Know How To Remove Duplicates From Outlook Account
Duplicate emails in Outlook obstructs work. And when it is there in bulk, it hampers more. A couple of duplicate emails in Outlook is common and easily manageable, but what if the number of these emails are in hundreds and thousands? A user cannot manage it easily. This means you can remove duplicate items from the account but not easily.
To help you delete duplicate items from your account, we are sharing this post. Here we are going to share every possible way to remove duplicate items from the account.
Table of Contents
How Does Duplicate Items Create Problem In Account?
Microsoft Outlook is one of the most popular and commonly used applications of MS suite. To give a smooth work experience to users, Microsoft has given many in-built tools to users that help in duplicate data removal. But before we tell you how to remove duplicates from Outlook account, have a look at issues that the presence of duplicate data creates in the account.
- The presence of duplicate data creates confusion. Users often get confused with the read and reply status of mails. If continue to reply to each email then they might reply single mail for multiple times and if left, then chances are the user might skip an important email to reply.
- The Outlook email file is known as PST file and it has a size limitation. When Outlook PST file size increases, it creates different types of issues like latency, corruption, etc. The duplicate items in the account unnecessarily increase the PST file size.
- If a user has configured Outlook with Office 365 or Exchange Server, then it will unnecessarily increase the size of the Exchange server as well.
- If you have take up space on the cloud to store Outlook data, then duplicate data will take extra space and for that, you would pay extra.
Different Reasons That Cause Duplication In Outlook.
There are numerous possible reasons for having duplicate data in Outlook. Some of the major reasons are
You Have Configured The Rules Incorrectly
- Incorrect Configuration Rule Followed – There are certain rules for integrating Outlook account in any device. If the rules are not followed, you might start receiving duplicate emails in the account.
- Emails Are Sent At A Short Interval – When the frequency of email update in the account is less, the emails and other data might not synchronize with the account and duplication will happen.
- There Is an Error In Account Setting– Users often set up accounts on different devices like laptop, computer, mobile, etc. This causes repeat synchronization of messages in the account. This could also be a possible reason for duplication in the account.
- Inappropriate Mailbox Setting – If the mailbox parameters are entered inappropriately while creating the Outlook account, it leads to duplication in the account. A user might receive single mail multiple times in the account.
- Technical Trouble – If any technical issue comes into account then it might also lead to duplication in the account. A common technical issue is users often activates the option ‘Leave messages on the server’. The technical issue is when a user applies ‘Move a copy to’ rule to any specific incoming emails. Merging of multiple PST files in a single PST also leads to duplication.
Whatever the reason for receiving duplicate data in an account might be the presence of duplicate data hampers the productivity of users, and therefore, removing duplicate data from the account become important.
How To Check Duplicates In The Outlook Account
It is not possible to identify duplication in the account at a single glance. To authenticate duplicate data, a user needs to check multiple properties into account. Use the following fields for comparison. Use these fields for comparison.
- Subject
- Sender
- Text
- Attachment
- Recipient
Go to the search option and enter any of the fields in the filter. If you find the same email multiple times in your account, then it means there is duplication. For small emails group, you can find duplicate emails this way and delete the same to remove duplication. However, removing duplicates with the same method when there is a large inbox is difficult.
How To Remove Duplicate Items From Outlook Account?
When you know the cause of receiving duplicate data in your Outlook account, it will become easier for you to remove that data. However, if you are clueless about the reason for duplication, follow the mentioned way to remove duplicate files from Outlook.
Check If You Have Configured The Rule Correctly – If you have configured the rules incorrectly, removing duplicates from the account will become difficult. To ensure you have configured the account correctly get it checked by a trained person or ensure only one instance of Outlook is running, close all other Outlook.exe instances using the task manager on the device you are using.
Select Option ‘Do not import Duplicate Items’ When Importing Items Of Outlook
When you are importing Outlook PST file like contacts or folders using the import/export feature in the Outlook application, make sure that you have selected the option ‘Do not import Duplicate Items’. This option will avoid importing duplicate items into account.
Set Inbox Updates Frequency
You need to increase the frequency of Outlook inbox updates. To do that, go to Outlook and then go to option send and receive. After that select option ‘define send or receive groups’. At the send set the value within fifteen minutes.
Clean The Inbox
Though Outlook doesn’t provide any direct method or have a tool to remove duplicates from your inbox, it helps you remove duplicates from your inbox. The step by step process for the same is here.
Step One: Start your Outlook
Step Two: Choose the mailbox folder
Step Three: Select the options Home and then clean up. Configure the following option after that.
- Clean up the conversation – The option will move or delete the conversation present in the mailbox.
- Clean up folders – This option will remove duplicates from the folder
- Clean up folders and subfolders – The option will remove or delete duplicates from folders and subfolders.
Step Four: Right-click on the option Deleted Items folder and then click on option empty folder. This will delete the items permanently.
Antivirus Application
The antivirus application also leads to duplication. The closing of server application and antivirus application setting also leads to duplication in the account. When the server connection is not shut down appropriately, then the email not marked as received would create duplication. To resolve this issue, go to the manual of antivirus and disable the option email protection. However, we do not recommend this step as this might cause other issues in the account.
Use Third-Party Software For Removing Duplicates
If any of the above-mentioned processes does not work then you need to take the help of third-party software for removing duplicate items from the account. The third-party software is developed in a way that helps in resolving the issue without any effort.
One of the most used and effective software for removing duplicate data from Outlook account is PST Duplicate Remover software. This software is so efficient that it finds the duplicate items in Outlook automatically and remove them. This has many filter options to remove duplicate from a particular folder, file or any other place.
Here is the step by step guide for removing duplicate items from the account.
- Step One: Launch PST Duplicate Remover Software in your device
- Step Two: Select the PST file from which you need to remove the duplicate. The software allows both single and bulk PST file.
- Step Three: Select option mails, notes, contacts, journals, calendars, task.
The software gives two options to remove duplicate
- Remove duplicates across all folders
- Remove duplicates within each folder.
Step Four: Select the location to save the retrieved file.
Step Five: Click on the option ‘Remove duplicate items’.
You will get the fresh file after duplicate removal at the location which had chosen to save data.
The software allows removing the duplicate date from both PST and OST file. There is a demo version of software present that let you remove duplicate only from ten emails.
Conclusion: Removing duplicate from Outlook PST file without third party software is not easy. It not only takes time but also there are chances of data corruption. The use of third party software is the safest way to remove duplicate data. As we advise to use PST duplicate remover for the same.