechanisms. My personal opinion.
 
Last edited:
First I'm going to let them undo the mess that they caused by importing one mailbox into the other. Then we'll look at solutions moving forward.
Mailstore does look interesting.
Thanks.
 
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