How To Increase the PST Data File Size Limit for Microsoft Office

Is your Outlook program freezing when you try to either access it or click on one of your read/unread emails? The problem your facing maybe because the PST data file reached it’s limit. That limit is typically set to 20GB for 2003 and 2017 versions & 50GB for 2010, 2013, and 2016 versions of Outlook. The best way to fix this problem is to raise the PST data file limit to 100GB.

The step-by-step guide below will help you to raise your data file limit and get Outlook functioning normally again.

Raising the maximum PST data file size using the Registry

1. Double check the version of Outlook you are using.
2. Open Your Registry by typing in regedit.exe in your Windows search bar or Run prompt.
3. Know the correct version of Outlook you are using, then in Regedit, go to the correct path:

   Outlook 2003
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\PST
   
   Outlook 2007
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\PST
   
   Outlook 2010
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\PST
   
   Outlook 2013
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\PST
   
   Outlook 2016
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\PST

4. In the PST location, at the top navigation, click on Edit -> New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value
5. For the name of the registry entry, type in WarnLargeFileSize
6. Double click on WarnLargeFileSize to open it. Select Decimal and type in 4090445042, then hit OK.
7. In the PST location, at the top navigation, click on Edit -> New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value
8. For the name of the registry entry, type in MaxLargeFileSize
9. Double click on MaxLargeFileSize to open it. Select Decimal and type in 4294967295, then hit OK.
10. Close Regedit and re-open your version of Outlook, you will see your program is running back to normal.

The PST data file size limit is set in place for users with computers with limited amount of space. 50GB or 100GB is a considerable amount of data, you should make sure that you have a large hard-drive to support such a file. Presently, newer computers that are released today have a minimum of 500GB of hard-drive space, making it easier to support large data files.