Numerous Outlook users maintain a structured folder system to organize their emails efficiently. However, over time, this structure tends to become cluttered with empty folders, especially after archiving, cleaning up mailboxes, or deleting messages. If you’re also struggling with unnecessary folders and want to delete empty folders in Outlook PST files, this detailed guide is for you. Here, we explain both manual and automated solutions to help you clean up empty folders in Outlook PST files effectively.

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“I am using a comprehensive hierarchical structure to maintain folders within my Outlook 2016 PST data file. After auto-archiving email messages from PST file to Archive.pst, now my Outlook.pst is left with a large number of folders which are empty now. Please suggest a solution on how I can identify those empty folders and quickly remove or delete empty folders in Outlook PST completely. Is there any setting option available anywhere in Outlook account to auto delete empty folders in Outlook?”

“I use Microsoft Outlook 2013 at work and I always organize my email messages in folders and subfolders based on different categories (topics, work items, people, sections etc.). Now my Outlook.pst file is having many folders and subfolders created during the previous years. Recently I used the built-in archiving option to migrate previous year’s email messages to a new PST data file (one PST data file for each year). Now I am facing issues when I search for particular data in it. Outlook has created all the folders in archived files (also the folder that have no emails in them). As a result, many empty folders were created. And now I need to do a lot of scrolling to get to some folder. I need to know, how to delete empty folders in Outlook 2013 PST file.”

We frequently see these kinds of questions asked by several users on various Microsoft Outlook forums and technical blogs. So here in this blog, you will see the solutions to remove or delete empty folders in PST file quickly without any data loss in a few simple steps.

Reasons Why Empty Folders Accumulate in Outlook

  • Auto-archiving emails to a new PST file often leaves the old one full of empty folders.
  • Another reason is the frequent manual cleanups that delete messages but retain folders.
  • Import/export operations that recreate folder hierarchies without content also cause empty folders to occur.
  • Synchronization errors in connected accounts (such as Exchange or IMAP) can also create empty folders.

These redundant folders don’t just waste space, they also make it harder to locate active mail folders, which, in turn, impacts user productivity.

Before you dive straight into the solutions, ensure your folder is actually empty because of normal mailbox cleanup and not due to missing or hidden email messages. However, if you find your messages have suddenly disappeared, read our dedicated guide on why your Outlook folder appears empty before you remove the folder permanently.

How to Exclude Empty Folders in PST?

There are two ways to do so. One is a direct method using a dedicated application which provides the option to exclude all empty folders in a PST data file efficiently. And the other one is a manual approach, i.e., VBA code to implement in Outlook.

Before we get started with the solutions, to show the exact steps to delete Empty Folders from PST file in Outlook, we have created a Test PST (empty_folder.pst) file with empty folders and subfolders in Inbox, Drafts, etc. We will use this empty_folder.pst file and see how to exclude unwanted empty folders from Microsoft Outlook account easily.

outlook pst file empty folders

Automated Solution to Remove Empty Folders in PST File

SysTools provides an efficient application to fix issues in Microsoft Outlook PST data file. The Outlook PST Recovery Tool helps to resolve PST file corruption issues effortlessly. But the software has many special features which allow the users to manage their PST data file expeditiously. Here in our case, let us see how this software will help you.

The application has an option to ‘Exclude Empty Folders from PST file’. It will perfectly remove all the empty folders and subfolders in a scanned PST and will generate a new PST file which only has folders with data. Now explore the steps to delete empty folders in Outlook PST file.

Steps to Exclude Empty Folders in Outlook PST

  1. Open the software on your Windows OS system. Press the Add file option on the top left corner.

  2. Now select the PST file from which you need to remove empty folders. Here we will load the empty_folder.pst file.
    Note: From Select PST option, you can browse the required PST file as shown below. Now choose the scan option. The software provides 2 scan options: Quick & Advanced. If you need to repair PST file or recover deleted emails from Outlook PST file, then choose Advanced scan option. Otherwise, you can use the Quick scan option. Press Add Button.

    load pst

  3. The application will repair (if there are some corruption issues, it will be automatically corrected) & load the entire data of the selected PST file in its preview panel. The application will display all the folders in bold font if it contains data.
    Note: Now you can see all the folders which do not contain any data. If you have chosen Advanced Scan option to scan the PST file, it will also recover all permanently deleted emails, contacts, calendars, tasks, notes, journals etc. from the PST file. All retrieved items will be displayed in red color as shown in the following screenshot.

    preview

  4. You can see many other folders (not in bold font) which are empty. The item count will be displayed in the bottom-left corner of the software.

    empty folder in pst

  5. Now to remove empty folders in Outlook PST file, click on the Export button as shown in the image below. This will allow you to create a new PST data file.

  6. From the Export Options window that appears on the screen, select PST (Export as Microsoft Outlook (.pst) file) option. This will help you to generate a new PST data file without any empty folders in it.

    After selecting the PST file option, you can select the advanced setting option to set email filter option, split PST option etc. (Here in your case it is not necessary). Also, browse a destination location to save your newly created PST file.

    Note: The software provides several export options. Other than PST file, it can save your data items in MSG, EML, HTML or can directly move data to an Office 365 user, admin, or shared mailbox effortlessly.

    pst file

  7. In the same Export Options window, Select the complete Folder list, since you need a new PST file with entire data just by excluding empty folders.

    Here, you need to uncheck Maintain Folder Hierarchy option, then you can check Don’t Export Empty Folder. Now Press Export Option below, then the software will start exporting PST data items.

    delete empty folders in outlook pst

  8. The software will display the exporting process progress. It will show the number of data items exported from your original PST file to the new PST file in your required destination location. The software will provide a success message after the completion of the process. Then Click OK.

    remove empty folder in pst

    Tip: This SysTools PST Repair Tool provides many other facilities for the user. It will generate a Report after completing the Export process. You can save that Report in the desired location in a CSV file format. It will provide the failure and success count information of the Export Process.

  9. Now go to the Destination Location where you have selected to Save your new PST file (The newly created PST file contains only folders with data.) The newly created PST file-name will be the same as your loaded original PST file in Block Letters.

    newly created pst file

  10. Now Open this newly created PST file in your Microsoft Outlook 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007 account.

Open Resultant PST File in Outlook Account

Here, we will Open the EMPTY_FOLDER.pst file in MS Outlook 2013. Follow these steps:

  1. Go to File Menu > Open & Export > Open Outlook Data File (open an Outlook data file (.pst)).
  2. Select the EMPTY_FOLDER.PST file from the destination location. And it will be opened in your Outlook account.

exclude

Note: In the above Image, you can see both PST files: the original PST file with empty folders and the same PST file after removing Empty Folders using the tool. You can remove or delete the old PST file with empty folders now; Start using this newly created PST file as your default PST file for your Microsoft Outlook account.

Manual VBA Code Implementation to Delete Empty Folders in Outlook

Here, in this section, we are sharing the manual way to remove empty folders in Outlook account. However, to execute this method, you need proper technical knowledge since you are going to edit Outlook backend code. Therefore, follow the steps properly without making any mistake, because a small error can also corrupt your PST file and could result in data loss.

  1. Open your Microsoft Outlook account.
  2. Now, press “Alt + F11” to access the VBA editor.
  3. Now you need to copy the following VBA code given into the “ThisOutlookSession” project.
Public Sub GetAllSubfolders()
Dim xFolders As Outlook.Folders
Dim xFolder As Outlook.Folder
Dim i As Long

On Error Resume Next

'Change "Personal" to the name of your Outlook data file
Set xFolders = Outlook.Application.Session.Folders("Personal").Folders

For Each xFolder In xFolders
If xFolder.Folders.Count > 0 Then
For i = xFolder.Folders.Count To 1 Step -1
Call DeleteEmptyFolder(xFolder.Folders(i))
Next
End If
Next

MsgBox ("Completed!")
End Sub

Public Sub DeleteEmptyFolder(xCurrentFolder As Outlook.Folder)
Dim xSubFolder As Outlook.Folder
Dim j As Long

If xCurrentFolder.Items.Count = 0 Then
xCurrentFolder.Delete
End If

'Process the subfolders recursively
If xCurrentFolder.Folders.Count > 0 Then
For j = xCurrentFolder.Folders.Count To 1 Step -1
Set xSubFolder = xCurrentFolder.Folders(j)
Call DeleteEmptyFolder(xSubFolder)
Next
End If
End Sub
  1. You can refer to the following image to see how it will appear on your screen.

  1. Restart your MS Outlook to activate the above macro.
  2. From now on, each time when you do a certain action on a folder in your Outlook account (PST file), and if the folder is becoming empty, then it will get deleted permanently.

This method provides a permanent solution from now onwards, but this method does not help you to remove your Empty folders in Outlook altogether automatically now. But as a comparison, if we compare this method with the above-explained software, it is a one-time purchase, and you can use it for a lifetime. More or less, the product has many other features. It provides repair, recovery, conversion, split, empty folder exclusion, preview, and many other features.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Outlook automatically remove empty folders?

No, Outlook does not provide any built-in feature to automatically identify and remove all empty folders from a mailbox or PST file. You must delete them with either the manual or the automated method provided in this article.

Will deleting an empty folder remove emails?

Not at all. An empty folder does not contain any email items. Thus, deleting it will not result in any kind of email loss. However, before you delete an empty folder in Outlook, make sure it is actually empty.

The Bottom Line

The best available method to remove/delete empty folders in Outlook PST file is explained in this article. The automated application described will help you to easily exclude empty folders effortlessly in a few simple steps without any data loss. And the second method explains a manual way to implement the code in Microsoft Outlook account to remove empty folders in Outlook. Read the blog thoroughly and understand the processes before you perform it. I would suggest you try the described software since it provides guaranteed, error-free results.