---
title: "What happens to the folder structure when converting a PST?"  
description: "What happens to the folder structure when converting a PST?"  
author: "Steven Miller"  
published: 2026-09-08  
updated: 2026-09-08  
canonical: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/117162/what-happens-to-the-folder-structure-when-converting-a-pst  
category: "information technology"  
tags: ["software"]  
reading_time: 2 minutes  

---

# What happens to the folder structure when converting a PST?

One thing that is easy to overlook during PST conversion is the mailbox's folder structure. An Outlook archive may contain Inbox, Sent Items, Drafts, Deleted Items, custom folders, subfolders, and several levels of nested directories. If everything is converted into a flat collection of files, finding specific emails later can become difficult.

For this reason, I would check whether the conversion software has a **Maintain Folder Hierarchy** option. Preserving the original structure is especially useful for business archives where folders represent departments, projects, customers, or different stages of communication.

**SysInfo PST Converter** states that it maintains the original PST folder and subfolder hierarchy during conversion. The product documentation describes preserving Inbox, Sent Items, Drafts, and user-created folders so the organization of the source mailbox remains available after conversion.

Another important factor is metadata. A conversion should not focus only on the visible email text. Sender and recipient addresses, CC/Bcc information, subject lines, timestamps, email headers, and other message properties may be important when reviewing an archive. SysInfo says these types of metadata are retained during conversion.

Attachments also need to be considered. Depending on the selected output format, users may want attachments kept with the message or saved separately. The tool provides options to export attachments into a separate folder, merge them, or exclude them when they aren't needed.

This becomes particularly useful when converting PST files into formats such as PDF, EML, MBOX, MSG, CSV, JSON, DOCX, VCF, or ICS. Different formats serve different purposes, so the destination should be selected based on how the converted data will be used.

For example, PDF may be convenient for readable archival records, EML or MSG can be useful for individual email handling, while VCF and ICS are more appropriate for contacts and calendar information. SysInfo supports these formats along with direct migration to platforms including Office 365, Google Workspace, Gmail, and IMAP.

For a large archive, I would test a small folder first and verify the hierarchy, message details, attachments, and output format. Once everything looks correct, the complete conversion can be performed.


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Original Source: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/117162/what-happens-to-the-folder-structure-when-converting-a-pst

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