Recommendation: (Prior to Backing Up information from Windows Live Mail)

- Create a new folder using Windows Explorer in the location of your choice (e.g. folder on the hard drive, external drive, or jump drive)

- Folder names can be full or abbreviations -- Mail, News, Contacts, Msgs (highly suggested to aid organization)

Note: Consider appending a date suffix to the Messages folder name (e.g. Msgs_040509)
To back up e-mail messages in Windows Live Mail using the export feature

1. Start Windows Live Mail.

2. On the "File" menu, click "Export," and then click "Messages."

3. Select "Microsoft Windows Live Mail" as the export format, and then click "Next."

4. Click "Browse," and then select the folder in which you want to store the exported messages. We recommend that you create a new folder for storing the backup files.

IMPORTANT: The export directory must be an empty directory.

5. Click "Next."

6. Select the message folders that you want to export, and then click "Next." You will receive a message that states that the messages were successfully exported.

7. Click "Finish."
Note: You can use the import feature of Windows Live Mail to restore the exported messages later.
To restore data in Live Mail by using the import feature

1. Start Windows Live Mail.

2. On the "File" menu, click "Import," and then click "Messages…"

3. Select Windows Live Mail as the import format, and then click "Next."

4. Click "Browse," select the folder to which you exported the messages, and then click "Next." You can choose to import all the folders or only specific folders.

5. Click "Next." You will receive a message that states that the messages were imported in Windows Live Mail format.

6. Click "Finish."