Solved (temporarily) run Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2021 at the same time?

No, the issue is that Office 2000, 2002/XP and 2003 can't read the newer files with the x added to the extension. Office 2007 and newer can read the older formatted files although it may be in Compatibility Mode.

AndreIsComputn said:

you are recommending that I not go with the import the pst option

Click to expand...

You do not need to import anything. There's no point using a more complicated process such as importing when all you have to do is open the thing.
Would you import an Excel file into Excel instead of just opening it?

I don't have Outlook 2003 but routinely get Outlook 2021 to open my Outlook 2007 pst files.


All the best,
Denis

Andrels,

AndreIsComputn said:

are you saying I should install and run the compatibility pack before ...

Click to expand...

No, no, no.
Berton was advising you about the complexities of doing something that you do not intend to do.
Berton was advising you about opening newer Office files in older Office versions. You are not trying to do that.

In the hope of killing off this red herring, please note that:-
you could not use Outlook 2003 to open my Outlook 2007 pst file
but
I could use my Outlook 2007 or my Outlook 2021 to open your Outlook 2003 pst file.


Denis

Try3 said:

You do not need to import anything. There's no point using a more complicated process such as importing when all you have to do is open the thing.

Click to expand...

It's only "complicated" if you decide its "complicated". For everyone else it's simple as shown in the Microsoft instructions and online videos.... unless following instructions is complicated.

Opening a pst file in Outlook 2021

Step 1 - Open Outlook 2021, click on its File menu.


Step 2 - Select Open & export


Step 3 - Click on Open Outlook data file then browse to your pst file & select it.

All those pst files are Outlook 2007 pst files and they can all be opened in Outlook 2021.

Step 4 - When it's open, if you need continued guidance then put your Outlook Navigation pane into Folder view, post a screenshot of that showing the different files that are open.
It would just be too confusing to discuss dragging your old pst file's contents to its new location in your Outlook 2021 without being able to see what you see.


All the best,
Denis

Dru2 said:

It's only "complicated" if you decide its "complicated". For everyone else it's simple as shown in the Microsoft instructions and online videos.... unless following instructions is complicated.

Click to expand...

I am not going to reply to the content of that condescending post.


Denis

Again thank you all so much :) ... although my apologies I definitely did not mean to start any arguments or conflicts ... and got it , no need to worry about the compatibility pack since I'm just worried about getting the outlook 2003 pst file into my outlook 2021 when I get it installed .. and Denis that is incredibly reassuring and such good news, if your outlook 2021 routinely opens your office 2007 pst then I'm thinking it's a pretty safe bet that outlook 2021 should be able to work with my outlook 2003 pst file :)

And my apologies for spreading misinformation as far as my first post that started the thread, obviously my google search skills need some work if you guys were able to easily pull up the microsoft support websites showing that you can import or open pst files in later versions of outlook :) .. when I was doing my own google search all I could find were bitter user complaints about not being able to open or use pst files in later versions of outlook so I assumed (mistakenly obviously :) ) that it could not be done

I've probably muddied the waters even further with my youtube comment and why I was silly for not bothering to check on youtube in the first place ... I got curious and looked on youtube using the search term "import pst file and found these two videos



which clearly show versions of outlook newer than the ancient outlook I am using and pst files working in said newer versions of outlook.

This forum is great because of you guys, there's so much useful and helpful info that you guys generously gift ignorant fools like me due to nothing more than your kindness and generosity :) .. thanks again :) .. I've made a note of this thread and because I'm paranoid copied and pasted instructions and weblinks mentioned into a text document that I will be consulting when I upgrade to Win 11 and get Office 2021 up and running :)

AndreIsComputn said:

it's a pretty safe bet that outlook 2021 should be able to work with my outlook 2003 pst file

Click to expand...

I agree.
You can use the MS link & the notes I posted earlier

Try3 said:

Open and close Outlook Data Files (.pst) - Microsoft Support
Once the pst file is open, you can just drag all the Appointments across from the Outlook 2003 pst file's Calendar folder into the Outlook 2021 Calender folder.
- You'll find that putting the Navigation pane [the left-hand pane] into Folder view will be the easiest way to do the move.
- You'll then be able to close the Outlook 2003 pst file afterwards.

Click to expand...

or the screenshots I posted of doing it on my 2021 computer.

And do post back when you have opened the file if you need to.

Try3 said:

if you need continued guidance then put your Outlook Navigation pane into Folder view, post a screenshot of that showing the different files that are open.
It would just be too confusing to discuss dragging your old pst file's contents to its new location in your Outlook 2021 without being able to see what you see.

Click to expand...

Upload and Attach Images and Files in Post - ElevenForumTutorials


All the best,
Denis

antspants said:

I also still have a Hotmail account from about 20 years ago and there has been no impact receiving mail from any em client. I may even have a live account, somewhere.

Click to expand...

My main computer MS Account is @hotmail. I need to change my account name though, since I must have let my email addy out somewhere or other. Now I'm getting Spam out the wazoo.

Thanks again Denis :)

Wynona sorry to hear about that spam email sucks

Try3 said:

I am not going to reply to the content of that condescending post.

Click to expand...

That's cool

AndreIsComputn said:

It looks like there's no easy way to import the outlook 2003 reminders into outlook 2021 - outlook uses a pst file for that sort of thing which outlook 2021 definitely does not use so I will have to slowly and painstakingly copy my many, many calendar reminders over to outlook 2021..

Click to expand...

Dru2 said:

I've never run Outlook 2021, but I had a hard time believing you couldn't import a .PST file into Outlook 2021, yet, I can't seem to find anything from "Microsoft" specifically listing "Outlook 2021" as capable of doing so. Just absolutely, unbelievable if this is the case

That said, and I'm only asking as a way of confirming my disbelief... Do you not have these settings/options to import a .PST file?

Import email, contacts, and calendar from an Outlook .pst file | Microsoft Support

Import all of your Outlook email, contacts, or calendar events that you saved to a .pst so you can view them in Outlook.

support.microsoft.com

Anyway, I'm using Office 365 with Outlook, and I can import .PST files and have a couple in use - one as my main data file for contacts, calendar, and tasks. The other as for archiving purposes.

I'm just baffled that Microsoft would remove that feature from 2021.

Click to expand...

AndreIsComputn said:

Again thank you all so much :) ... although my apologies I definitely did not mean to start any arguments or conflicts ... and got it , no need to worry about the compatibility pack since I'm just worried about getting the outlook 2003 pst file into my outlook 2021 when I get it installed .. and Denis that is incredibly reassuring and such good news, if your outlook 2021 routinely opens your office 2007 pst then I'm thinking it's a pretty safe bet that outlook 2021 should be able to work with my outlook 2003 pst file :)

Click to expand...

Thanks for confirming you CAN import PST files into Outlook 2021. Just seemed odd this couldn't be done with any "Office" version of Outlook.

Anyway, glad you got it figured out. And we all make mistakes, that's how we learn. And no, you did NOT cause any conflicts here.

Good luck

Out

Wynona said:

My main computer MS Account is @hotmail. I need to change my account name though, since I must have let my email addy out somewhere or other. Now I'm getting Spam out the wazoo.

Click to expand...

I have been very fortunate with not getting spam on these very old accounts, Wynona. But you’re right, it only takes one bad subscription or website account that’s been hacked to start the spamball rolling

Hi guys.. apologies I know this thread was started two years ago but I thought I'd post an update to let you know just how incredibly helpful you guys were :) and also on the off chance this thread pops up if someone else does a google search (can't count the number of times elevenforum threads have popped up in google searches in the past when I'm worried about something computer relating and I do a google search re: the problem - shows how helpful you guys are if google search loves you :) ) re: the same concern I had. Short version importing ancient Outlook 2003 pst file into modern (albeit classic version) outlook 2021 calendar worked :) ...

So fast foward to June 2025 with the "upgrade to Windows Eleven or TERRIBLE THINGS will happen to your computer.. that's a really nice computer you've got there.. it would be a shame if something happened to it wouldn't it?" warnings Microsoft has been issuing and the looming deadline of Oct 2025 before security updates end (okay in all fairness I do know one guy who works in information security who openly admires Win 11 and says it's more secure than Win 10 far as resisting hackers so there's that ) .. I finally got around to the long dreaded task of upgrading my PC to Win 11 .. and then applied the Office 2021 license I purchased via gamestop's partnership with stacksocial to Win 11 and was happy to see it worked.. then ended up using classic outlook only because that's the only thing that supports what I was really longing after with office, my beloved reminder/pop up window of things to do that I set on outlook's calendar (which honestly was the only reason I wanted MS Office to begin with , I've found apache open office to be just fine for everything else MS office normally handles - honestly I just flat out ignore MS Office's Word, Excel et cetera programs :) .. fortunately I got the MS Office 2021 license at a low price compared to "retail" we'll see how long that product key remains valid and works for me :) but anyways ) ... apparently you need to buy MS's subscription version of office aka office 365 to normally get the pop up reminder feature on outlook or this is what my google searching tells me anyways I could be wrong.

I imported my ancient Office 2003 pst file into classic Outlook's 2021 calendar and - it worked :) .. I did notice some hiccups where some appointments I'd set years ago to go off on a recurring basis was not triggering a corresponding entry in the reminder pop up window but that's easily resolved just by glancing at the outlook calendar appointments for the day and noting any missing appointments not showing in the reminder pop up window, deleting the old appointment and creating a new one which works far as triggering a reminder in the reminder window to appear ... basically in my case outlook calendar is used for stuff like " Hey change the oil in that car it's been a year since the last oil change" or " Hey my kid burned through all their oil in the car because they drive all over the place doing their band stuff, check that oil level every 6 months!" or "blow dust out of those desktop PC's so they don't overheat every month!" (a task I have been putting off for far too long :) ) ..

I was surprised that outlook demanded an email address from me in order to function and I don't really need outlook to handle emails for me so I just gave it one of the "extra" google account emails I've generated over the years that isn't linked to important stuff (like say financial transactions and so forth) ... so now I have outlook reminding me on a regular basis " Hey you know that person on instagram posted something new maybe you should go look at it" which is kind of hilarious for a newbie like me who doesn't bother using outlook for email related stuff ( created a google account specifically for the purpose of instagram alone can't remember exactly why I did it this was years ago :) ) ...

Thanks again everyone :)