Back Up New Outlook for Windows Settings: Find and Restore UserSettings.json

The file and where it lives​

PCWorld's Roland Freist describes new Outlook as a web-based app that Microsoft has made a concerted effort to move users from the classic Outlook app for Windows 11 to. His tip is that new Outlook's account settings are stored in the 'UserSettings.json' file, which you can find in the 'C:\Users[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Olk' folder.

Multiple accounts make this a little more involved. PCWorld notes that if you have set up multiple accounts in Outlook, you will find separate configuration files in each of the individual user folders. A separate guide on Robert 365 says something similar about profiles: if you are using multiple Outlook profiles, then you must copy the UserSettings.json file for each Olk.Name folder. Neither source fully documents the subfolder layout. So check the whole Olk tree and don't assume one file covers every account.

If you expected new Outlook's data to live under the usual Microsoft Store app location, you're not alone. Digital forensics firm CCL Solutions Group pointed out that Store apps normally keep their data under AppData\Local\Packages. For this app, the files that matter are in AppData\Local\Microsoft\Olk instead. A user on Microsoft's Q&A forum also complained that there is very little info online about where new Outlook keeps its files.

In short: look for UserSettings.json in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Olk, and check for separate files if you use several accounts or profiles.

Why back it up?​

The best reason comes from an incident last December. Around December 8, 2025, new Outlook users on Microsoft's Q&A forums reported that the app would not launch. The workaround people passed around was to go to this directory: %localappdata%\Microsoft\olk and then delete UserSettings.json. One user said the fix came from Microsoft's Outlook in-app support team. The steps people shared ended with Start new Outlook and add your accounts back.

Put plainly, the official-sounding fix for that outage deleted your configuration. Anyone who had a copy of the file had an easier way back. Anyone who didn't had to set up their accounts again.

Microsoft Q&A answers for stubborn launch problems also suggest deleting the whole Olk folder, along with OneAuth, and note that these folders will be recreated automatically when you reopen the apps. The folder does come back, but your custom settings don't. A backup taken beforehand fixes that.

What the file contains (and what it doesn't)​

This is where you need to be careful. Robert 365 says the UserSettings.json file does not contain any account passwords, logon certificates or tokens. The same guide says the file also includes some local settings of the New Outlook app such as the selected language of the app and the selected background color. CCL's forensic analysis found that the file contains a key named "Identities" listing the email addresses the client uses. It also has an "AccountLocalBackup" key that links a UUID to each address.

Together, those sources suggest the file is mostly an account list plus some local preferences. It is not a mail archive. Microsoft moderators have said new Outlook relies on cloud synchronization (Microsoft 365/Exchange), so emails and calendar data are not stored locally in the same way. Your messages are kept on the mail service, not in this file.

Even without passwords or tokens, the file lists your email addresses. PCWorld's advice to keep the copy in a "secure location" makes sense for that reason alone.

In short: the file records your account setup and some preferences. It is not a backup of your mail, and you will probably need to sign in again after restoring it.

Step by step: backing up UserSettings.json​

1. Close new Outlook. Then the file isn't being written while you copy it. This is a sensible precaution, not a step PCWorld lists.
2. Open the folder. Press Win + R, paste %localappdata%\Microsoft\Olk, and press Enter. This is the same Run-box shortcut forum users shared during the December outage. It goes to the reported path for whichever Windows user is signed in.
3. Find every relevant file. Copy UserSettings.json, plus any per-account or per-profile copies in subfolders.
4. Store the copy somewhere else. PCWorld says to copy this file or these files to another secure location, or include them in the backups created by your backup software. An external drive, a NAS, or an encrypted cloud folder all work. Don't use another folder inside Olk, because that gets wiped along with everything else.
5. Keep the folder structure. If you copy files from subfolders, keep track of which file came from which folder so each one can go back to the right place.

Robert 365 says you can safely open it within Notepad to see its contents, but it is not recommended to make any changes in it. Look at it if you're curious, but don't edit it.

Restoring your settings​

PCWorld's restore steps are simple: simply copy the JSON file back to its original location. If a reinstall removed the folder, create it manually. The configuration will be applied automatically when you start Outlook.

In practice:

1. Make sure new Outlook is closed.
2. Go to %localappdata%\Microsoft\Olk. If Olk doesn't exist, create a folder with exactly that name under AppData\Local\Microsoft.
3. Copy your saved UserSettings.json (and any per-account files) back to the same relative locations.
4. Start new Outlook. It should pick up the configuration. Be ready to sign in again, since the file reportedly holds no credentials.

Robert 365 goes further than PCWorld. It says restoring this way also works on a new PC or after resetting the New Outlook app. PCWorld's teaser says the same about switching PCs, but its actual procedure only covers putting the file back where it came from. Neither source covers moving the file between different Windows profiles or very different app versions. The safest approach is to restore to the same user profile and the matching folder.

Troubleshooting: when the file isn't there​

• No UserSettings.json at all? In a Microsoft Tech Community thread, one administrator found new Outlook does not create the UserSettings.json file at all. This was due to the fact that the user name contained characters other than A-Z and 0-9. They fixed it by renaming the profile in the registry, which is risky and not something a casual user should try. If your Windows profile name has spaces or accented letters and new Outlook never remembers your accounts, this could be the reason.
• Outlook won't open after a restore? The December incident showed that a damaged or incompatible UserSettings.json can stop the app from launching. Move the restored file out of the folder, start Outlook clean, and add your accounts by hand.
• Settings look like defaults on first launch? That can be a separate system. Microsoft's support documentation says new Outlook imports settings from classic Outlook on first run. That import only works if General > Store my Outlook settings in the cloud is turned on in classic Outlook. To retry it, go to Settings > Accounts > Your accounts, select Manage next to your primary account, then Get Started.

The bigger picture​

There are two settings systems here, and they're easy to confuse. Microsoft documents a "Store my Outlook settings in the cloud" feature, but that page covers classic Outlook. It says nothing about whether new Outlook's local JSON file syncs anywhere. So don't treat cloud roaming as a reason to skip this backup. One handles moving from classic Outlook to new Outlook. The local file handles what new Outlook has on this particular PC.

There's also a fair criticism to make. A file this important to whether new Outlook launches at all, and to which accounts it knows about, shouldn't depend on community forum posts for documentation. Classic Outlook users at least had well-known PST and OST paths and profile tools. New Outlook users get a JSON file in a folder named Olk. Microsoft wants everyone on new Outlook, so a simple export/import option in the app's own Settings would be a reasonable thing to ask for.

Bottom line: if you use new Outlook for Windows, copy UserSettings.json (and any per-account copies) into your regular backups. It won't save your mail, which stays on the server, but it can save you from re-adding accounts by hand after a reinstall or a repair that deletes the folder.