How to Remove Duplicate Emails from Outlook?

Microsoft Outlook is one of the best desktop-based email clients. Many small and large organizations use Outlook as their default email client for sending and receiving emails. It is known for its simple user interface, high level of security, and advanced features. However, while working with Outlook, one has to face many problems. Duplicate Outlook emails are also one of the many that users often face. It is a common issue that can occur in any Outlook version, including Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, etc.

In this post, we will discuss the reasons behind duplicate emails, how to stop receiving duplicate emails in Outlook, and an easy way to remove duplicate emails in Outlook. If you are an Outlook user and looking for an easy way to fix this problem, then this post will be helpful for you.

Why should you remove duplicate emails from Outlook?

Many businesses use Outlook to improve their productivity. But duplicate emails in a mailbox increase the size of the mailbox, which affects the performance of Outlook. As a result, this problem also affects the productivity of the user.

Other problems faced by users due to duplicate emails

Confusion: Duplicate emails create a lot of confusion for the user. e.g. whether the email was answered by the user or not.

Hard to find emails: When you search for an email in Outlook, it shows you a list of emails. Due to duplicate emails, this list grows, and it becomes hard to find the right mail.

Increase mailbox size: If you are constantly getting duplicate emails, then this will also increase the size of your mailbox. Due to this, you may have to face more trouble.

Occupy more space: As the number of duplicate emails increases, your mailbox will take up more space on the hard drive. Due to taking up more space, your CPU will also be used more.

Reasons behind duplicate emails in Outlook

There are many reasons behind receiving duplicate emails in MS Outlook. Some of them are mentioned below:

Rules are not configured properly: If the rules are not configured properly in Outlook, it will cause confusion when you receive emails. This leads to duplication of emails.

Synchronization issue: If your internet connection is slow or unstable, it can create a synchronization problem. Due to which you may see duplicate emails.

Short Send/Receive intervals: When the frequency between sending and receiving data is set too low, it can lead to email duplication issues.

Improper mailbox settings: If you set mailbox parameters inappropriately when creating an account in Outlook, you may receive the same email message multiple times.

Multiple account creation: If you have configured the same email account with multiple devices, then you may face the problem of duplicate emails.

How to stop receiving duplicate emails in Outlook?

First, you have to find the real cause of the problem. To stop receiving duplicate emails, you can follow the steps below.

Step 1: Configure Outlook rules correctly

Check Outlook rules and make sure the rules are configured correctly. If not, fix them as it will create confusion between different email folders.

Step 2: Setup Inbox update frequency

1. Launch MS Outlook.
2. Go to Send/Receive tab.
3. Select Send/Receive Groups and choose Define Send/Receive Groups option.
4. From Send/Receive Groups wizard, Schedule an automatic send/receive every value to 15 to 30 minutes.
5. Click on the Close.

How to delete duplicate emails from Outlook?

To remove duplicate emails in Outlook, you can use the Clean Up feature and Import/Export option. With the help of Clean Up, you can clean up duplicate emails from conversations and folders. You can also use third-party PST Duplicate Remover tool.

Method 1: Remove duplicate emails in Outlook using Clean Up

1. Launch MS Outlook.
2. Select the folder that contains the duplicate emails.
3. From the Home tab, select the Clean Up option and choose the Clean Up Folder option.
4. A popup will show a message, All redundant messages in the current folder will be moved to the "Deleted Items" folder, click on the Clean Up Folder button.
5. Right-click on the Deleted Items folder and select the Empty Folder option.

Method 2: Delete duplicate emails from Outlook using the Import/Export option

In this method, first, we will create a backup PST file, then we will import the PST file.

Step 1: Backup Outlook Emails

1. Launch Outlook and click on the File tab.
2. Select Open & Export and click on Import/Export.
3. From Import and Export Wizard, choose Export to a file and click on the Next button.
4. From Export to a File screen, choose Outlook Data File (.pst) and click on the Next button.
5. From the Export Outlook Data File window, select an Email account, select the Include subfolders checkbox and click on the Next button.
6. Click on the Browse button to set a destination path and choose Replace duplicates with items exported option.
7. Add Password (Optional) and click on the Finish button.

Step 2: Import PST file

1. Launch Outlook and click on the File tab.
2. Select Open & Export and click on Import/Export.
3. From Import and Export Wizard, choose Import from another program or file and click on the Next button.
4. From Import to a File screen, choose Outlook Data File (.pst) and click on the Next button.
5. From the Import Outlook Data File window, click on the Browse button to select PST file and choose the Do not import duplicates option.
6. Select folders, which you want to import, and check the Include subfolders option.
7. Check Import items into the same folder option and click on the Finish button.

Method 3: Remove duplicate emails from Outlook using PST Duplicate Remover

Here, we are going to use SysCurve Outlook Duplicate Remover Tool. It is a powerful tool that quickly delete Outlook duplicate emails. With the help of this software, you can quickly remove duplicate emails in Outlook PST. To perform this task, follow the steps below.

1. Download and install the Outlook Duplicate Remover tool.
2. Open the software and select the Single/Multiple PST file(s) option.
3. Click the Browse button, select the PST file to delete duplicate emails in Outlook PST.
4. Select the Remove Types as per your requirement and choose to remove duplicates across all folders
5. Click the Browse button and provide a location to save the new PST file
6. Click the Remove Duplicate Email button to start the process.

Conclusion

Duplicate emails are a common problem in Outlook. This issue can create confusion for the users and affect their productivity. If you are also facing the duplicate emails issue, then you can use the above-mentioned methods to remove duplicate emails in Outlook. I hope this post will help you.

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