Automatic extracted Outlook item type recognition or: Why do you need the Autodetect function?

This article describes the main ideas behind the functioning of the automatic Outlook item type recognition function, “Autodetect,” in Outlook Export Wizard, as well as ways to use it when exporting Outlook data.

PST files are containers holding e-mail messages, contacts, calendar entries and other sorts of Outlook data. Each of these types has its own format (for instance, .msg for e-mail messages), while .pst files are a type of archive combining this set of data into a single entity for standardizing information storage in a single format. And if Personal Folders files are archives, there should be an “archiver” to help you split PST files into these separate types. Outlook Export Wizard is an excellent tool for this task, as this Outlook extractor with its built-in Autodetect feature can split PST files into their components, extracting their data “as-is” without converting them into another format.

At the heart of the Autodetect option is a smart analysis engine which can recognize an Outlook item by type. When the Autodetect option is turned on, Outlook Export Wizard will export emails in the native .msg format, extract contacts as vCard (.vcf) virtual business cards and extract Outlook calendar events in vCalendar (.vcs) format. Other Outlook items (notes, agenda entries) will be saved as files with the .msg extension, since this format is universal for almost any type of Outlook item. If a Note item, for example, is extracted from a .pst file in message format, then the next time that the file thus created is opened, all of the Note’s information fields will maintain their values and be displayed in note format.

Turning on the Autodetect option makes sense in cases when it is necessary to split PST files into separate files without changing their format. For example, to edit saved information or if you wish to later merge PST files into one (you can use Outlook Import Wizard to import e-mails). Outlook Export Wizard will not only export emails, contacts and notes quickly and problem-free, but it will also transfer the Outlook directory structure into Windows Explorer, which cannot be done using MS Outlook’s built-in export features.

If, instead of the autodetection function, you choose a target format, then all exported Outlook item files will converted into the corresponding file type.