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Archive Your Data
An Archive contains copies of your files as they appeared at multiple points in time. You can archive your Entourage data in 1) a separate Identity, 2) an MBOX file or 3) as an Entourage archive (.rge).
If you want quick access to your archived mail, I suggest creating a new Identity that will allow you to quickly "Switch Identities" to view old mail. Some users do this yearly.
Basics:
- One drawback to this option is you must quit all Microsoft applications to switch Identities.
- Entourage Spotlight search in your Main Identity does not show messages in the archive Identity.
- You can use Spotlight search in the Finder to view the archive messages, but it will ask you to switch Identities to view unless you have the QuickLook plugin for Entourage installed.
- Once you export data to archive, you will need to reclaim the 'wasted space'. Using the Database Utility, Compress your data.
- Tip: to see how much actual space is being used as compared to the size of the database, export everything as Entourage archive (.rge) file under File --> Export. Now compare the size of the .rge file to the size of your database. The difference is 'wasted space'.
If you simply wish to have snapshots of your data to use in case of database failure, archive your Identity as an Entourage archive (.rge) or as an MBOX file.
- Organize your archives using FolderOrgX.
- There are two scripts that will export your messages as MBOX files. See this page for a description and download links.
- View pros and cons of .rge and MBOX files in this blog article: Backup individual items. It's important to understand file types. If you need to recover at a later date in time, you want to be sure the file type can be used by a future version or platform.
Use a third party application to store your emails.
- One free option is to use eMessage Archiver. It uses a free runtime version of FileMaker.
- EagleFiler by the author of SpamSieve is also an excellent way to archive your Entourage mail along with other data on your computer. No need to switch Identities in Entourage to view your older mail. Allows for quick search.
Exchange Users:
If you have a quota on your server, you can archive your mail from the server to folders "On My Computer" . See this page for scripts and third party options to automate this for you.
Options to Create an Archive Identity
1) Duplicate your current Identity and rename it. Now, you have a duplicate Identity folder structure with your old mail that you can quickly switch to for easy searching. Remove Old messages from current Identity using a Custom View. Leave at least 60 days of old mail. You will have some duplicates but this is preferable to switching Identities constantly to find recent mail.
2) Create a new Identity and import mail from an Entourage archive (.rge) or drag an MBOX file into the folder window. You can also use a custom view to create an MBOX file.
To create a limited view of your mail as an Entourage archive (.rge) file, you can assign a category "archive" to messages. The easy way to do this is with a custom view. Now you can export your messages as .rge file and select only by category "archive."
Custom View to remove old mail (Learn about Custom Views)
Step 1. This view will get all mail that is older than 60 days. Set date according to YOUR needs.
Step 2. Select the new mail view 
Skip steps 3 and 4 if you duplicated your Identity and do not wish to create an additional MBOX file as backup.
Step 3. Drag it to the desktop 
Step 4. An MBOX file is created. 
Step 5. Select all of the messages in custom view and delete.
See movie on using MBOX files.
(.rge file extension)
Starting with Entourage 2004, you can export items such as mail messages, tasks, contacts, notes, and calendar events to an Entourage archive (.rge extension). This enables you to store information in another location and remove it from Entourage. You can also use this process to make a back up of your Entourage information (with/without removing the information from Entourage). See movie on using Entourage Archive files.
