What is and "extend"file for...?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Asfsherpa
  • Start date Start date
A

Asfsherpa

I had an earlier problem regarding Outlook not recognizing my address book.
(now resolved)

After backing up my outlook in the appropriate folder, two new files have
appeared. One is called extend and the other is called mailbox. What are
these and if they are important, why have they just now been created.

I have tried to back up my address book when trying to resolve the above
mentioned issue. Are they related?

Alan
 
The "mailbox" file is unfamilair to me, but may be related to your use
of a POP type email service. In other words, you download your email
from the internet to your computer, right? This file may help keep the
mailbox on the server synchronized with the mailbox in Outlook.

The "extend" file is created by Outlook automatically - it's stores
information about how you use Outlook and is necessary. Do not delete
it.

Actually, the filename is 'extend.dat' - you are not seeing the filename
extension because your Windows Explorer settings are set to hide that
from you. This is the normal and default behavior for most Windows
versions, but is not helpful in many cases. I recommend that you
consider changing this settings as follows:

1. In Windows Explorer go to the Tools menu and select Folder Options.
2. Go to the View tab
3. In the Advanced Settings section, find the entry "Hide extensions
for known file types" and UNcheck it.

As a general advisory, you *may* want to select "Show hidden files and
folders" instead of "Do Not show hidden files and folders." This gives
you much more complete visibility to the files and folders on your
system. NOTE: This does present the risk of you deleting an important
file that would otherwise be hidden from you. But, if you practice the
art of asking before deleting files whose purpose is unknown to, as you
have done here, you should be fine. :)

Good luck
Bear
 
Extend.dat contains information about installed add-ins, and if it's
deleted, Outlook will just recreate it.

--
Jocelyn Fiorello
MVP - Outlook

*** Messages sent to my e-mail address will NOT be answered -- please
reply only to the newsgroup to preserve the message thread. ***


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