Syncing vs. Backing up Outlook

Hey everyone, I’m trying to back up some data for my mom. I’ve already synced all her important folders to the Cloud, but I’m completely stuck on what to do with her Gmail, address book, and inbox/folders.

I’ve never done this before, and I can't figure out how to sync or export anything. Aside from her current account, I set up a Microsoft account and linked both to Google Drive. I also have a Mega account I use for other backups.

It would be ideal to get this onto Mega too, but I assume there isn't a direct way to do that. Maybe there's a specific file or folder on the PC where all this data lives?

Since it's already connected, can things just sync automatically to Google Drive (whatever that actually means)?

I know exporting should be possible, but I just can't find where to do it.🙂

I don't know about Outlook, but Gmail is basically already stored in the Cloud—so personally, I don't lose any sleep over it. All I do is sign in when I get a new device, link the account, and boom—done. Isn't it the exact same deal with Outlook?

Look, if you want to be 100% certain, keeping a local backup isn't a bad idea—but let's be real: today's cloud services are arguably more reliable than a local drive. Unless you're prepping for some total apocalypse and genuinely doubt the infrastructure of giants like Google or Microsoft...

If you head over to File and select export, you can save everything into a .pst file and then just upload that to Google Drive. Later on, you can simply import the .pst file, and all your inboxes, emails, and everything else will be right there...

Thanks, I actually stumbled upon the post in the meantime (it's sitting there as an active file on my computer). The issue is I can't really sync it directly because it's way too massive—trying to upload 2-3 GB every single time I make a change isn't happening. I don't mind backing it up manually every once in a while, though. Is this just emails we're talking about, or does it include contacts too?

I think it’s an all-or-nothing deal, though you might have some options to pick and choose what actually gets saved during the export process.