How to archive emails in quick steps

In Outlook

1. Log into your Outlook account.
2. Select the email, click on Archive in the toolbar OR drag & drop it into archive folder.
3. Search for archived email in the normal search bar.

In Gmail

1. Log into your Gmail account.
2. Select email and click the box next to it that says Archive OR check box next to the email and then press ‘E’.
3. If you search for an archived email go to All Mail and then type in the search bar in:archive.

In Tuta Mail

1. Log into Tuta Mail account.
2. Select email and click more options (…) and move email to Archive OR drag & drop it to Archive folder.
3. Search for archived email in normal search bar.

What is email archiving?

In your inbox you have probably seen the folder ‘Archive’ before. But you are unsure of what email archiving does exactly? Most people may vaguely associate archiving emails with the concept of your emails being gone but not deleted. They are simply ‘somewhere else’.

To be more precise of what email archiving exactly is: Email archiving means to copy your email or remove it from your active primary email inbox into a separate archive. In other words: Your emails are stored in a separate indexed system that you can easily access later when needed. This can reduce the storage volume of your mailbox and improve inbox performance.

When you archive an email, the full email – this includes its header, body, attachment(s) and metadata – will be preserved. Exactly how it was sent and received. As mentioned before, when archiving, emails will be moved to a separate indexed system, meaning they will be indexed for search. Your archived emails can then later be found by using keywords, sender, data, subject or other attributes.

Deleting vs. archiving

You want to organize your email inbox and get rid of some useless emails. Hence, whether you delete or archive your unwanted emails, does not make a big difference, right? Actually, deleting and archiving emails are not the same thing. Deleting an email removes it from your inbox. Depending on your email setup, your deleted email then may sit in trash or a deleted items folder for a short period of time before it is permanently deleted – for example, in Tuta Mail emails in trash are auto-deleted after 30 days.

Archiving instead preserves the email in governed storage where it remains searchable and retrievable whenever you want. In short: Archiving emails helps you to store essential emails that you don’t need immediate access to, but also don’t want to delete.

Note: Regarding compliance issues, the difference between archiving and deleting is crucial.

Another tool to use when you want to keep your email inbox organized is the use of email templates or automatic replies for example.

Backup vs. archiving

There is a difference between archiving and backing emails up as they have different goals. The goal of archiving is to store emails for long term for documentation purposes. Backups instead only store data over a short to medium term.

The purpose of backup is to secure data in case of a data loss. This means that usually the relevant data is backed up in regular intervals, meaning that older backups are overwritten after a certain period of time. Archived emails must be retrievable instead.

Note: It should be noted here that backing up email archives themselves is also important.

Why is email archiving important?

Besides helping you to keep your inbox organized, there are other advantages email archiving offers.

As previously mentioned, email archiving reduces storage volumes which then reduces storages costs and can improve IT performance. Another advantage of email archiving is that in a case of a cyberattack, lost emails can be restored a lot easier.

Since archived emails are stored in their original form, it can be ensured that they are not edited or tampered with.

If you want to further make sure that your data stays protected, make sure to use encrypted services, like Tuta for example. Tuta, based in Hanover, is the company behind end-to-end encrypted and quantum secure email, calendar, and drive solutions that makes sure you data stays yours. And only yours.

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Legal compliance

Companies in Germany are legally required to store emails that contain sensitive and important information, especially when the emails are relevant for tax and legal purposes. In accordance with German law and the GDPR, it is not enough to secure business emails on an external hard drive for example but they must be archived instead. The retention period for email archiving thereby depends on industry regulations and organizational policy.

In addition to this, because emails are archived in their original format, it allows companies to maintain a lengthy and full record of their email communication, even dating back several years.

How to archive emails in Outlook

How to archive emails in Outlook. Screenshot: Outlook account.

If you want to archive an email in your Outlook account, you need to first log into your account. Then you can select the email you would like to archive by clicking on it. Now you can click in the toolbar Archive and your selected email will be archived. You can also archive your email by simply dragging and dropping it in the archive folder.

Note: Next to the archive folder you have ‘More options’ (indicated by the three dots). When clicking on it, you can create a subfolder within your archive folder, change the folder’s color or empty it for example.

How to find an archived email in Outlook

You can easily find archived emails by searching for them in the search box or by navigating in the archive folder. When you type a term in Outlook’s search box, by default Outlook searches all folders in your mailbox.

How to unarchive emails in Outlook

If you want to unarchive an email in your Outlook account, you simply choose your selected email by right-clicking on the message. A menu with different options will open and you can click Move and then choose to which folder you want to move your archived email to.

How to archive emails in Gmail

How to archive emails and find archived emails in your Gmail account. Screenshot: Gmail account.

Gmail does not have a dedicated archive folder to which you can drag and drop the emails you want to archive. Instead, if you want to archive an email you need to first open your Gmail account and login. Then you can click the box next to the message you want to archive and click Archive.

Note that if someone replies to an archived email, it will return to your inbox.

Tip: You can also use a keyboard shortcut to archive an email: To do that, first check the box next to the message and then press ‘E’.

How to find an archived email in Gmail

Archived emails can still be found under the label All Mail. Thus, if you want to search for an archived email in your Gmail account, go to All Mail and then type in the searchbar in:archive.

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How to archive emails in Tuta Mail

How to archive emails in your Tuta Mail account. Screenshot: Tuta Mail account.

If you want to archive an email in the Tuta Mail’s free desktop clients on Windows, macOS, Linux or via Tuta Mail in web browser, first log into your account. You can then select the email you want to archive by clicking on it. Then you can click on ‘More options’ (the three dots) and select Move and then the Archive folder. You can also simply drag and drop your selected email into the Archive folder. After you have archived your email, you also have the option to Undo this action in the pop up window that shows up in the bottom.

In the Tuta Mail mobile apps on Android and iOS, archiving an email is also quick and easy. Simply press on the email for a second to select it, click on the Folder icon and then select Archive.

Tip: When you receive a notification for an email on your mobile device, you can also archive the email by pressing the notification for a second and click Archive.

How to move and unarchive archived emails in Tuta Mail

Overall, archived emails can also be easily moved into other folders, or your primary inbox, by clicking on ‘More options’ again and then ‘Move’. Of course, you can also move archived emails to another folder by simply dragging and dropping them.

In general, when searching for archived emails, you can simply do that in the normal search bar.

Tip: If you have emails from a specific sender which you want to always automatically archive, you can create an inbox rule.

Wrapping up

Not only is archiving a legal requirement for companies in Germany, but even for (individual) users it can offer several advantages. In 2026, email remains the dominant communication tool. By archiving your emails you can ensure better data security or a better search performance.